SPECIFICATIONS

GOVERNMENT: Jovian Defense Forces/Neo-Hebrews of Saturn
TYPE: Protean Aerospace Fighter (PF)
MODEL: Titan-Technologies PF-04U Cosmo-Corsair
DATE INTRODUCED: 2078 AD
DIMENSIONS:
             FIGHTER MODE
             LENGTH: 37 feet
             WIDTH: 42.4 feet
             HEIGHT: 8 feet

             ROBOT MODE
             DEPTH:12.5 feet
             WIDTH: 16.2 feet
             HEIGHT: 32.2 feet

             ROBOT MODE (WING-SHIELDS)
             DEPTH:2 feet
             WIDTH: 10 feet
             HEIGHT: 20 feet

MATERIAL: Crystal Composite
POWER PLANT: Macrotechnologies IPFF-1000 Ion Plasma Fusion Furnace
OUTPUT: 1000 megawatts
ARMOR TYPE: Crystal Composite
ARMOR THICKNESS: 3 inches
DISPLACEMENT: 40 tons
CREW: 1 Pilot

PROPULSION:

             WALKER:
             1x DængJäger RWE-12 robot walker engine
             SPEED: 40 mph

             COMBAT SPEED ENGINES:
             6x Stellar Dynamics SD-FT-1.2 1.2-megawatt fusion thrusters
             SPEED:7600 mph each (45,600 mph total)

             MAIN ENGINES/CRUISING SPEED ENGINE:
             2x Macrotechnologies IPFE-32 32-megawatt ion plasma fusion engine
             SPEED: 15,200,000 mph each (30,400,000 mph total)

WEAPONS:

             PRIMARY (OFFENSIVE):
             1x  Titan Technologies TT-GP303AC triple-barrel 30-millimeter 2-ton autocannon gunpod;Effective Range: 864 yards; Payload: 600 rounds in a belt-fed autoloading detachable helical magazine; ROF: fires in bursts of 3, 12, or 30 rounds with a cyclic rate of up to 900 rounds per minute.

             PRIMARY (DEFENSIVE):
             2x Iapetus Arms IA-PC-10 ten-megawatt PHELAC gun; Effective Range: 80 miles; Payload: unlimited with nuclear battery clutch system; ROF: fires three blast per twenty seconds with a cyclic rate of nine blasts per minute.

             PRIMARY (ASSAULT):
             6x Saturn Arms SA-RFP-3 rapid-fire 3-megawatt PHELAC cannon; Effective Range: 24 miles; Payload: unlimited with nuclear battery clutch system; ROF: fires three blast per twenty seconds with a cyclic rate of 9 blasts per minute.

             SECONDARY (ASSAULT):
             14x Pallas Arms PA-MM105 five-shot mini-missile launcher with 10-pound fusion bolt (HEAP) or heavy fusion (nuclear) tipped warhead; Effective Range: 422 miles; Payload: 10 torpedoes each (140 total); ROF: 1, 2, 3 or all 5 at once each for a total of sixty missiles from all 12 launchers at once in a single volley.

             PROXIMAL:
             1x Iapetus Arms IA-PA-3 plasma axe (2.5-ton); Effective Range: melee; Life: 90 hours via its nuclear battery; ROF: normally about five swings every ten seconds or up to 30 per minute.

             (OUTSIDE ORDINANCE):
             The PF-4U was able to carry bombs, missiles, gunpods, and armor upgrade systems on externally mounted hardpoints.  These hardpoints were located all over the craft.  There was one large hardpoint on the outer side of each leg.  Each of the leg hardpoints was able to carry up to ten tons of ordinance.  Each “chest” section had a hardpoint designed for up to eight tons of payload. The arm hardpoints were designed for up to five tons of additional armor/systems, and the wing harpoints each had a five-ton hardpoint for additional armor, weapons, or other systems.  This gave the craft a maximum payload of 56 tons.

ELECTRONICS:

             1x Microwave Radio Communications array with a 12,000-mile range.
             1x LADAR array with a range of 20,000 miles.
             1x Passive EMS array with a 100,000-mile range.
             1x Active EMS array with a range of 1000 miles.
             1x Laser Communications array with a 120,000-mile range.
             1x Multispectral video/optical array with a range of 1000 miles.
             1x Gravitational/Antigravity Control Unit; Effect: Provides artificial lift, g-force compensation, and enhanced maneuverability.

DEFENSE SYSTEMS:

             24x 24x Pallas Arms PA-AM2 4-shot 2-pound anti-missile bomblets; Effective Range: 200 yards; Payload: 40 bomblets each; ROF: 1-4 bomblets per discharge with a cyclic rate of 120 bomblets per minute.

             2x Macrotechnologies IF-20 I-Field omnidirectional ion field generators; Range: 300 feet from hull; Power Requirement: 20 kilowatts; Output: absorbs up to 40 gigajoules of energy weapon damage.

Description/Overview:
         The Macrotech engineers conceived of the PF-4U CosmoCorsair as a Special Forces transatmospheric attack fighter for the Saturn SpaceNavy of the Jovian Defense Forces.  This fighter was built off the basic design principles of the first Protean fighter, the PS-01.  However, the military planners intended the CosmoCorsair for an entirely different sort of mission, that being planetary assault. Initially, the military brass kept most of the PF-4U statistics secret from everyone involved with these Protean fighters.  Only the top military brass, designers, and engineers knew the exact performance capabilities of this craft.  The Saturn government went so far as to declare the fighter a “close-range” fighter only and required the main IPFE engines of the craft to be limited to 76,000 mph each engine (152,000 mph total) via the computer operating system of the spacefighter.  After the 1st Interplanetary War was over, this limitation was no longer considered necessary, and the locks on the IPFE engines of the CosmoCorsair were removed allowing pilots to fly at full speed.
         The Saturn Defense Forces intended the PF-04U to act in the traditional aircraft role of a ground-attack fighter once it entered into the atmosphere of a planet like Earth, Mars, or Venus, and thus they chose a conventional airframe design.  This airframe was the famous World War II US Navy F-4U Corsair.  This airframe provided excellent maneuvering capability at extremely low altitudes that supersonic designs were unable to match.  The CosmoCorsair was a very capable fighter both in space and in an atmosphere.
      The primary engines of the PF-4U were a pair of Macrotechnologies IPFE-32 30-megawatt ion plasma fusion engines.  These engines were able to propel the CosmoCorsair at speeds of up to kiloMach 20 each (15,200,000 mph) or kiloMach 40 total (30,400,000 mph).  However, these engines were limited to speeds of only 76,000 mph during the last years of the 1st Interplanetary War due to secrecy concerns of the Saturn government.  After the war, the SDF removed the limiter, and pilots were free to fly the craft at its maximum speeds.  The designers intended the actual speed of the PF-4U to give the Saturn fleet a force of fighters capable of being launched from spacecraft carriers hundreds of thousands of miles from their intended targets.
      The secondary engines were six, independently moveable, Stellar Dynamics SD-FT-1.2 1.2-megawatt fusion thrusters.  These engines were capable of moving the ship at speeds of up to 7600 mph each or 45,600 mph for all six combined.  However, the main use of these engines was to generate a thrust cushion that the mecha used to skim over the ground in robot mode and glide over the surface or bodies of water. Normally, two of the engines were used to generate the cushion while four were used for forward propulsion, maneuvering, and braking.
         The PF-4U used the same robot walker engine as that of the PS-01A, one DængJäger RWE-12 128-megawatt mecha drivetrain.  This walker engine provided the same level of performance in the CosmoCorsair as it did in the Archangel and the same speed of 40 mph in all terrains.
         The weapons of the PF-04U CosmoCorsair were considerably more powerful than those of the main spacefighter of the Saturn forces.  The armaments of the CosmoCorsair focused on heavy ground assault rather than the anti-mecha role of the PS-01A or anti-spaceship role of the larger PI-02 Raven Protean space interceptor.
         The main weapon of the CosmoCorsair was its Titan Technologies TT-GP303AC triple-barrel 30-millimeter gunpod.  This weapon fired plasma-tipped 30-millimeter autocannon rounds that the pilot could shoot in bursts of three, twelve, or thirty rounds with the simple flick of a switch on the yoke of his fighter.  This gunpod had a 600-round detachable drum magazine, which the CosmoCorsair could reload during combat, if necessary.  Normally the PF-4U was armed with three or four additional fully loaded drums on wing hardpoints carried outside the spacefighter.
         Six Saturn Arms SA-RFP-3 rapid-fire PHELAC weapons made up the primary strafing weapons of the fighter.  The fighter sported six PHELAC guns mounted in two clusters of three, normally used only in fighter mode, though the pilot could opt to use them in robot mode if he/she chose to, but the guns had a wide angle of fire in robot mode and were difficult to use against small targets.
         A pair of Iapetus Arms IA-PC-10 PHELAC guns were mounted on the forearms of the machine in robot mode (under the chin of the fuselage in fighter mode).  These medium-energy cannons were used most often as an added punch to the six SA-RFP-3 rapid-fire PHELACs during strafing runs in fighter mode or as a medium-range defensive weapon in robot mode.
         The anti-mecha weapons of the PF-04U consisted of fourteen Pallas Arms PA-MM105 mini-missile launchers mounted in strategic positions on the fighter (four on each leg and three on each wing).  These missile launchers were used against hardened targets like capital warships, spacestations, bunkers, and heavy mecha.
         The last main weapon system of the CosmoCorsair was one Iapetus Arms IA-PA-3 plasma axe.  The intent of the proximal weapon was for use as only a defensive weapon, but Special Forces pilots learned quickly that the devastating cut of this plasma weapon could cut through an enemy battlerobot with ease and also do considerable damage to spacecraft.  Thus, the IA-PA-3 was used more as an offensive weapon system than its intended defensive role.
         The defensive systems of the CosmoCorsair were threefold.  First, the craft used three inches of crystal composite alloy plate armor that provided a high level of protection and allowed the wings of the ship to be used as parrying shields while in robot mode.  The second defense systems were a pair of Macrotechnologies IF-20 20-megawatt I-Field generators, one on each wing. These ion field generators provide enough protection to stop almost any energy weapon attack from mecha and light anti-mecha weapons employed on capital ships and other spacecraft. For defense against missiles, the PF-04U used twenty-four 4-shot Pallas Arms PA-AM2 2-pound anti-missile bomblets which sent out a decoy signal that was designed to cause all but television or direct-fire missiles to be attracted to them.  These systems had a moderately high rate of success and were considered adequate.
         Titan-Technologies produced the PF-04U in average numbers for the Saturn Special Forces and Space Marines.  The Saturn Colonial Forces did not use these craft in the colonial fleets that the Saturn government launched throughout the 2080s.  The PF-04U was not used in any mentionable actions during the last years of the 1st Interplanetary War, but did prove in subsequent years that the “drop fighter”concept was a sound one, and that mecha transports, like the Ogre class, were no longer required to effect a planetary assault.