SPECIFICATIONS

GOVERNMENT: Tartarian Technocracy
TYPE: Protean Bomber
MODELS: Epsilon Indi Industrial PB-Arado-AR234
DATE INTRODUCED: 2178 AD

DIMENSIONS:

(Fighter Mode):

LENGTH: 41 feet (13 meters)
WIDTH: 50 feet (15.3 meters)
HEIGHT: 13 feet (4 meters)

(Robot Mode):

LENGTH: 14 feet (4.3 meters)
WIDTH: 14.8 feet (4.5 meters)
HEIGHT: 39 feet (12 meters)

MATERIAL: Crystal Composite Alloy
POWER PLANT: 2x Tartarian Technologies TT-88FR Fusion Reactor
OUTPUT: 88 Megawatts each (176 megawatts)
ARMOR TYPE: Crystal Composite
ARMOR THICKNESS: 2 inches
DISPLACEMENT: 30 tons
CREW: 1 Pilot

PROPULSION:

             PRIMARY MANEUVER/COMBAT ENGINE (EITHER MODE):
             2x Epsilon Indi Industrial EII-IPFE-18 Ion Plasma Fusion Engine (Level-02)
             SPEED: KiloMACH 20 each (4222 miles per second each, 8444 miles per second total)

             SECONDARY MANEUVER/COMBAT ENGINE (ROBOT MODE):
             10x Tyche Industries TI-FR-6MW Ion Engine (Level-03)
             SPEED: MACH 2 each (1520 miles per hour each, 15,200 miles per hour)

             PRIMARY (WALKER):
             1x Epsilon Indi Industrial EII-WE-48KW Walker Engine
             SPEED: 30 mph

WEAPONS:
 
             PRIMARY (ASSAULT):
            1x Isis Industries II-523-HVAC triple-barrel 52-millimeter hyper-velocity autocannon gunpod; Effective Range: 136.4 miles; Payload: 300-round autoloading mechanical tray; ROF: fires bursts of 3, 6, or 18 rounds and has a cyclic rate of up to 540 rounds per minute.
 
              (WING MOUNTED, EACH WING)
               1x Dragnov Heavy Industries DML-508 eight-shot Long Range Missile Launcher pod; Effective Range: 2111 miles; Payload: 120 50lbs medium size missile;ROF: 1-8; TARGETING: LADAR array with 100-mile range; DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS: 8-shot anti-missile mini-missile bomblets (5lbs each); PAYLOAD: 800; ROF: 1-8 every 2-seconds.

              3x Militia Military Industries MHST-01 space torpedoes; Missile Type: MHST-01 2000-pound SMART-guided space torpedo with 239-Kiloton yield nuclear warhead; Effective Range: 27 miles; Payload: 1 space torpedo each on a wing hardpoint; ROF: 1 torpedo per two seconds.


ELECTRONICS:
             1x Microwave Communications array with a 6000-mile range.
             1x Laser Radio Communications array with a 20,000-mile range.
            1x Gravitational/Antigravity Control Unit; Effect: Spacecraft type g-compensation unit modified to act as an inertia maneuvering system in place of vector control thrusters
             1x RADAR Sensor array with a 1000-mile range.
             1x Passive EMS sensor array with a 10,000-mile range.
             1x Multispectral video/optical array with a range of 1000 miles.
             1x Transformation Unit

DEFENSE SYSTEMS:            
              1x Sophia Systems SS-5EEFF-40 Electron Element Force Field omnidirectional generator; Range: 20 feet from hull; Power Requirement: 40 megawatts; Output: absorbs up to 28,800 gigajoules, 28.8 terajoules of energy weapon damage (regenerates 4800 gigajoules per 4.8 seconds).

              30x Sophia Systems SS-AM4 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 minut.
                 
Description/Overview:
                  The PB-Arado-AR234 Protean Space Bomber (commonly known as the Arado) was conceived of at the end of the 1st Interplanetary War. The idea behind the design was for a mecha capable of firing heavy (for the time) space torpedoes into the deflector shields of enemy spacecraft in order to weaken them enough for fighting vessels to penetrate. As shield technology got more advanced, and the size of space warhips increased considerably by the end of the war, the size of space torpedo and the type of warhead changed significantly. Initially the Arado was to carry eight 1000 pound MST-1000 space torpedoes armed with HEAP warheads. At the end of the 1st Interplanetary War the loudout was changed to six MHST-2000 2000 pound space torpedoes armed with nuclear warheads. This was due to a change in the purpose of the Arado going from just blowing down the shields of enemy spacecraft to actually being used to destroy enemy warships. In this capacity the Arado was expected to do well, however, during the Ross 47 conflict--when the Tartarian Technocracy finally used the Protean Bomber--the Arado was obsolete. Most were piloted by Tartarian androids, and so while no humans were lost, most of the PF-Arado-AR234 bombers used were destroyed in that conflict. The 2nd Interplanetary War tested the Protean Bombers again, and this time they performed abysmally.