SPECIFICATIONS

GOVERNMENT: Tartarian Technocracy
TYPE: Protean Space Fighter
MODELS: Epsilon Indi Industrial PS-ME262
DATE INTRODUCED: 2178 AD

DIMENSIONS:

(Fighter Mode):

LENGTH: 35.8 feet (10.9 meters)
WIDTH: 54.5 feet (16.6 meters)
HEIGHT: 14.1 feet (4.3 meters)

(Robot Mode):

LENGTH: 15 feet (4.5 meters)
WIDTH: 21 feet (6.5 meters)
HEIGHT: 35 feet (10.6 meters)

MATERIAL: Crystal Composite Alloy
POWER PLANT: 2x Tartarian Technologies TT-160FR Fusion Reactor (Level-02)
OUTPUT: 160 Megawatts each (320 megawatts)
ARMOR TYPE: Crystal Composite
ARMOR THICKNESS: 3 inches
DISPLACEMENT: 20 tons
CREW: 1 Pilot

PROPULSION:

             PRIMARY MANEUVER/COMBAT ENGINE (EITHER MODE):
             2x Tyche Industries TI-IPFE-16 Ion Plamsa Fusion Engine (Level-01)
             SPEED: KiloMACH 20 each (4,222 miles per second each, 8,444 miles per second)

             SECONDARY MANEUVER/COMBAT ENGINE (ROBOT MODE):
             8x Tyche Industries TI-IE-02 Ion Engine (Level-03)
             SPEED: MACH 1 each (760 miles per hour each, 6080 miles per hour)

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

WEAPONS:

             PRIMARY (DEFENSIVE):
             6x Diana Dynamics DD-IB-02 Rapid Fire Ion Blaster Cannons; Effective Range: 20 miles; Payload: unlimited with 20-megawatt nuclear battery clutch system; ROF: one blast per second.

             PRIMARY (ASSAULT):
            1x Isis Industries II-213-HVAC triple-barrel 21-millimeter hyper-velocity autocannon gunpod; Effective Range: 28 miles; Payload: 2100-round autoloading mechanical tray; ROF: fires bursts of 3, 6, 18, or 21 rounds and has a cyclic rate of up to 1260 rounds per minute.

              (WING MOUNTED, EACH WING)

              3x LaGrange Aerospace  LA-ML103 missile launcher; Missile Type: uses LaGrange MARK-76 medium-range missiles with 10lb, LADAR guided warhead; Effective Range: 282.9 miles; Payload: 12 missiles; ROF: 1, 2 or 3 missiles within two seconds.


ELECTRONICS:
             1x Microwave Communications array with a 2500-mile range.
             1x Laser Radio Communications array with a 10,000-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 100-mile range.
             1x Passive EMS sensor array with a 5000-mile range.
             1x Multispectral video/optical array with a range of 1000 miles.
             1x Acoustic array with a range of 40 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).

              8x 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:
            As part of their program to arm LaGrange with Protean mecha, the Council on Stellar Reliations knew they needed a general purpose Protean fighter. The success of the PA-He162, and PI-FW-Ta283 in combat testing caused the CSR to contract with LaGrange's largest mecha builder, Epsilon Indi Industrial. The fighter they produced was based on the German ME-262. This design followed the general pattern of German-inspired Protean fighters. This choice was made as a psychological weapon against Charles Dalltan's Ceres Regency. It was known to Sovereign Grand Inspector General Rothschild that the Regent of Ceres was fond of the Nationalist Socialists of Germany and so NSDAP designs were chosen to mock him. The aerodynamics of the chosen designs were also an obvious consideration and so both criteria were met. In 2178, the first production models of the PS-ME262 main Protean Space Fighters were put into service at Tyche. Like the other Protean mecha, transfer of these machines to Epsilon Indi began during the Ceres Conflict as Khazar's Tartarian Technocracy began to take shape. Unlike the previous two Protean mecha built 2178, the PS-ME262 was not considered obsolete by the 2190s and thus was not relegated to a "Ghost" or "Drone" fighter. Cosmonoid pilots were used in these machines until they were replaced during the 2nd Interplantary War by newer mecha.