Hellrazer Gunship

[Luciana Endivain]

Designation:
EE-19 Hellrazer Gunship

Purpose:
To create a highly mobile, precise and powerful infantry fighting vehicle that can both provide fire support and infantry transport. In general, very few, if any gunships exist that are used as a close-support fire support. LAATs generally lack heavy weapons to be useful against armoured vehicles that can pose a significant threat to infantry. Starfighters and starbombers are always moving and are generally not suited for providing the close level of support infantry require. The Hellrazer has been dubbed the "flying tank" because of its relatively small size and powerful punch.

Application:
By taking the idea of the LAAT which combined transport capacity with the armament of several compound lasers, the Hellrazer packs a wealth of more powerful weapons on a slightly smaller frame at the cost of some transport capacity. Able to carry a fully loaded squad and all their associated gear, the Hellrazer is meant to provide rapid response measures as well as scouting capabilities to ground any ground forces it is deployed with.

Schedule:
5 Weeks for conceptual and technical drawings
3 Weeks for prototyping
8 Weeks testing and analysis of results

Visual Description:

Copyright Theo Stylianides. All rights are reserved. Image reproduced for non-commercial purposes.

Technical Specifications:

Name/Type: EE-19/g Hellrazer "Flying Tank" Gunship
Designer/Manufacturer: Luciana Endivain / Endivain Engineering
Designation: Gunship Transport
Crew: 2 + 2 optional gunners
Length: 16 meters
Speed: 75 MGLT, 1000 Kph
Acceleration: 14 MGLT/s
Maneuverability: 110 DPF
Hyperdrive: None
Shield Rating: 150 SBD
Hull Rating: 45 RU
Weapons: 1 turreted heavy pulse cannon (ventral mounted, 360 degree arc), 2 heavy laser cannons (class 4, partial turrets), 2 side door mounted heavy repeaters, 4 stubwing hardpoints (can carry different types of weapons, typical loadout is 2 missile launchers with 4 concussion missiles each and 2 rocket pods with 20 unguided AP rockets each).
Countermeasures: 20 chaff & flares. Rear mounted turreted blaster cannon (rear arc, automated).
Troops: 12 troops and associated gear with standing room for an additional 6 passengers.
Cargo Space: 6 Metric tons
Special: Repel lines, life-support, ejection pod for pilot & co-pilot. Basic EMP Shielding. Advanced sensor suite.
Cost: 575,000 credits (with typical load out)

The Hellrazer performs two roles, an infantry transport role and a close support role for ground forces. This generalized approach allows for a greater deal of mobility for mechanized infantry forces, allowing for rapid redeployment as battlefield conditions change. The Hellrazer will enable commanders to properly respond without having to resort to transport shuttles which aren't always suited for combat roles.

Two operators help control the craft. One pilots and can take control of the nose mounted heavy pulse cannon (which will track whatever the pilot is looking at via link to his helmet). The pilot can also use the other weapon systems in a pinch but it's the co-pilot who will generally perform the targeting and deployment of the weapon systems, allowing the pilot to remain focused on the nimble maneuvering necessary to stay alive. Two optional gunners, usually drawn from the troops being transported but can also be transported alongside the squad, will take control of the heavy repeaters mounted on either of the side doors. They are mounted on fully mobile arms tied to two dedicated generators commonly used to power E-Web repeater cannons.

A unique engine configuration gives this craft a great deal of mobility and agility. The engines are mounted on the wings with nozzles facing back and forward. This allows the craft to travel backwards and decelerate at a much faster rate than snubs and even repulsor vehicles. This doesn't translate to a fast acceleration, however, but to be able to shake that X-Wing off your tail a lot faster could be a difference maker. A near silent repulsor allows this craft to hover at high altitudes and jink left and right. The vessel is capable of space travel so it can be deployed from orbiting capships that might not be atmosphere capable.

The passenger compartment is small, only able to hold a maximum of fourteen people. More can be crammed on if absolutely necessary, increasing the capacity to an overloaded 20 but, generally, this isn't advised as the doors will not be able to close and thus this craft will be unable to go into space (unless all passengers are fitted with space suits with self-contained life-support systems). An access hatch on either side allows for passengers to enter the vehicle, the door opens on two parts, a lower portion that folds down into a platform and an upper portion that slides up into the ceiling. A rear door also allows for quick ingress or egress as well as the deployment of speeder bikes (the Hellrazer can carry 4 at the cost of 2 people per bike).

Mounted on the nose of the Hellrazer is a suite of sensors including thermal and IR holocameras, laser targeters and ground penetrating sensors which enable the Hellrazer to detect ambushes or minefields and pierce through thick canopies of forests or the dense rubble of urban zones.

A heavy pulse cannon mounted on the chin of the Hellrazer gives the vessel a rapid firing gun capable of cutting through swathes of infantry or light vehicles at an incredible place. It is able to rotate 360 degrees but, as it's chin mounted, it can only target anything at or below the Hellrazer's altitude.

Next, 2 heavy laser cannons are mounted on the tips of the stub wings. They are used for punching through heavier armour or against aircraft as self-defense. The cannons are able to pitch up and down 100 degrees.

A rear mounted turreted blaster cannon is designed to protect this vessel from missiles and torpedoes. In lieu of using conventional countermeasures, a the rear blaster cannon relies on a rapid storm of shots to either destroy warheads or give enemy snubfighters something to think about.

Finally, four hardpoints on the stub wings give the Hellrazer a wealth of options to take in terms of heavier firepower. Options include:

• Missile rack - Holds 4 missiles (be they concussion, magpulse or cluster) or torpedoes (ion or proton). Useful against heavy targets or aircraft.
• Rocket launcher - Holds 20 dumb-fired rockets. Useful against stationary or clusted targets.
• Heavy Rocket Launcher - Holds 2 Heavy Rockets. Useful against really large but slow targets (capships, large navel vessels, planetary shield generators, planetary ion cannons or planetary turbolasers or fortresses)
• Space Bomb - Holds 1 Space bomb. Useful against really thickly armoured targets like bukers.

Each option takes one hardpoint so, as an example, a Hellrazer could be outfitted with a missile rack full of concussion missiles, a rocket launcher, a heavy rocket launcher and a space bomb.

Weakenesses:

• The generalized approach to this vehicle means it is far from being effective at doing any one thing.
• It's slow speed and acceleration makes it an easy target against snubfighters. That being said, it's advised that snubfighters be used to provide air-superiority and escort to the Hellrazer.
• Because it flies, it is more susceptible to AA fire than a repulsor tank.
• No ion weaponry (unless ion torpedoes are used) so this vehicle won't be disabling anything and leaving it intact necessarily.
• This vessel, lacking a hyperdrive, must be transported to a planetary system by a capship.

Proposed Upgrades:

• Equip with hyperdrive to use for long range missions.
• Upgrade rear blaster cannon into a more specialized anti-missile/starfighter defense system.
• Increase missile capacity through redesigned missile/torpedo racks.

Custom Options:

• x1 Hyperdrive - Enable the vessel to travel through hyperspace. Only short journeys are recommended unless more food is stored but with limited cargo space and no refresher facilities... You can imagine how unpleasant really long journeys can become.
• Custom interior - Create access from the cockpit to the rear of the vessel or add a refresher or other options.
• Replace heavy lasers with composite lasers - Fire composite-beam lasers in place of heavy lasers.
• Paint job - Add some colour or nifty design to the vessel. Personalize!
• Replace side door repeaters with grenade launchers - Explosive power, great for clearing out clusters of troops.
• Replace heavy lasers with light ion cannons - for disabling vehicles.
• Upgrade repulsor drive to a silent repulsor for stealth operations - Great for getting in unheard and unnoticed.
• More to come. Other variants to also be announced in the future that incorporate some of the aforementioned options.

Cost of upgrades will vary. Call Endivain Engineering for free quotes and estimates.

[TyrAnazazi]

Well, this has been sitting for awhile!

Technically, I have no issues or problems with this design. As it is made by SIN for IDS or any future NIF purchases, no objection.

APPROVED!

[Luciana Endivain]

Unless there are other objections or comments to this project, I'm going to proceed as if it were approved. Thanks!

---

The prototype of the first Hellrazer was an interesting one, if only because Luciana held a stronger attachment to snubfighters and while she didn't oppose subcapital ships or transport vessels, she wasn't exactly accustomed to having a co-pilot sitting in front of her and Viper simply hated subcapital ships in all their shapes and forms, liking them to boats without motors or rudders. Makes me wonder what her thoughts of a corvette is then, or a Star Destroyer...

Hovering above the testing grounds, Luciana wasn't used to having so many weapon options. Pulse cannon, heavy lasers, concussion missiles and rocket pods. That was a lot of choice and she could easily understand why people referred to this vessel as a flying tank. She mostly controlled the flying and maneuvering while Viper had control of the weapon systems, though Luciana, could take control of some of the weapons if she wanted to. The co-pilot was in the front because of the larger field of vision they would have to use the pulse cannon turret, enabling her to simply look at a target and the cannon would automatically track to target that same spot.

As usual, some old, ruined New Republic tanks and vehicles littered the testing field, it never ceased to amaze Luciana how cheap she could buy the old, junked vehicles from the NIF after they conquered worlds. They made for good targets if nothing else, the cost to repair them wouldn't be economical for her and, if she were being honest, she hated the idea of using NR vehicles, especially when she was in the process of designing her own.

"Alright, here goes," Viper began, tracking the first target. Firing the pulse cannon, a rapid stream of purple bolts flew at one of the target vehicles, shredding it into even more pieces in short order. The destructive power seemed to be impressive enough for Viper who hadn't expected such a thin looking gun to be much more effective than a blaster. "Okay, that wasn't bad," she said grudgingly, though Luciana couldn't help but smile as though she had just found another convert to the idea of a flying tank.

Maneuvering the vessel was a little more difficult than Luciana had anticipated but only because it didn't fly like a typical airspeeder or snub. It was able to hover in one spot, though any vessel could do that, but the Hellrazer was also able to strafe from side to side, move backwards- as well as forwards, obviously- and glide up and down with ease. Though it didn't have a very high top speed to match most starfighters, the maneuverability meant she could probably evade missiles quite easily. Still, it was a complete shift in thinking for Luciana as she struggled to get accustomed to the controls, often forgetting she could just circle around a target instead of flying past it and having to turn around for another pass...

"You really are a fighter jockey aren't you?" Viper asked as Luciana buzzed past the test field for the third time, cursing rather loudly as she did so. "Haha, that's cute!"

"I'd like to see you fly this thing better," Luciana shot back as she stopped the ship, and performed a one-eighty on the spot.

"No thanks, I like shooting shit."

"Figured..." Taking a moment to finally stop, catch her breath and make a conscious effort to master the controls, Luciana glided the Hellrazer closer before beginning to circle around a large, ruined Juggernaught she had bought for a mere thousand credits. The thing had enough armour plating to deflect a lot of different shots but Viper already knew that and the beeping of the targeting computer told Luciana she was in the process of locking a concussion missile onto it. When the solid tone emitted, a single concussion missile was launched at the target, the impact and resulting explosion revealing a nice hole in the midsection.

"Wow those things are bloody tough." Viper, not impressed with the lack of damage the concussion missile performed so she instead started firing a hail of unguided rockets and lasers at the stationary target. The unguided rockets splashed around the entire area, exploding in spectacular fashion like a bunch of fireworks but mostly causing more area effect damage than actually outright blowing the target up as more holes appeared in the armour plating. The heavy lasers found a little more success, but since there was no fuel or reactor or charged points in the Juggernaut, it meant they would have to keep hammering away until the thing was no more rather than try to rely on hitting some fuel tank or ammo storage point.

Circling around, Luciana was finally started to get a better feel for the controls of the ship. "Actually, flying this thing isn't so bad... Once you get over the idea that ships don't have to only go forward in order to fly." She had been skeptical of the whole design when it was first suggested. The closest proxy to this vehicle was a LAAT and that was something she was hardly impressed with, but only because it was big, slow and otherwise a flying boat. This ship was anything but. Sure it wasn't going to be winning any drag races against a snub, but it would easily outstrip and out perform a LAAT, not to mention destroy with aplomb.

Finally the vehicle started to fall apart, several wheels on the right side were blown off causing the whole thing to tip and fall over onto its side. A satisfied sigh escaped Viper, having got all her aggressions out. "Well, I guess I can admit you've got something going here Boss. But I'll stick with my snub any day of the week."

[Tom Saint]

Alrighty, less troops for more weaps vs. a LAAT makes it basically a Star Wars Hind gunship(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mil_Mi-24)

Approved, but ask Hind crewers if they liked the idea

[Luciana Endivain]

Alrighty, less troops for more weaps vs. a LAAT makes it basically a Star Wars Hind gunship

That was pretty much the effect I was going for here actually!

Approved, but ask Hind crewers if they liked the idea

I'm sure there's a lot of problems with the HIND, the fact that the Soviet Union didn't win the Cold War probably didn't help matters much since I think they were more interested in just pumping out stuff to keep up with the US but I'm speculating and digressing.

Sure, trying to meld a transport into a gunship is obviously going to sacrifice more than just a few things, but 1) we really don't have a vehicle quite like this. Admittedly, the LAAT could also be seen as a HIND-esque ship given it's weapon layout:

Weapons: 3 Class 4 Anti-Personnel Laser Turrets, 4 Class 3 Composite-Beam Laser Turrets, 2 Rocket Launchers (16 [not 8] Class 6 Light Air-to-Air Rockets), 2 Class 6 Mass-Driver Missile Launchers. (Warheads types include HE, corrosive antimatter shower, radiation burst, and EMP), 8 Wing Bombs, 4 Door Bombs, Extendable Grappling Hook.

On the other side of the coin, should I go asking the pilots of the MH-60L Direct Action Penetrator (DAP) Black Hawk if they like it when stubwings with missiles are fitted and they're also carrying troops?

[Tom Saint]

Sure, trying to meld a transport into a gunship is obviously going to sacrifice more than just a few things, but 1) we really don't have a vehicle quite like this. Admittedly, the LAAT could also be seen as a HIND-esque ship given it's weapon layout:

Point taken, but the LAAT's weaponry was mostly focused on clearing an LZ for its troops. I mean, they did an awesome job of cutting up the droids when they blasted into the arena just before the remaining Jedi were to be wasted in Episode 2. The weapons outfit of this and the Hind lol, are much more offensive gunship. Makes it kinda a flying contradiction, like is it a gunship with a troop cabin welded in, or a troop hauler with oversized weapon racks... its also sort of worth pointing out that well, nobody else has followed the example of the Hind in a purpose built hybrid gunship/troopship. Which may be a hint as to why we haven't got one.

I 'spose when it comes down to it, its a personal preference+ the good ole specialized vs. generalized argument. For small groups like mercs and planetary defense forces and other things of that nature, might see this ship's half and half adaptability and see it as a money saver. But for superpowers like the NIF, i think we'd be better suited with more specialized machines.

[Luciana Endivain]

Point taken, but the LAAT's weaponry was mostly focused on clearing an LZ for its troops. I mean, they did an awesome job of cutting up the droids when they blasted into the arena just before the remaining Jedi were to be wasted in Episode 2. The weapons outfit of this and the Hind lol, are much more offensive gunship. Makes it kinda a flying contradiction, like is it a gunship with a troop cabin welded in, or a troop hauler with oversized weapon racks... its also sort of worth pointing out that well, nobody else has followed the example of the Hind in a purpose built hybrid gunship/troopship. Which may be a hint as to why we haven't got one.

I'm sure the Hellrazer's guns could also clear LZs just as nicely too... If there's tanks or armoured turrets for instance.

I 'spose when it comes down to it, its a personal preference+ the good ole specialized vs. generalized argument. For small groups like mercs and planetary defense forces and other things of that nature, might see this ship's half and half adaptability and see it as a money saver. But for superpowers like the NIF, i think we'd be better suited with more specialized machines.

I'm aware this ship won't be the best at either role, but sometimes, being a generalized vessel isn't a such a bad thing either. You are correct in your analysis that sometimes things have to be sacrificed in order to satisfy budget constraints. I didn't intend to have this ship replace anything in the NIF (though I think a couple people did express interest in buying/flying one) so yeah, I'll leave that to the army to sort out... Ignoring the fact I control that branch too

At the end of the day, I think rule of cool will suffice and, if I can be so bold, this thing is pretty darned cool, even you have to admit that to some level

[Tavish McFini]

PROJECT STATUS: Approved and Completed.

Another project done!