FB-2A2 Serpent Skies.
FB-2A2 Serpent Skies
Specifications:
Crew: 3
Length: 125 feet
Wingspan: 100 feet
Height: 30 feet
Empty Weight: 50,000 kg
Loaded Weight: 72,000 kg
Max Takeoff Weight: 85,000 kg
Powerplant: 2 × Highcairn Manufacturing Zone L-120SV (140kN x 2) high-bypass turbofans.
Maximum Speed: 710 MPH at 1,000 feet fully armed.
Range: 1,800 km.
Service Ceiling: 40,000 feet
Rate of Climb: 3,000 feet a minute
Armament:
2 x MA-340
10,000 kg bombs in internal bays.
Abstract
The FB-2A2 is an all-weather flying boat bomber, used to strike the Church's enemies without warning. Operating alone or in pairs and supported by specialist submarines, the FB-2A2 fleet acts as the extended arm of the Church's bombing operations. An FB-2A2 takes off and lands on water and has no landing gear for land based operations. Crews are often deployed together for months or years at a time, only returning to seaplane tenders for repairs and meeting up with special submarines for resupply. Increasingly rare in the current climate, the FB-2A2 still serves a special role. An enemy state never knows where the FB-2A2 may come from or when, and even if every airfield, aircraft carrier, and road is destroyed, the FB-2A2 may still operate. Used as a strategic nuclear capable bomber, minelayer, and low-flying attack craft, the FB-2A2 is a low-cost and high-yield airframe.
Construction
The entirety of the airframe is made up of Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al (aka Ti-10-2-3), a uniquely powerful and effective titanium alloy that has displayed exceptional protection in other platforms and has a notable resistance to seawater, an important consideration to the design. Like alloys need repair and refurbishment after a two to three thousand hours; the FB-2A2 only does so every nine thousand hours, enabling it to keep active away from any support or refurbishment every year or so. The protection afforded by this is significant considering the weight profile, but it is not as heavily armored as other aircraft users of this specific alloy.
The wings are swept at forty degrees an have a notable anhedral, with the tip tanks for fuel also acting as high quality flotation. This helps the large, slow aircraft receive the proper effect of flight and move through the air with surprising ease, making it one of the easier to fly, if less agile, planes in the Marshite arsenal. This is in addition to the t-tail configuration. Smoother and faster flow of air pressure with superior pitch control and expected design parameters. It is made out of the same high-strength titanium superalloy, allowing it to handle the forces made by the plane. Older t-tails were hard to maintain, but the relative lack of complexity of the design of the t-tail and the high-performance electronics and wiring package are leas and bounds better than older designs. While the t-tail has several notable disadvantages, none of them should come into play during standard use of the FB-2A2. A computerized HUD-interfaced cockpit has cut down on weight and instrumentation. The whole aircraft, including the rotating bomb bay is sealed, against seawater incursion at very high psi. More than a few FB-2A2s have fallen victim to rough seas and capsized. The plane can be repaired but most importantly even sinking FB-2A2s have shown to be capable for days or weeks at a time of sustaining life. In 2001, an FB-2A2 of the 80th First Strike Wing capsized during a massive storm. The craft took damage and was forced to be stripped, but the crew was able to survive for two weeks inside the FB-2A2 unharmed until they were located by submarine and raised by a battlecruiser. This should not be taken as a sign of it being able to handle deep depths; the lightweight construction eventually gives in, leading to total loss.
Propulsion and Performance
The FB-2A2 needed an engine that could handle low-speed flight for long periods of time as well as occasional sea water. It had to be low-maintenance and work in the configuration needed. The solution was present in the Highcairn Manufacturing Zone L-120 (145kN x 2) high-bypass turbofan engine, but a small variant was needed. A slight decreases in kn down to 140 resulted in a slightly more reliable model, giving the FB-2A2 what it needs. The configuration has some base similarities to the LY911, allowing the development of the variant to be relatively pain free. It can fly at a speed of 710 MPH though it often chooses to fly at a lower speed. They are fitted in overwing pods to reduce salt intake, though it is not unheard of for the plane to operate in poor sea environments thanks to the highly reliable and capable engine. The high performance and stability of the engine combined with the construction of the plane gives it considerable range, allowing it to be used in small squadrons placed at strategic locations. It can be refueled by submarines, tankers, or aerial refuelers depending on mission.
Avionics
In keeping with the almost unanimously held Marshite drive to standardise where possible, every effort was made to ensure that the FB-2A2's electronics suite was not simply state-of-the-art and highly suited to its role, but would also interact seamlessly with other-in-service Lyran, Lamonian, Marshite, and Fedala-equivalent systems.
The platform uses a digital 'fly-by-optics' control system, with artificial stability control. This allows the aircraft to sustain terrible damage but, because of its inherent stability combined with the fly by optics, still make it back to base. For safety purposes, the stability control interfaces are quadruple redundant. If combat damage has rendered all these control interfaces inoperable, there isn't a plane left to control in any case.
The Stormhawk, along with a large number of modern aircraft, features a glass cockpit without any conventional instrumentation. Default layout includes three full colour Multi-function Head Down Displays (MHDDs) for both the pilot and CSO, a panoramic HUD with BALCOTH-type data-interface, Voice & Hands On Throttle And Stick control methodology, Multifunction Information Distribution System, an auxiliary Manual Data Entry Facility and a Dedicated Warnings Panel.
The pilot flies the aircraft by means of a a fairly conventional centre-stick and left-hand throttle set up, although voice commands are available if desired/required. Emergency escape is provided by a pair of Symmetriad 'Laertes IV' ejection seats, with the canopy being jettisoned by two rocket motors.
The hub of the FB-2A2, is the Cromwell II battlespace management system. In terms of electronic uplinking and data sharing, the Serpent is thus, in terms of information, extremely similar to many recent Lyran AFV designs, including the LY4A2 and LY224, and in-development LY6A1, as well as the Yanitarian YA-28 and YA-42. The Warhawk is fitted with a highly extensive sensor suite so as to enable the transmission of as much information as possible into any extant battlenet, while possessing substantial internal (multiple-redundant) computational facilities so as to handle required downloads from that selfsame network or its own aforementioned sensor systems. It is worth mentioning that the vast majority of gathered information is NOT displayed to the operators, but is nevertheless known to the battlespace system (and aircraft itself), which determines relevant information, as displays to the flight crew as appropriate.
The result is an integrated and adaptive battlespace network that maximises combat lethality, performance, and output, and also enables command and control on an unprecedented scale. Information is sourced not only from multiple sources on the individual platform, but from every Cromwell II equipped friendly vehicle within the battlespace, land, sea, air and space, which provides constant informational updates across a broad spectrum of sources, both known to the operators, and operating below their awareness. In recent years the Cromwell II system has begun to mature as a force-multiplier, with effectiveness of the system increasingly and exponentially evident to all but the most entrenched detractors. Image and pattern recognition software constantly interfaces with sensory systems (even while the given input is not being examined by crew), and the results both relayed to friendly and superior force elements, and also displayed for action by operators.
At the most basic level, the Cromwell II system aims to accelerate engagement cycles and increase operational tempo at all levels of the warfighting system. This acceleration is achieved by providing a mechanism to rapidly gather and distribute targeting information, and rapidly issue directives. Cromwell II's ultra-high speed networking permits almost completely error-free, high integrity transmission in a bare fraction of the time required for voice-based transmission, and permits transfer of a wide range of data formats, from a multitude of compatible sources.
In case of an emergency, the vehicle can be operated by a single member of its two-person crew, with all operating functions able to be accessed by either pilot or CSO. The Cromwell system can autonomously locate and track detected targets, comparing them both to known hostiles (identified by datalink) or targets established by image recognition (again as available via information uplink), avoid blue-on-blue engagements and fire its main gun without needing any input from a human operator, although the absence of a human operator will adversely affect engagement tempo.
The crew-stations borrow extensively from the interfaces on the more advanced Lyran and Fedalan vehicles, and utilise a far more advanced and adaptive control interface than that of earlier marks of aerospace craft or AFVs. The new system integrates the data gathered by the vehicle's external sensors and projects it directly onto the HUD inside the crew's headset-visor, a feature not dissimilar to that utilised in the BALCOTH helmet and on the Fedalan-grade crew interfaces of the YA-42. As the operator turns his head, the view pans, and the image displayed can be either a direct projection of the ground, air and environs, as would be seen with the naked eye were the vehicle's hull not in the way, or various overlays, magnification and enhancements that can be applied or superimposed to highlight important elements (such as friendly ground forces – very important during a bombing run). Note that this feature ensures the absence of the traditional 6 o'clock-low blindspot, as the crew are able to 'see' by means of the sensor suite, and thus take action accordingly, in a way that would be impossible for aircraft using more conventional electronics.
From this point, either physical or voice activated controls are then used as required. By way of example, the vehicle commander may look left, with the Cromwell automatically adjusting the firing solution to whatever is under the helmet-reticle (assuming the function is activated). With Cromwell having identified hostile dismounted infantry, the CSO simply places the targetting reticle (located by default in the centre of his HUD) upon the desired target, selects appropriate weapon (say, a 500kg laser-guided thermobaric bomb), and presses the firing stud. Alternatively, he could centre the reticle at a target, and designate it for engagement by accompanying forces, by either voice command or toggle. Targets can be sequenced for engagement, and the operator may target and fire in a similar manner using any of the vehicle's weapons, flight commanders may sequence targets for engagement by subordinate force elements. Designated command stations can be switched, if the situation requires, and vice versa, due to the intuitive and flexible command systems, and adaptive interface provided by the Cromwell system. As a consequence, awareness and engagement speeds of the Stormhawk are extremely fast, especially given the platform's size.
Targetting and display speeds are such that they allow real-time orientation and lag-free look-shoot capability, particularly when combined with high off-boresight-capable munitions. A single aircraft, without non-organic Cromwell-sensory system support, can independently track up to eighty-five targets, and fire upon as many as there are missiles to release. When data-links from friendlies are able to handle more of the detection and processing load, the number of targets able to be tracked rises exponentially with no 'crash high' yet found.
As with every Lyran vehicle, the electrics of the platform, more specifically the circuitry, are composed of Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), rendering the vehicle proof against electromagnetic interference or EMP-based attack, although the GaAs is itself a highly expensive addition. Given the ever increasing utilisation of sophisticated electronic and sensory systems, shielding these systems is, now more than ever, deemed a centre of gravity for the platform's protective systems. It was quickly reasoned that when operating in an environment which may include anti-strategic platforms such as the LY4032 “Rampart”, the chances of the platform encountering high levels of electromagnetic interference goes up dramatically, and the dangers presented by these and similar munitions far outweighs the relatively modest (though expensive in absolute terms) cost of the implementation of GaAs components.
The immense potential of this as a feature of military system was demonstrated in spectacular fashion during the Stoklomolvi Civil War, when Lyran warships not only saved the lives of countless Stoklomolvi civilians by defending them from nuclear attack on two separate instances, but also then, in both cases, were able to exploit the massive EMP side-effect the 'Rampart' generates in nuclear defence. The result was a carrier battle group destroyed, to no Lyran loss. While not a land-based example, the lesson has been learned, and gallium arsenide is set to stay as a standard feature of Lyran electrics for the some time to come.
In other conflicts, Stormhawk flown by the Church conducted a number of strikes against slaver and cultist forces, conducting several thousand sorties.
With a strike success rate of 91 percent (ahead of the next nearest, being 73 percent Warhawks), the Stormhawk demonstrated a capability to operate in all conditions that has been, thus far, second to none. This is despite heavy electromagnetic interference, in the form of LY4032 defence against inbound Cultist thermonuclear weaponry, and high concentrations of surface-to-air defensive systems.
Cromwell does not, despite its potency, constitute the sum total of electrical systems of the vehicle, although it is the co-ordinating system. Present on the platform are a host of more standard avionics, with which (at least in general terms) most people familiar with the aerospace industry should be comfortable.
The 14kw system's capabilities include high resolution synthetic apperture radar mapping (which works in conjunction with Cromwell, GPS, INS and sidescan-TFR to not only provide extremely precise details of location, but also serves to update the battlenet as to the layout of terrain on the ground), multiple ground moving target indication and track (GMTI/GMTT), combat IFF and classification, electronic warfare resistance, automatic target prioritising and ultra high bandwidth communications, and a veritable suite of additional features.
The second pseudo-conventional (in conceptualisation) system of note is the AN/ASQ-240 Advanced Polyspectral Combat Sensor Array (APSCSA – normally referred to as the 'Apsca'). The Apsca features a 360 x 360 degree multi-sensor, electro-optical locator/targeting system, complete with IR, low-light digital CCD TV, laser range-finder/designator, and laser spot tracker. Full-duplex Cromwell-datalink allows information to be processed and disseminated to friendlies, while it is received by the platform. The package, in toto, dramatically increases capabilities for target detection, acquisition, recognition and engagement, and permits reliable all-weather, day and night engagement of multiple targets by a single aircraft, in a single pass. Further, the design is modular for ease of maintenance and upgrade, and comes complete with a Lyran Arms fair-wear-and-tear warranty for fifteen years, and technical support on-call to assist in maintaining it.
As with most modern combat aircraft, the Serpent features a TFR/INS/Cromwell-backed-GPS integral navigational array. The chances of navigational error are extremely slim. So slim, in fact, that it is more likely that if a stray Serpent claims it is having a 'navigational error', then something suspicious is going on.
Never neglecting the Mk1 eyeball's importance, ambient light sensors with auto-compensating NV systems (imaged without operator input) are mounted on the inside of the operator's helmet displays, providing high-resolution imaging in all conditions, enabling very high degrees of night-combat visibility. Still in the visible spectrum, the Serpent carries, as standard, high- and low-altitude panoramic cameras, datalinked via a battlespace network, which can provide real-time reconnaissance to higher levels of command.
Armament
The FB-2A2 Serpent Skies carries a heavy armament towards its goal of being a first strike aircraft. It does not feature hardpoints on the outside of the aircraft due to the design of the Serpent Skies and the seawater possibly eroding explosive decides. Internally, ten thousand kilograms of space is available and a Serpent Skies can be outfitted with any combination of weaponry below that threshold. The only truly limiting factor is getting the munitions themselves. They are often transported by submarine, with crew members being trained to arrange the modular rack in accordance with what munitions are expected. Additionally, two MA-340s are used to repel any manner of localized, waterborne assault by special forces. It is capable of laying mines and even dropping nuclear devices.
Amenities
Marshite vehicles have rarely placed an emphasis on amenities on aircraft and vehicles, being far more devoted to the ideals of efficiency than anything else. However, crews of the Serpent Skies are often deployed for years alone. As such, several accommodations are made- and precautions taken.
Consistent internet access is not a feature of the Serpent Skies for security purposes. Security software, in conjunction with signals intelligence and electronic sweeping, only allows windows of activity when it has deemed cybersafe clean enough for burst transmissions of data. This is how the crew can keep in touch with others and how they are capable of downloading the latest sermons and television shows, along with movies and sporting events. Displays on the aircraft's hud can be personalized or splashed for all three crew members.
A compartment above the seating that is closed off acts as a three person bunk. To the back of cockpit, right next to trthe bomb bay doors, is a toilet. Cleaning of clothes, bathing, and cooking water are provided by another system. Pulling back the panels behind the cockpit reveals a small three foot by three foot square hole that is six feet deep. A switch allows seawater to be sucked into it. It is then heated by the aircraft itself and desalinated by the onboard automatic saltwater tablet dispersion system. Once a proper amount of water has been collected, the boat will stop allowing seawater into the craft. This is enough water for a bath or a cleaning of clothes, after which the water is drained out of the Serpent, or as a collection of clean drinking and cooking water. In the event this system fails, on-board water supplies are sufficient. Food and water supplies are kept in a storage locker to the left of the pilot's rear, with a small stove and mini oven- plus microwave, all built into the craft internally- to the right of the co-pilot's rear. Underneath all seats is ample space for personal belongings.
Because of the tight quarters and long deployment, it is recommended that crew members be family, pass a series of tests, or be intimate.
Export
The FB-2A2 is a wonderful tool of war, but it is limited. It does not have the size or armament to blow apart enemy formations, but it's ability to be absolutely undetected and swift to respond to a crisis due to it's angle of attack and ability to fly at low altitude makes it a unique weapon. No replacement for dedicated bombers, the Serpent Skies has more than enough usefulness for nations that have expeditionary forces.
The FB-2A2 costs $49.8 million standard NS dollars.
The FB-2A2 can be purchased through Covenant Arms.
