Hawk

The Hawk is a 60PSL+ starfighter produced and deployed by the Gudersnipe Foundation between A.Y. 5979 and A.Y. 6871, a period of 892 years, making it the second longest-running production fighter in Foundation history, with the Condor and its 1150-year production period claiming the #1 slot.

Design

The Hawk shares many features in common with the Condor, though is not considered a direct descendant. Over 965 years passed between the two, though many features such as dual engine systems were directly inspired by Condor's success.

The Hawk was designed and tested at a remote Gudersnipe School outbase, by a design team of students. Their assignment was to prodouce a replacement for the aging Vulture-class of 50PSL+ starfighter.

The requirments for the Hawk were fairly simple: increased speed, increased defensive payload, increased operating window, decreased turnaround. A daunting challenge, until one considers that 256 years had passed since the Hawk was placed into service.

But the Hawk actually looked to much older technology for it's advancments. By borring the elements that made the Condor a success, they developed the next generation of long-production fighter.

Key Features

The Hawk uses a single high-efficiency Ion vacuum drive with a single intake piped to dual outputs for it's primary normal-space drive engine, with four Bussard Ramjets for main acceleration, and an FTL drive.

Because of it's five normal-space engines, the Hawk's acceleration curve actually qualifies it for status as a 70PSL+fighter, but it looses manuverability when traveling faster than 60PSL, this limiting its dog-fighting abilities in the upper ranges. The lack of manuverability is caused by slow responce from the Bussard engines: while excelent at going fast in a straight line, they are useless as a manuvering engine.

In addition, the Hawk's main engine was single-directional, like the ramjets, making it only able to apply thrust in a single direction using any engines beyond it's orbital manuvering system.

Bird's Teeth

Where the Harpy trully showed it's teeth was in the 40-50PSL range where capital ships generally operated. Though lacking in manuverability at speed, the Hawk was extremly down in the lower ranges. It's utility as a capital ship escort kept it in service for nearly 900 years, when a [{Kami|Kamian]] trap would have doomed it only 118 years later.