Class: SA-43 "Hammerhead"
Dimensions:
Personnel Systems:
Propulsion Systems:
Tactical Systems:
Shield/Armour Systems:
Sensor Systems:
Hull Life: 20 Years Refit Cycle:
The idea behind the Hammerhead was to provide Starfleet with a long range multi-role fighter that would be able to fill many mission profiles. This ranges from simple patrol or recon missions to attack runs on capitol ships and planetary defense. Lt. Shipman, the ship's designer, conceived the idea during the Insurrection of 2399. While he had sided with rebel forces at Starbase 202: Arcadia, the fleet found themselves with a lack of knowledge on the enemy fleet's movements. The presence of a long range recon fighter would have given the forces at Arcadia an idea the enemy's formations while putting as few officers in danger as possible. Due to the Hammerhead's unique design, the ship has a very small sensor cross section, allowing it to pass unnoticed by long range sensor scans. At Medium range the fighter appears as a small shuttle or a hunk of debris when powered down. At Short range the fighter is a fighter, though the compact design does make it harder to target. The Hammerhead incorporates a number of design features from the Defiant Class, the Danube Class Runabout and several shuttle craft. While most of the systems were redesigned to fit into the Hammerhead's space frame, they all stay true to there original specifications. Ship Navigation and Propulsion Information:
For sub light and atmospheric flight, the Hammerhead has twin tandem impulse engines that are located next to the internal nacelles. These are engines have there own deuterium fuel supply. As well, it has the standard RCS thruster package for high speed, sub light course changes. The Hammerhead is equipped with two sets of sensors. The first, which will be covered in this section, is the fighters Navigational sensors. These are of standard design and are very close to those used on many small craft in use currently in Starfleet. There are sensor pallets at various locations over the ship to allow for the pilot to see what is happening all around his small vessel. Ship Tactical Information:
As mentioned above, the ship has a second set of sensors. These are the tactical sensors that are linked to the Hammerhead's weapons systems. Due to the fact that the fighter only has forward firing weapons, the enhanced tactical sensors are only located on the front of the ship. The reasoning behind the enhancement of the tactical sensors is to allow the fighter to engage other fighters as well as capitol ships. The targeting sensors have two modes. The first is the passive scan mode, which only collects data that comes to the ship. The second is the active scan mode, which seeks out information as well as collecting what comes to the ship. The Hammerhead's shield system has been adapted from the Type 11 Shuttle. The only major change was the width of the shield coverage to allow for the atmospheric wings of the SA-43 Hammerhead. Other then that, the fighers shields are nearly identical to the Type 11 Shuttle. Personnel and Crew Information:
In the event of an emergency, the cockpit can be used as an escape pod. This is the second reason for each Hammerhead carrying rations in the cockpit. The downside to this system is that there are more connection cables, which can be damages easily if not looked after properly. Operation Information:
On Starships, usually one shuttle bay has been converted to allow for the Hammerhead's unique flight deck, however the SA-43 can operate without the need for the specialized flight deck. In cases like this the Hammerhead can make use of it's standard VTOL (Vertical Take Off/Landing) systems. This is used mostly on Planetary Facilities or when a Fighter Wing is on detached assignment from it's usual base of operations. The Hammerhead may also use it's VTOL systems to land on any flat piece of land that is capable of accommodating it's size and weight. This allows the fighters to make emergency landings on hospitable planets. For this purpose, a small cargo compartment has been installed into the space frame, containing a weeks worth of survival supplies and a very simply repair kit for the ship. As well, one type III Pulse Phaser Rifle with an extra power cell has been included into the survival kit. |
The
fighter's nacelles tucked up into the main body of the space frame, allowing
the ships armour to protect them. This feature was from the Defiant's nacelle
concept, allowing for the ships warp engines to have the same armour as
other systems. The warp core that powers these engines is the Iroquois
Matter/AntiMatter Warp Core, designed by Maverick Systems specifically
for the Hammerhead fighter. This horizontally aligned warp core is located
between the fighter's nacelles and slightly raised. It is of similar design
to the Danube's warp core.
For
the torpedo system, the Hammerhead can be equipped with two (2) micro-torpedo
launchers, each launcher having a loud out of 25 Micro-Torpedoes, making
for a total load of 50 Micro-Torpedoes. In addition, the ship can be equipped
with two (2) "Fire and Forget" torpedo launchers. The "Fire and Forget"
system is a redesign of the one the Danube class uses. For the Hammerhead
the module was reduced in size to fit under the fighters atmospheric flight
wings. Each "Fire and Forget" launcher can carry up to 3 Photon or Quantum
Torpedoes, making for a total load of 6 torpedoes.
The
Hammerhead flight deck is made up of only the cockpits of each fighter
for one Squadron. Once the pilot isaboard, the cockpit closes and
then lowers into the waiting fighter below. This allows for many fighters
to be launched with little confusion on the flight decks in a short period
of time. This also allows for the actually fighter bays to be decompressed
long before launch, as well as making it harder for the Hammerhead's cockpit
cables to become damaged while not the fighters are not in use.