Front Line Heavy Fighter - Jaguar-Class

The Jaguar Class Fighter marks Starfleets first successful attempt at creating a fighter which demonstrates true 'stealth' capabilities. Designed by Rear Admiral Taddy Mitchell, the Jaguar Class is modelled in part on the effective Spectre Light Fighter design by utilizing the experimental 'Soliton Wave' propulsion system, as well as the navigational and lateral sensor arrays.

The fighter is equipped with 2 Type IX Phaser Banks, 2 Rapid Fire Quantum Torpedo Tubes, carrying a maximum 100 13cm Micro-Torpedoes. Mounted on the side pylons are 4 Type IX Pulse Phaser Cannons. Although its armament is similair to that of the Spectre Class, the true danger of this Fighter comes from its advanced stealth & evasion technology.

A complex series of external holographic projectors have been incorporated directly into the hull of the Jaguar Class, which confer a chameleon-like ability to adjust hull reflectivity and emissivity. This gives a fair imitation of cloaking without the massive power consumption that usually reserves such cloaking devices for larger capital ships. Not only does it make the Jaguar extremely difficult to detect with even the most advanced of ship-based sensor equipment, it makes a positive weapons lock-on even more difficult.

Powered by a large fusion generator mounted at the aft of the Fighter, the Holo-Stealth works by creating a holo matrix around the fighter which can take the form of anything from a small shuttle, to as large as a Klingon Bird of Prey - however the larger the holomatrix the shorter the time it can be maintained. Although unable to fire while its stealth is engaged, by the time their stealth is disengaged and their cover revealed, the last of their pulse phaser blasts will be tearing through their enemies hull with deadly efficiency.

The Wasp is a small, one pilot fighter vessel. A fast and maneuverable fighter, it has one role: combat. It is armed with 4 Type IX+ pulse phaser cannons, providing enough power for all but the largest starships to take notice of. It is moderately shielded for a fighter, but has very little scientific sensors. This is it's main weakness, a lack of versatility. Unlike the Spectre, Timmis or Jade fighters the Wasp is not equipped with a cloaking device, or any other stealth devices. This means that any recon handled by a Wasp will probably be noticed by the enemy, so the scouts will probably run into trouble. For this reason, other fighters are usually used for recon. But when it comes to a fight, the Wasp is one of the best in the fleet, against any class of opponent.

The small target of the Wasp is one of the vessels advantages - coupled with it's speed, even the best computer assisted targeting will have difficulty in hitting the fighter. Four external hard points are located on the vessel, compatible with additional sensors, pulse phaser's, torpedo magazines or fuel pods. Addition of these will reduce the fighters agility.

The Wasp carries pulse phaser cannons to deliver maximum damage per shot. Computer assisted targeting allows for more accurate shots, with the computer adjusting the cannons slightly according to targeting data. There is the possibility of the addition of an extra two pulse phaser cannons to the ship, though the accompanying power relays etc. would lower the ships maneuvering by up to 27%.

A small number of micro-torpedoes are carried to complement the primary phaser cannons, and are optimized for targeting smaller vessels. The launch tube is conciliable.

The Wasp is an agile fighter, allowing it to take on tougher ships without getting hit, as well as being able to keep up with the more maneuverable ships.

Modified Micro-Impulse system. The drives themselves are have thrust-vectoring nozzles, which affect both the vertical and horizontal planes of movement. With this the craft is able to point it's nose in a different direction from the path of flight, for a sustained time, with the engines still providing thrust. This is useful against larger vessels, as the fighter can fly parallel to an enemy ship whilst attacking it with it's forward weaponry.

A Solition wave system is carried on the Wasp to keep the vessels size and mass to low levels, which aids the ship's agility and lowering the target profile.

Impulse drive interference creates a blind spot behind fighter, 60 degrees horizontally and 30 degrees vertically. Fighters can have a tail pod sensor array added to negate this, which reduces agility by 8% of original.

The high power requirements for a cloaking device and a fighter's inherent difficulty to detect, relative to a starship, mean that a cloaking device has not been fitted.

The hull of the vessel has a small amount of ablative armor in place, though it is heavier around the vessels fuel tanks. The ship relies on it's small size to not take hits, rather than be armored against them.

The cockpit contains a semi-reclined seat and raised foot position, HUD, Multi-Function displays, control stick and a throttle. It is a far cry from the luxury offered in most starfleet vessels. Due to any rations being limited to what the pilot can take in with him/her, the Wasp is usually taken via a carrier to any offensive action.

Starfleet, although on a peaceful mission, has often come into conflict with other races. The majority of our forces are scientific vessels, and have been bested by dedicated warships on many occasions. Starships require large crew's and materials to construct and maintain, and will always have to maintain some degree of versatility in their design. Fighters provides the fleet with a vessel capable of defending our systems against many classes of threat, other fighters to medium scale warships, at a low cost of both materials and personnel. The Wasp is a fighter that provides great versatility on the battlefield, able to fight in a major fleet confrontation to escorting freighters along potentially hazardous routes. The Wasps combat versatility is it's major advantage over other more specialized fighters. While other fighters may pack more weapons or speed, the Wasp gives good levels in all of a combat vessel's needs, allowing it to be used in nearly any type of situation.

Spider Drones MK II
Almost exactly the same in appearance to normal Spider Drones (details given below), they are a little larger (4' high) and have a little more processing power then their smaller cousins. They have rudimentary voice commands built in ("Bring that box over here", "Go back to your recharge station") and this software may be adapted as is necessary. I propose that the numbers of these drones are limited to 4 maximum per vessel.

Modified SD MK II (Phaser Drones)
Essentially just a Spider Drone MK II with phaser attachments, these are designed for use by an agent located in a safe position. Via an encrypted communications channel, the operative controls the drone via special gloves and glasses. If for any reason the comm channel is cut, the drone immediately attempts to lock itself to the surface in whatever way possible (normally through the use of bolts in the tips of it's feet which can drive themselves through upto 2" of solid tritanium), serving as a "turret" of sorts until command protocols are re-established. Their computer -can- recognise friendlies and hostiles, if fed information beforehand. I propose that the numbers of these drones are limited to 2 maximum per vessel.