P-40: 2x .50 cal MGs (nose), 2x .30 cal MGs (wing)
P-40B/C: 2x .50 cal MGs (nose), 4x .30 cal MGs (wing)
P-40D/E/F/K/M/N: 6x .50 cal MGs (wing) except for first 20 -Ds and some of the -Ns, they had 4. Some of the -Ns, -Ls, and the -Q had 4x .50s due to removing two to lighten the plane. These were frequently restored in the field or depots. The SC version of the P-40B (what I call the H81-A2SC), carries 6x .50 cal MGs instead of the standard armament. I love the P-40 series if no one can tell. Oh, the basic idea is that Dex and his team helped develop the six-gun wing with the designers and thus Cap's plane was refitted with it before the improved Warhawks with the F-series engines (P-40D onward) were produced.
Those are fun planes. When I was on the Yorktown a few months ago (spent two nights in racks, 'twas awesome), one of the planes they had was an F4U-1A, it was massive and gorgeous, as was the A-1 Skyraider parked next to it and the F4F-4 down the line. There are Spitfire blueprints at õÇÏÌÏË ÎÅÂÁ, those might help.
My personal favs from WWII include the P-40 series, P-51 series (especially the early models, including the Allison engine-equipped ones), the F4U, the Bf-109F, and the Hurricane.
I enjoyed Sky Captain, it reinterested me in the whole pulp, retro-futuristic genre, although it could have been better.
Just a quick update since I'm at a party, I just wanted to post some stuff I did today at work. First up is a new background history for the Viper Mk II. The pic is an early preview of the family of Mk IIs I'm going to do, I'll probably get some more done this evening and definately tomorrow.
Early in the war, the Viper Mk I starfighter was master of the skies. It was faster and more manuverable than the more heavily armored Colonial War-era Raiders piloted by the Cylons. Colonial military planners felt the need for another design to suplement the Mk I in fleet hangers. Ultimately, they decided on a pair of new designs, a heavy starfighter, capable of carrying heavy loads and absorbing heavy damage. The other was a lightweight, more austere dogfighter utilizing as many of the Mk I components as possible. The result of these design studies became the Viper Mk's II and III. The Mk II was the lightweight component and initially featured the Voram VM3-D15 a smaller version of the D14 engines on the Mk I, as well as a broadly similar cockpit and identical MEC-A2 autocannons. The Mk II had a newer and lighter composite fuselage and larger wings, enabling a heavier weapons payload, usually unguided air-to-ground munitions or air-to-air missiles. The new fighter lacked some capabilities of the Mk I, such as inflight refueling initially and had lighter, more compact, and generally less powerful dradis and avionics. Over the course of the war, the austere fighter was consistently upgraded, eventually becoming more capable than it's earlier cousin. The same engine modifications, including the /a and /b model engines were incorporated into later production blocks and depot refits. A new canopy with much improved visibility and cockpit space was installed beginning about midway through the war. A similar cockpit, differing mostly in that it was hinged unlike the sliding canopy installed on the Mk II. The newer MEC-A6 autocannons were also incorporated into the design later in the war, a simple modification due to sharing the same mounting brackets as the earlier cannons. The biggest modification during the war was the inclusion of an underbelly bulge containing either a fuel tank or small missile bay, relieving, along with finally installed inflight refueling gear, the short legs of the fighter.
After the war, the Mk's I, II, III, and IV were the fighter components of the Colonial fleet. The Fleet budget was dramatically slashed by the war-weary Quorum and procurement plans for new ships and fighters stopped. All of the main types of fighters were maintained immediately after the war, with early blocks being shunted to reserve and militia squadrons, as well as reserve stocks on Sagittaron and Leonis. The late model Viper Mk IIs were broadly as capable as their Mk I cousins and proved to be much cheaper to operate. After the retirement of the Mk I and the expensive Mk III, the Mk II was the dominant remaining fighter in fleet service, serving alongside the last active duty Viper Mk IVs. Decades later, following the short production of a new lightweight fighter, the Viper Mk V, and the failure of the Mk VI development project, the Viper Mk II wearily served on. The Mk II was never substantially modified after the initial postwar refits, mostly recieving software and electronics updates. Unfortunately, the aging spaceframes were beginning to wear out, the oldest of them were forced to be grounded from age and the heavy stress from nearly fifty years of active duty. The newer craft continued on, but they required increasing amounts of maintenance to keep in the air, upwards of thirty maintenance hours for each hour of flight-time in some cases. A replacement design was finally procured, named the Viper Mk VII. The Mk VII quickly replaced the remaining ancient Mk IIs, the last Mk II on active service completing it's last flight on the 35th anniversary of the end of the Cylon war. The Viper landed amid celebration, at it's new permanent home, the Colonial Museum of Flight at the Corinth Airbase on Aerelon. A few Mk IIs continued in Colonial Militia squadrons, piloted by warriors alongside the few remaining Viper Mk IVs and the new Scorpion Mk IV fighters that were in the process of replacing the few remaining Cylon War-era Vipers still in service.
Here's a WIP of an escort carrier derived from the destroyer. It has a minimum hanger, able to support a few Vipers for maintenance and such. THe rest of the wing is stored on the flight deck, mostly underneath the enclosed part of the hanger. Underneath the forward flight deck is a small elevator to raise pilots to planes stored out on the forward deck. The forward part of the hanger that extends out is mostly filled with munitions and fuel bunkerage. There is an LSO place at the aft end of the covered portion. The former aft torpedo launcher emplacements are now AAA gatling gun mounts and one replaces the docking port immediately aft of the navigation bridge, there is a CIC deep inside the ship as well. I'm posting a normal pic and one with callouts. I'll detail it more later. Okay, I think that's it.
I wrote up a new background history for the Mk V while at work this morning, I'll work on some more stuff, including tweaking this during the afternoon.
Several decades after the end of the Cylon war, the Colonial Fleet fighter branch was primarily composed of aging Mk IV and Mk II Viper starfighters. The old designs dated back to wartime and had a wide range of dates for spaceframes ranging from construction during the Cylon War to the Mk IIs still rolling off the assembly lines. In an effort to reduce costs, both operations and maintenance, a competition for a new light-weight and reduce cost Viper was announced. Several companies submitted prototypes since the contract promised to be a huge one and likely the largest since the war. The winner was an "in-house" design team and contracts for licensed production to several companies. The new fighter was accepted into service as the Viper Mk V. Not the sleekest of designs, the Mark V was very simple in design, emphasizing speed and manuverability, making it a superb dogfighter easily capable of outturning it's predecessors. A major flaw in the overall design was the limited heavy weapons carrying capacity that limited it's ability to perform air-to-ground and combat air support missions, very important in the moneytight fleet. However, the design was still more capable and more inexpensive then the other designs.
In service, the pilots loved the new design. It was regarded as a pilot's plane and a joy to fly. It featured licensed-built improved MEC-A6B autocannons and could carry a limited weapons loadout on four underwing pylons. The engines were newer decendents of the engines of the Mk II and were Voram VM3-D26s, the last members of that engine family to be produced before the newer VM6s were designed. The framed canopy provided very good visibility, due in part to the fact that it extended down the sides of the fighter drastically increasing visibility to the sides and lower quarters. Maintenance crews loved the Mk V almost as much as the pilots since they were easy to maintain and simple to work on, almost all of the tech being modernized versions of war-era equipment. This is what caused the death of the Mk V in fleet service though. After years of service it became readily apparent that the war-era engines, weapons and such had reached their inherint limits and although the Mark V was a fine craft, it was not going to be able to be pushed much farther than the Mark II, indeed, the greatest advance by this point was the Mk V's much reduced maintenance costs. As a result, the Mk V production contracts were cancelled after a few hundered had been produced. New designs were sought to replace all the fighters in current service with a new from the ground up design, a requirement finally fulfilled by the Viper Mk VII. Prior to the new designs being produced, refurbished Mk IIs became the standard fighter craft, a single design to cut costs of materials and training. Nevertheless, the design blueprints of the Mk V were incorporated into the computers for new battlestars capable of builing fighters.
Besides frontline squadron service, the Mk V saw many other roles in the Colonial military. A half-dozen of the fighters were disarmed and painted in high visibility red and blue colors and equipped the Colonial flight demostration team, the famous Novas. The team had been flying Viper Mk IIs for two decades, replacing the older Mk Is they had flown in the immediate post-war era. Six of the first Mk Vs were the craft diverted to the team. Also, the Viper Fighter Weapons School, a training school for both air-to-ground and, even more so, aerial combat, flew several squadrons of Mk Vs as OPFOR (opposing force) adversary craft. These adversaries were stripped of much of their equipment, including missile capabilities and inflight refueling, reducing weight and increasing both speed and manuverability even farther. These "hot-rod" Vipers, painted usually in camoflague schemes, were ideal for the adversary training role and were much fear by the pilots attending the courses. The heavy stress from frequent high-G manuvers and in atmosphere flight caused the spaceframes of the Mk Vs to age rapidly, even resulting in a fleetwide grounding after two of the fighters brokeup during a simulated dogfight. After the premature retirement of the Mk V from fleet service, the VFWS managed to aquire nearly all of the good condition Vipers, modifying them and using them for spare parts and replacements.
Almost uniquely, the Viper Mk V was never procured in a two-seat trainer form. The cockpits were patterned after the earlier Mk IIs so Viper T.Mk IIs or T.Mk I-40s could be programed to respond like Mk Vs and used in their stead.
Okay, I started work on the Mk V again, cleaned it up and changed some things. Just the side view so far but it's pretty much complete. The other pic is for one of the rejected Mk V designs, in this case, a new production and heavily modified Mk IV design, incorporating new engines, three cannons, and a bubble canopy. It's still a WIP, I need to rebuild and detail the wings still. The following text is for the Scarlet Viper.
During the Cylon war, the air group commander (CAG) of the battlestar Rycon severly damaged his Viper Mk I block 20 starfighter. Rycon was on detached duty and behind enemy lines and was in critical need of more fighters. Rather than scrapping the wrecked starfighter, the deck chief cobbled it back together, combining the fuselage and engines from the Mk I-20 with a set of spare EW.Mk I wings. He fitted each of the wings with an autocannon in the former ECM pods while maintaining the standard weapons fit, giving the fighter a withering five forward firing cannons. The deck crew painted the entire fighter with an overall dark red paint scheme, replacing the ordinary grey with yellow trim. This gave rise to the nickname for Vipers modified like this, especially the original, the Scarlet Viper. The CAG used the Viper for the rest of the war, leading attacks with the powerful ship. By the end of the war, the Scarlet Viper was well known and many senior admirals tried to have the CAG and his ship transferred to a safer asignment, fearfull of the morale damage if it was destroyed. The Cylons eventually were able to identify that particular ship by sight, mostly because of the unique paint scheme and there are recored instances where squadrons of Raiders would retreat at the first sign of the Scarlet Viper. Many other Vipers were modified in this way during the war, although none others had the scarlet paint scheme. The major disadvantage, and primary reason that it wasn't mass-produced, was that the modified Vipers could not fit in the standard launch tubes and were forced to launch from the flight deck. Any of the production blocks of the wartime Vipers, the Mk I, II, III, and very rarely IV, could be refitted with the Scarlet Viper modifications. As for the original, the legendary fighter remained the mount of the CAG immediately after the war until he was promoted and given command of his own battlestar. At that time, the Scarlet Viper was retired and donated to the Colonial Museum of Flight at the Corinth airbase on Aerelon, where it has a place of honor in the Cylon war exhibit hall.
mmm... that escort carrier looks sweet.
the Mk.V not bad also, and the rejected MK.V prototype looks like the father, or grandpa of the Mk.VII, a little like an hybrid of that and a MK.II.
Thanks Sanjurjo. You're closer than you think with the rejected Mk V. I wrote up a new background for the Viper Mk VII and that prototype is in there.
Viper Mark VII
Following the limited service of the Viper Mk V and the cancellation of the Mk VI project, the Colonial fleet was left with old designs filling it's fighter wings. Money at the time was limited, most funding for small craft was going into development and production of the Raptor multi-purpose craft. As a result, the fleet squadrons at this time were generally only equipped with newer-build Mk IIs and the last remaining Mk Vs. A crash development project was iniated to design a new fighter to completely replace the older designs and be capable of performing all of the standard fighter missions and those not fulfilled by the new Raptor. Instead of the highly unconventional layout of the Mk VI, the designers reverted to the conventional engine and weapon configuration. Incidently, the team had been one of the forerunners for the Mk V program, loosing out to an in-house design. Many of the features made for their failed Mk V were incorporated into the new design, including a bubble canopy and, eventually, three cannons instead of the normal two. The new design was much longer than the older Vipers but not much larger, a requirment for the design was that it be compatible with existing launch systems. Two prototypes were constructed for competitive testing but the superiority of this design became quickly apparent and an order for a dozen pre-production Vipers was placed with options for hundreds more. The new craft was designated the Viper Mk VII.
The initial flight tests proved promising, the pre-production craft proving to be very capable and reliable, so a production order was placed. The production Mk VIIs differed in several places from the prototype and pre-production ones. Long chines were added to the fuselage from the wing almost to the nose. The cannon emplacements were moved down the wing, farther from the cockpit, and moved back deeper into the wing. Also, a third cannon was mounted on the tail. Initial production proceeded quickly and the Mk VII quickly caused the phase out of the Mk II from active service, equipping the fighter squadrons of nearly all major ships, stations, and installations. In service, the Mk VII gained a reputation for reliablility and power. It was very maneuverable and could carry a sizable payload. The Mk VII combined many advanced technologies, including thrust-vectoring engine nozzles, central computer network, integrated systems, and light-weight materials.
Like previous fighter designs, many variants of the space frame were produced. A two-seat advanced and conversion trainer was produced to suplement and eventually replace the older T.Mk I and T.Mk II trainers already employed. It differed less from the basic design, the long fuselage of the Mk VII providing enough room for a second cockpit, although this neccessitated the removal of a small fuselage fuel tank and movement of the computer core. An electronic warfare escort, the EW.Mk VII was also produced. Based on the trainer spaceframe, the EW was intended to escort strike missions and combat air patrols, providing long-range detecting and early warning, as well as offensive and defensive jamming. Unlike previous EW escorts, the EW.Mk VII was still armed, maintaining the tail mounted cannon as a defensive weapon. The design was successful, but the Raptor fulfilled that mission already, so only a limited number of EW.Mk VIIs were produced. Most of them were assigned to lower-need units, primarily to smaller battlesatrs that can't support Raptors, as well as some militia and ground based units. The most unique derivative of the Viper Mk VII was the Scorpion Mk IV and Scarab Mk I militia fighter and multirole/trainer craft. They were derived from a simplified and changed Mk VII fuselage, with different wings and fuselage shape, including a larger chin inlet. The Scorpion and Scarab are intended to be an economical replacement for nearly all the remaining Mk I/II/IV models in militia service.
The Mk VIIs are more easily upgraded in service. The integrated computer network makes software updates like the new Command Navigation Program easy to make, allowing quick and inexpensive growth and new capabilities.
Oh, I almost forgot to post this. This is a rough timeline I threw together to chronologically place the service lives of the fighters. The first few dates are reference ones, start and end of the war, fall of the colonies. Oh, IES stands for Initial Entry into Service.
21302 Start of Cylon War
21314 Armistice
21354 40 year anniversary, Cylon attack
21302 IES Viper Mk I
21337 Retirement Viper Mk I
21305 IES Viper Mk II
21347 Retirement Viper Mk II
21306 IES Viper Mk III
21321 Retirement Viper Mk III
21312 IES Viper Mk IV
21342 Retirement Viper Mk IV
21331 IES Viper Mk V
21343 Retirement Viper Mk V
21345 IES Viper Mk VII
21350 IES Scorpion Mk IV and Scarab Mk I
21339 IES Raptor Mk I
I got some writing done this morning, hopefully some drawing will follow this afternoon.
Raptor
Hanger decks in Colonial fleet ships normally carried an extensive array of craft, ranging from the normal fighter and strike craft to special-purpose ones such as reconnaisance and jamming escorts. This large amount of different spaceframes increased the workload of the deck crew, each usually requiring different maintenance procedures and independent stores of supplies and spare parts. In an effort to reduce costs and increase capabilities, the Colonial fleet aquisition board placed a requirment for a new multi-purpose ship capable of carrying out most of these diverse roles. One of the designs, the most capable, was a modified assault shuttle design that was under development at the time for the Colonial Marine Corps. The new design was finalized and several prototypes were built. Following a relatively uneventful development cycle, the new craft was ordered for full production, achieving IES very quickly. With the introduction of the new vessel, now known as the Raptor, scores of the older designs were retired. First to go were the old electronic warfare escorts, some dating back to the Cylon war. The only other EW craft to survive were the new EW.Mk VIIs, mostly deployed to smaller ships and ground bases, as well as militia forces. The Raptor also replaced the Spectre Mk I light bomber. It suplimented the existing shuttles in service, allowing ships to carry fewer of the large and clumsy carge and personnel transports. The Raptor was popular in service, especially with the maintenance community since it cut down their workload tremendously.
The Raptor is normally crewed by two, a pilot and a crewmember in charge of the defensive and offensive systems. It can carry an eight-man Marine squad easily, fulfilling the assault shuttle role, and can carry nearly fifteen people in an emergency. The Raptor features an extensive electronics suite, carrying a powerful DRADIS system as well as both jammers and counterjammers. The advanced electronics enable a Raptor to perform as a good reconnaisance platform, both for visual and electronic reconnaisance. The Raptor features an internal munitions bay and nine hardpoints, three on each wing, one under the nose, and two on the upper fuselage. These can carry a variety of different weapons, ranging from air-to-air missiles, unguided rockets, gunpods, anti-radiation missiles, and ground and ship attack missile, both podded and racked. Additionally, the Raptor can carry a loadout of decoy and communications drones for one of it's primary missions, fighter support. Also, the Raptor is equipped with a short-range jumpdrive, enabling scouting missions.
The Raptor replaced or supplemented the following:
Viper EW.Mk I
Viper EW.Mk II
Viper EW.Mk VII
Viper PR.Mk I
Viper FR.Mk I
Mk I Shuttle
Mk II Shuttle
Mk I CMC Assault Shuttle
Mk I Refueling Shuttle
Spectre Mk I
Viper FGA.Mk I
It's based on the videogame one. I changed some things since I eyeballed it, but I think I got the spirit of the design. The main difference is I extended the fuselage aft of the cockpit before the engines since I think the VG Viper looked a little squat there.
Okay, got some art and history stuff to post. I cleaned up the Mk III and also drew an upgraded Viper Mk III from the end of the war, incorporating new cannons, a third cannon on the tail, and a semi-bubble canopy, as well as a reshaped nose. The last pic is a further worked on rejected prototype Mk V. I enjoyed the design so much that I had to increase it's use, so I changed it into a black-ops Viper in addition to the prototype status.
Viper Mk IVX
For most designs, failing to secure a production contract is virtual death. Not so for one of the prototypes for the Viper Mk V spacefighter. The design was a relative of the earlier Viper Mk IV and I designs and although it looked much like a Mk IV from the outside, underneath the skin it was a completely different ship. It incorporated advanced computer systems, networking all of the fighter's systems together, increasing reaction speed and information availability to the pilot. It also included a new set of wings and tail, each having an autocannon mounted outboard on them, giving the fighter a heavy three-gun battery. Visibility was increase with the inclusion of a bubble canopy, replacing the former framed one. The engines were much higher tuned than before, decreasing TBO but dramatically increasing speed. The high maintenance hours required were one of the reasons that this fighter failed to secure the production contract. A year later, the design was still being developed by team designers on their own time. A high-level Colonial fleet Admiral saw the newer specifications of the design and was sufficiently impressed to allow top-secret "black" cubits to fund continued design work. Eventually, the slightly modified design was approved for construction and approximately one hundred of the ships, named Viper Mk IVX, were produced in top secrecy. They equipped the fighter wings of a black organization known as the Watch, a group intended to maintain intercolony cohesion and peace, as well as keep an eye on the Cylon border. The Special Operations SpaceFighter Wing (SOSW) deployed to both the few battlestars used in Watch activities, and several old asteroid bases dating back to the war. These fighters were operated in complete secrecy, even to the point of having a scrambled transponder that would make them appear to be conventional Viper Mk IVBs to all but the very closest scans. Some of these fighters were equipped with small and short range belly pod-mounted jump drives and used for reconnaisance behind the Cylon border.
Thanks S@S. I'm still fiddling around with the canopy on the upgraded Mk III. I'm imagining it as sort of the P-47 of the Cylon War Vipers, so I was trying to do a bubble canopy like the later Thuds had. I'll try some other stuff with it tomorrow, maybe a different bubble, one more like the IVX has, or a different framed one.
Well, I decided to give a Stealth Viper another shot. I call it the Viper SR.Mk I. This is a Mk I-32 modified along the lines of the Stealthstar from "Hero." I still have to work on the forward fuselage, making it more stealthy, and decrease the angle of the wings a bit as well. The pic is of the Viper with and without a reconnaisance package. I intend to work out a detachable jump drive as well.
During and after the Cylon War, colonial scientists and engineers worked on various methods to develop low-observable and stealth technology for both Vipers already in service and ones still on the drawing board. Many of these attempts failed or were not cost-effective but some were. One of the cheapest was the use of carbon composites to skin the Viper. Carbon composites are naturally invisible to DRADIS, a craft coated in it would be very difficult to track. Another method used is to shape the craft in a way to deflect DRADIS waves away from the reciever, effectivly shielding itself from detection. Unfortunately, this is a feature that has to be built into the craft and cannot be easily retrofitted to an existing design like the carbon composites can. During the war, the Colonial Fleet ordered a few dozen mixed Viper Mk I/IIs modified with the carbon composite coating, low-observable engines, semi-gloss black paint scheme, and removal of gun armaments. These "Stealth Vipers" operated as stealthy recon and deep strike platforms, capable of sneaking into Cylon formations and bases and destroying a target with pin-point missile strikes. Late in the war, top-secret experiments were done attempting to develop a small jump system into the frame of the Viper, vastly increasing the capabilities of the Stealth Vipers. One prototype was secretly deployed and provided intelligence data for the last major conflict before the Cimtar peace accords. This experimental drive took the form of a podded booster that was fitted around the rear of the Viper. Interest in the jump drive waned after the war and further development was discontinued, especially after the Viper disappeared on a jump, never to be seen again. Post war, the Fleet maintained a secret contingent of the Stealth Vipers, upgrading them with new technology and replacing units lost to attrtion. A completely new, designed from the ground up Stealth Viper was developed a few years before the second Cylon attack. This "Stealthstar" was already about to be replaced by an even more advanced stealth design. The prototypes of the new design were almost complete and were in transit in the hold of a freighter at the time of the attack, bound for a remote factory on Canceron for completion.
Looks like it kinda bridges the gap between the Viper concept (aka Buck Rogers Starfighter) and the Viper from the Long Patrol(sometimes known as the Scorpion) but somehow manages to surpass both.
Thanks Safe. I guess I will keep this version of the design, but I'm still going to do a more stealthy version with a more angular forward fuselage and less angled wings. I'll fiddle around with the design some more, but will keep this version around too. More work on it tomorrow.
I worked out a design for the jump drive. Basically, it's built into the aft-fuselage of a specially modified Viper SR, designated SR.Mk IA. A catamaran framework is attached to the rear of the craft that ends in a pair of outward-canted tail fins. In between the booms is a podded generator to power the jumpdrive. This generator is attached to the drive via a power conduit and braced to the lower part of the fighter.
The other pic is a reworking of the reconnaisance package, modelled after the RF-4E Phantom II reconnaisance variant.
Okay, got some stuff to post. First pic is the Mk IVX again. I redid the rear part of the wing and added a little detail to it too. The other pic is a family pic of the Viper SR.Mk I model. The text is background information for the SR.Mk I.
Viper SR.Mk I
During the Cylon War one of the areas of research for future development was stealth spacecraft. Pioneer stealth Vipers were built and operated in secrecy during the conflict. Most of these were converted Viper Mks I and II with ungainly fuselage and wing modifications, angular and shaped to disperse and divert DRADIS signals away from their recievers. The ships were very limited in their warfighting capabilities though, only able to carry a small payload in an internal munitions bay and lacking a gun armament of any kind. Also, they had very detuned engines that ran much colder than normal, reducing their infrared signature but also limiting their speed. Research into stealth craft continued during and after the war with the ultimate goal of producing a stealth craft as capable as conventional Vipers in combat and operations. Designers worked on the design for years, continuously evolving from a conventional late-war Mk I Viper. The craft was first equipped with the wings from a later block 40 Mk I. The center engine was removed and a fairing placed there, containing several passive and active countermeasures, as well as a large storage compartment. The engines were higher tuned and baffled. Although they ran hotter, the removal of one engine and the effective baffles over the exhaust drastically reduced the craft's infrared signal. A reworked lower fuselage led to a faired-in munitions bay larger than the previous stealth designs. The cannons armament was also removed. The new stealth craft was skinned with carbon composites which made it basically invisible to DRADIS. The major difficulty with the composites is the intensive maintenance and repair of the skin. The new ship was designated Viper SR.Mk I and officially placed in a strategic reconnaisance role. The SR.Mk I program operated for years in secrecy, operating from isolated space stations and carriers on special assignment. The program was revealed to the public eventually once the fleet began working on the replacement for the SR.Mk I, the Stealthstar, based on the newer Mk VII Viper.
One feature of the SR.Mk I is it's adaptability. A myriad of variants were produced to suit various needs. The most common modification, supporting one of the SR's primary missions, is the addition of a plug in nose reconnaisance package, incorporating a suit of sensors and cameras into a tray mounted in the chin of the craft. More specialized was the installation of a miniture and short range jump system into the former location of the third engine, displacing the storage compartment. A highly modified version of the previous experimental unit installed in a few of the earlier stealth ships, the new jump drive was much safer and was built in two parts. The jump drive itself was installed in the ship, SRs modified in this was were designated Viper SR.Mk IA. The second part was a bulky power generator to supply the drive's power needs. This generator was mounted in a framework attached to the rear of the SR, along with a pair of stabilizing fins to increase control and lateral stability in atmospheric flight. With the generator mounted, the Vipers were known as SR.Mk IA*. These jump-capable Vipers were also compatible with the reconnaisance package, transforming them into very useful and capable reconnaisance ships. Another major modification was the conversion of several dozen SRs into dedicated ships for the Colonial Special Operations Command. These SRs were re-equipped with cannons, featured heavier composite armor, and had a modified storage compartment on the non-jump capable ones that allowed the carrige of another person. The SF series was produced with the same variants as the SR and is the only other production model, all the IAs and others were modifications to pre-existing ships.
The SR series was widely used for many clandestine missions, including covert destruction of dangerous targets such as the most infamous space pirates, as well as clandestine missions into Cylon territory, conducting reconnaisance and mapping out the territory, eventually discovering the exact location of the new Cylon homeworld. The SRs were almost completely retired after the introduction of the Stealthstar but a few remained in service. The jump system from many were removed and installed in the newer stealth craft as well. The COLSOCOM maintained their SFs for many years but suplimented them with modified Raptors and newer Scarab strike fighters.
Posts
The P-40s had the following armaments usually.
P-40: 2x .50 cal MGs (nose), 2x .30 cal MGs (wing)
P-40B/C: 2x .50 cal MGs (nose), 4x .30 cal MGs (wing)
P-40D/E/F/K/M/N: 6x .50 cal MGs (wing) except for first 20 -Ds and some of the -Ns, they had 4. Some of the -Ns, -Ls, and the -Q had 4x .50s due to removing two to lighten the plane. These were frequently restored in the field or depots. The SC version of the P-40B (what I call the H81-A2SC), carries 6x .50 cal MGs instead of the standard armament. I love the P-40 series if no one can tell.
Added: Pitot tube
guns
radio attenae
ring-and-bead sight
exhaust stubs
etc
I am a big fan of the WW2 planes. My favorite being the F4U Corsairs, and the Supermarine Spitfires. Had a soft spot for the P-38 Lighnting too.
Great minds think alike, I was looking up blueprints on the Spitfire to use as base for a retro style starfighter.
Never liked the Sky Commander movie. It had some good ideas but I felt was over Hollywooded.
My personal favs from WWII include the P-40 series, P-51 series (especially the early models, including the Allison engine-equipped ones), the F4U, the Bf-109F, and the Hurricane.
I enjoyed Sky Captain, it reinterested me in the whole pulp, retro-futuristic genre, although it could have been better.
Early in the war, the Viper Mk I starfighter was master of the skies. It was faster and more manuverable than the more heavily armored Colonial War-era Raiders piloted by the Cylons. Colonial military planners felt the need for another design to suplement the Mk I in fleet hangers. Ultimately, they decided on a pair of new designs, a heavy starfighter, capable of carrying heavy loads and absorbing heavy damage. The other was a lightweight, more austere dogfighter utilizing as many of the Mk I components as possible. The result of these design studies became the Viper Mk's II and III. The Mk II was the lightweight component and initially featured the Voram VM3-D15 a smaller version of the D14 engines on the Mk I, as well as a broadly similar cockpit and identical MEC-A2 autocannons. The Mk II had a newer and lighter composite fuselage and larger wings, enabling a heavier weapons payload, usually unguided air-to-ground munitions or air-to-air missiles. The new fighter lacked some capabilities of the Mk I, such as inflight refueling initially and had lighter, more compact, and generally less powerful dradis and avionics. Over the course of the war, the austere fighter was consistently upgraded, eventually becoming more capable than it's earlier cousin. The same engine modifications, including the /a and /b model engines were incorporated into later production blocks and depot refits. A new canopy with much improved visibility and cockpit space was installed beginning about midway through the war. A similar cockpit, differing mostly in that it was hinged unlike the sliding canopy installed on the Mk II. The newer MEC-A6 autocannons were also incorporated into the design later in the war, a simple modification due to sharing the same mounting brackets as the earlier cannons. The biggest modification during the war was the inclusion of an underbelly bulge containing either a fuel tank or small missile bay, relieving, along with finally installed inflight refueling gear, the short legs of the fighter.
After the war, the Mk's I, II, III, and IV were the fighter components of the Colonial fleet. The Fleet budget was dramatically slashed by the war-weary Quorum and procurement plans for new ships and fighters stopped. All of the main types of fighters were maintained immediately after the war, with early blocks being shunted to reserve and militia squadrons, as well as reserve stocks on Sagittaron and Leonis. The late model Viper Mk IIs were broadly as capable as their Mk I cousins and proved to be much cheaper to operate. After the retirement of the Mk I and the expensive Mk III, the Mk II was the dominant remaining fighter in fleet service, serving alongside the last active duty Viper Mk IVs. Decades later, following the short production of a new lightweight fighter, the Viper Mk V, and the failure of the Mk VI development project, the Viper Mk II wearily served on. The Mk II was never substantially modified after the initial postwar refits, mostly recieving software and electronics updates. Unfortunately, the aging spaceframes were beginning to wear out, the oldest of them were forced to be grounded from age and the heavy stress from nearly fifty years of active duty. The newer craft continued on, but they required increasing amounts of maintenance to keep in the air, upwards of thirty maintenance hours for each hour of flight-time in some cases. A replacement design was finally procured, named the Viper Mk VII. The Mk VII quickly replaced the remaining ancient Mk IIs, the last Mk II on active service completing it's last flight on the 35th anniversary of the end of the Cylon war. The Viper landed amid celebration, at it's new permanent home, the Colonial Museum of Flight at the Corinth Airbase on Aerelon. A few Mk IIs continued in Colonial Militia squadrons, piloted by warriors alongside the few remaining Viper Mk IVs and the new Scorpion Mk IV fighters that were in the process of replacing the few remaining Cylon War-era Vipers still in service.
If you're at a party, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!??
:rolleyes:
Anyway, that was just a quick WIP I threw together. Here is a much improved one. I tried to post this last night but couldn't access SFM.
Have a Merry Christmas Talos!
Thanks Safe, you too.
And Merry Xmas and happy 2006 to you too!! (and everyone here!
Merry Christmas!
Several decades after the end of the Cylon war, the Colonial Fleet fighter branch was primarily composed of aging Mk IV and Mk II Viper starfighters. The old designs dated back to wartime and had a wide range of dates for spaceframes ranging from construction during the Cylon War to the Mk IIs still rolling off the assembly lines. In an effort to reduce costs, both operations and maintenance, a competition for a new light-weight and reduce cost Viper was announced. Several companies submitted prototypes since the contract promised to be a huge one and likely the largest since the war. The winner was an "in-house" design team and contracts for licensed production to several companies. The new fighter was accepted into service as the Viper Mk V. Not the sleekest of designs, the Mark V was very simple in design, emphasizing speed and manuverability, making it a superb dogfighter easily capable of outturning it's predecessors. A major flaw in the overall design was the limited heavy weapons carrying capacity that limited it's ability to perform air-to-ground and combat air support missions, very important in the moneytight fleet. However, the design was still more capable and more inexpensive then the other designs.
In service, the pilots loved the new design. It was regarded as a pilot's plane and a joy to fly. It featured licensed-built improved MEC-A6B autocannons and could carry a limited weapons loadout on four underwing pylons. The engines were newer decendents of the engines of the Mk II and were Voram VM3-D26s, the last members of that engine family to be produced before the newer VM6s were designed. The framed canopy provided very good visibility, due in part to the fact that it extended down the sides of the fighter drastically increasing visibility to the sides and lower quarters. Maintenance crews loved the Mk V almost as much as the pilots since they were easy to maintain and simple to work on, almost all of the tech being modernized versions of war-era equipment. This is what caused the death of the Mk V in fleet service though. After years of service it became readily apparent that the war-era engines, weapons and such had reached their inherint limits and although the Mark V was a fine craft, it was not going to be able to be pushed much farther than the Mark II, indeed, the greatest advance by this point was the Mk V's much reduced maintenance costs. As a result, the Mk V production contracts were cancelled after a few hundered had been produced. New designs were sought to replace all the fighters in current service with a new from the ground up design, a requirement finally fulfilled by the Viper Mk VII. Prior to the new designs being produced, refurbished Mk IIs became the standard fighter craft, a single design to cut costs of materials and training. Nevertheless, the design blueprints of the Mk V were incorporated into the computers for new battlestars capable of builing fighters.
Besides frontline squadron service, the Mk V saw many other roles in the Colonial military. A half-dozen of the fighters were disarmed and painted in high visibility red and blue colors and equipped the Colonial flight demostration team, the famous Novas. The team had been flying Viper Mk IIs for two decades, replacing the older Mk Is they had flown in the immediate post-war era. Six of the first Mk Vs were the craft diverted to the team. Also, the Viper Fighter Weapons School, a training school for both air-to-ground and, even more so, aerial combat, flew several squadrons of Mk Vs as OPFOR (opposing force) adversary craft. These adversaries were stripped of much of their equipment, including missile capabilities and inflight refueling, reducing weight and increasing both speed and manuverability even farther. These "hot-rod" Vipers, painted usually in camoflague schemes, were ideal for the adversary training role and were much fear by the pilots attending the courses. The heavy stress from frequent high-G manuvers and in atmosphere flight caused the spaceframes of the Mk Vs to age rapidly, even resulting in a fleetwide grounding after two of the fighters brokeup during a simulated dogfight. After the premature retirement of the Mk V from fleet service, the VFWS managed to aquire nearly all of the good condition Vipers, modifying them and using them for spare parts and replacements.
Almost uniquely, the Viper Mk V was never procured in a two-seat trainer form. The cockpits were patterned after the earlier Mk IIs so Viper T.Mk IIs or T.Mk I-40s could be programed to respond like Mk Vs and used in their stead.
During the Cylon war, the air group commander (CAG) of the battlestar Rycon severly damaged his Viper Mk I block 20 starfighter. Rycon was on detached duty and behind enemy lines and was in critical need of more fighters. Rather than scrapping the wrecked starfighter, the deck chief cobbled it back together, combining the fuselage and engines from the Mk I-20 with a set of spare EW.Mk I wings. He fitted each of the wings with an autocannon in the former ECM pods while maintaining the standard weapons fit, giving the fighter a withering five forward firing cannons. The deck crew painted the entire fighter with an overall dark red paint scheme, replacing the ordinary grey with yellow trim. This gave rise to the nickname for Vipers modified like this, especially the original, the Scarlet Viper. The CAG used the Viper for the rest of the war, leading attacks with the powerful ship. By the end of the war, the Scarlet Viper was well known and many senior admirals tried to have the CAG and his ship transferred to a safer asignment, fearfull of the morale damage if it was destroyed. The Cylons eventually were able to identify that particular ship by sight, mostly because of the unique paint scheme and there are recored instances where squadrons of Raiders would retreat at the first sign of the Scarlet Viper. Many other Vipers were modified in this way during the war, although none others had the scarlet paint scheme. The major disadvantage, and primary reason that it wasn't mass-produced, was that the modified Vipers could not fit in the standard launch tubes and were forced to launch from the flight deck. Any of the production blocks of the wartime Vipers, the Mk I, II, III, and very rarely IV, could be refitted with the Scarlet Viper modifications. As for the original, the legendary fighter remained the mount of the CAG immediately after the war until he was promoted and given command of his own battlestar. At that time, the Scarlet Viper was retired and donated to the Colonial Museum of Flight at the Corinth airbase on Aerelon, where it has a place of honor in the Cylon war exhibit hall.
the Mk.V not bad also, and the rejected MK.V prototype looks like the father, or grandpa of the Mk.VII, a little like an hybrid of that and a MK.II.
Viper Mark VII
Following the limited service of the Viper Mk V and the cancellation of the Mk VI project, the Colonial fleet was left with old designs filling it's fighter wings. Money at the time was limited, most funding for small craft was going into development and production of the Raptor multi-purpose craft. As a result, the fleet squadrons at this time were generally only equipped with newer-build Mk IIs and the last remaining Mk Vs. A crash development project was iniated to design a new fighter to completely replace the older designs and be capable of performing all of the standard fighter missions and those not fulfilled by the new Raptor. Instead of the highly unconventional layout of the Mk VI, the designers reverted to the conventional engine and weapon configuration. Incidently, the team had been one of the forerunners for the Mk V program, loosing out to an in-house design. Many of the features made for their failed Mk V were incorporated into the new design, including a bubble canopy and, eventually, three cannons instead of the normal two. The new design was much longer than the older Vipers but not much larger, a requirment for the design was that it be compatible with existing launch systems. Two prototypes were constructed for competitive testing but the superiority of this design became quickly apparent and an order for a dozen pre-production Vipers was placed with options for hundreds more. The new craft was designated the Viper Mk VII.
The initial flight tests proved promising, the pre-production craft proving to be very capable and reliable, so a production order was placed. The production Mk VIIs differed in several places from the prototype and pre-production ones. Long chines were added to the fuselage from the wing almost to the nose. The cannon emplacements were moved down the wing, farther from the cockpit, and moved back deeper into the wing. Also, a third cannon was mounted on the tail. Initial production proceeded quickly and the Mk VII quickly caused the phase out of the Mk II from active service, equipping the fighter squadrons of nearly all major ships, stations, and installations. In service, the Mk VII gained a reputation for reliablility and power. It was very maneuverable and could carry a sizable payload. The Mk VII combined many advanced technologies, including thrust-vectoring engine nozzles, central computer network, integrated systems, and light-weight materials.
Like previous fighter designs, many variants of the space frame were produced. A two-seat advanced and conversion trainer was produced to suplement and eventually replace the older T.Mk I and T.Mk II trainers already employed. It differed less from the basic design, the long fuselage of the Mk VII providing enough room for a second cockpit, although this neccessitated the removal of a small fuselage fuel tank and movement of the computer core. An electronic warfare escort, the EW.Mk VII was also produced. Based on the trainer spaceframe, the EW was intended to escort strike missions and combat air patrols, providing long-range detecting and early warning, as well as offensive and defensive jamming. Unlike previous EW escorts, the EW.Mk VII was still armed, maintaining the tail mounted cannon as a defensive weapon. The design was successful, but the Raptor fulfilled that mission already, so only a limited number of EW.Mk VIIs were produced. Most of them were assigned to lower-need units, primarily to smaller battlesatrs that can't support Raptors, as well as some militia and ground based units. The most unique derivative of the Viper Mk VII was the Scorpion Mk IV and Scarab Mk I militia fighter and multirole/trainer craft. They were derived from a simplified and changed Mk VII fuselage, with different wings and fuselage shape, including a larger chin inlet. The Scorpion and Scarab are intended to be an economical replacement for nearly all the remaining Mk I/II/IV models in militia service.
The Mk VIIs are more easily upgraded in service. The integrated computer network makes software updates like the new Command Navigation Program easy to make, allowing quick and inexpensive growth and new capabilities.
21302 Start of Cylon War
21314 Armistice
21354 40 year anniversary, Cylon attack
21302 IES Viper Mk I
21337 Retirement Viper Mk I
21305 IES Viper Mk II
21347 Retirement Viper Mk II
21306 IES Viper Mk III
21321 Retirement Viper Mk III
21312 IES Viper Mk IV
21342 Retirement Viper Mk IV
21331 IES Viper Mk V
21343 Retirement Viper Mk V
21345 IES Viper Mk VII
21350 IES Scorpion Mk IV and Scarab Mk I
21339 IES Raptor Mk I
Raptor
Hanger decks in Colonial fleet ships normally carried an extensive array of craft, ranging from the normal fighter and strike craft to special-purpose ones such as reconnaisance and jamming escorts. This large amount of different spaceframes increased the workload of the deck crew, each usually requiring different maintenance procedures and independent stores of supplies and spare parts. In an effort to reduce costs and increase capabilities, the Colonial fleet aquisition board placed a requirment for a new multi-purpose ship capable of carrying out most of these diverse roles. One of the designs, the most capable, was a modified assault shuttle design that was under development at the time for the Colonial Marine Corps. The new design was finalized and several prototypes were built. Following a relatively uneventful development cycle, the new craft was ordered for full production, achieving IES very quickly. With the introduction of the new vessel, now known as the Raptor, scores of the older designs were retired. First to go were the old electronic warfare escorts, some dating back to the Cylon war. The only other EW craft to survive were the new EW.Mk VIIs, mostly deployed to smaller ships and ground bases, as well as militia forces. The Raptor also replaced the Spectre Mk I light bomber. It suplimented the existing shuttles in service, allowing ships to carry fewer of the large and clumsy carge and personnel transports. The Raptor was popular in service, especially with the maintenance community since it cut down their workload tremendously.
The Raptor is normally crewed by two, a pilot and a crewmember in charge of the defensive and offensive systems. It can carry an eight-man Marine squad easily, fulfilling the assault shuttle role, and can carry nearly fifteen people in an emergency. The Raptor features an extensive electronics suite, carrying a powerful DRADIS system as well as both jammers and counterjammers. The advanced electronics enable a Raptor to perform as a good reconnaisance platform, both for visual and electronic reconnaisance. The Raptor features an internal munitions bay and nine hardpoints, three on each wing, one under the nose, and two on the upper fuselage. These can carry a variety of different weapons, ranging from air-to-air missiles, unguided rockets, gunpods, anti-radiation missiles, and ground and ship attack missile, both podded and racked. Additionally, the Raptor can carry a loadout of decoy and communications drones for one of it's primary missions, fighter support. Also, the Raptor is equipped with a short-range jumpdrive, enabling scouting missions.
The Raptor replaced or supplemented the following:
Viper EW.Mk I
Viper EW.Mk II
Viper EW.Mk VII
Viper PR.Mk I
Viper FR.Mk I
Mk I Shuttle
Mk II Shuttle
Mk I CMC Assault Shuttle
Mk I Refueling Shuttle
Spectre Mk I
Viper FGA.Mk I
I love the background you have for each incarnation.
Okay, got some art and history stuff to post. I cleaned up the Mk III and also drew an upgraded Viper Mk III from the end of the war, incorporating new cannons, a third cannon on the tail, and a semi-bubble canopy, as well as a reshaped nose. The last pic is a further worked on rejected prototype Mk V. I enjoyed the design so much that I had to increase it's use, so I changed it into a black-ops Viper in addition to the prototype status.
Viper Mk IVX
For most designs, failing to secure a production contract is virtual death. Not so for one of the prototypes for the Viper Mk V spacefighter. The design was a relative of the earlier Viper Mk IV and I designs and although it looked much like a Mk IV from the outside, underneath the skin it was a completely different ship. It incorporated advanced computer systems, networking all of the fighter's systems together, increasing reaction speed and information availability to the pilot. It also included a new set of wings and tail, each having an autocannon mounted outboard on them, giving the fighter a heavy three-gun battery. Visibility was increase with the inclusion of a bubble canopy, replacing the former framed one. The engines were much higher tuned than before, decreasing TBO but dramatically increasing speed. The high maintenance hours required were one of the reasons that this fighter failed to secure the production contract. A year later, the design was still being developed by team designers on their own time. A high-level Colonial fleet Admiral saw the newer specifications of the design and was sufficiently impressed to allow top-secret "black" cubits to fund continued design work. Eventually, the slightly modified design was approved for construction and approximately one hundred of the ships, named Viper Mk IVX, were produced in top secrecy. They equipped the fighter wings of a black organization known as the Watch, a group intended to maintain intercolony cohesion and peace, as well as keep an eye on the Cylon border. The Special Operations SpaceFighter Wing (SOSW) deployed to both the few battlestars used in Watch activities, and several old asteroid bases dating back to the war. These fighters were operated in complete secrecy, even to the point of having a scrambled transponder that would make them appear to be conventional Viper Mk IVBs to all but the very closest scans. Some of these fighters were equipped with small and short range belly pod-mounted jump drives and used for reconnaisance behind the Cylon border.
I like your Desanto Viper(or MkIII) but in the second picture I'm not too sure the bubble canapy suits it. The third picture is more plausible.
During and after the Cylon War, colonial scientists and engineers worked on various methods to develop low-observable and stealth technology for both Vipers already in service and ones still on the drawing board. Many of these attempts failed or were not cost-effective but some were. One of the cheapest was the use of carbon composites to skin the Viper. Carbon composites are naturally invisible to DRADIS, a craft coated in it would be very difficult to track. Another method used is to shape the craft in a way to deflect DRADIS waves away from the reciever, effectivly shielding itself from detection. Unfortunately, this is a feature that has to be built into the craft and cannot be easily retrofitted to an existing design like the carbon composites can. During the war, the Colonial Fleet ordered a few dozen mixed Viper Mk I/IIs modified with the carbon composite coating, low-observable engines, semi-gloss black paint scheme, and removal of gun armaments. These "Stealth Vipers" operated as stealthy recon and deep strike platforms, capable of sneaking into Cylon formations and bases and destroying a target with pin-point missile strikes. Late in the war, top-secret experiments were done attempting to develop a small jump system into the frame of the Viper, vastly increasing the capabilities of the Stealth Vipers. One prototype was secretly deployed and provided intelligence data for the last major conflict before the Cimtar peace accords. This experimental drive took the form of a podded booster that was fitted around the rear of the Viper. Interest in the jump drive waned after the war and further development was discontinued, especially after the Viper disappeared on a jump, never to be seen again. Post war, the Fleet maintained a secret contingent of the Stealth Vipers, upgrading them with new technology and replacing units lost to attrtion. A completely new, designed from the ground up Stealth Viper was developed a few years before the second Cylon attack. This "Stealthstar" was already about to be replaced by an even more advanced stealth design. The prototypes of the new design were almost complete and were in transit in the hold of a freighter at the time of the attack, bound for a remote factory on Canceron for completion.
Looks like it kinda bridges the gap between the Viper concept (aka Buck Rogers Starfighter) and the Viper from the Long Patrol(sometimes known as the Scorpion) but somehow manages to surpass both.
I don't think it needs changing at all.
I worked out a design for the jump drive. Basically, it's built into the aft-fuselage of a specially modified Viper SR, designated SR.Mk IA. A catamaran framework is attached to the rear of the craft that ends in a pair of outward-canted tail fins. In between the booms is a podded generator to power the jumpdrive. This generator is attached to the drive via a power conduit and braced to the lower part of the fighter.
The other pic is a reworking of the reconnaisance package, modelled after the RF-4E Phantom II reconnaisance variant.
Viper SR.Mk I
During the Cylon War one of the areas of research for future development was stealth spacecraft. Pioneer stealth Vipers were built and operated in secrecy during the conflict. Most of these were converted Viper Mks I and II with ungainly fuselage and wing modifications, angular and shaped to disperse and divert DRADIS signals away from their recievers. The ships were very limited in their warfighting capabilities though, only able to carry a small payload in an internal munitions bay and lacking a gun armament of any kind. Also, they had very detuned engines that ran much colder than normal, reducing their infrared signature but also limiting their speed. Research into stealth craft continued during and after the war with the ultimate goal of producing a stealth craft as capable as conventional Vipers in combat and operations. Designers worked on the design for years, continuously evolving from a conventional late-war Mk I Viper. The craft was first equipped with the wings from a later block 40 Mk I. The center engine was removed and a fairing placed there, containing several passive and active countermeasures, as well as a large storage compartment. The engines were higher tuned and baffled. Although they ran hotter, the removal of one engine and the effective baffles over the exhaust drastically reduced the craft's infrared signal. A reworked lower fuselage led to a faired-in munitions bay larger than the previous stealth designs. The cannons armament was also removed. The new stealth craft was skinned with carbon composites which made it basically invisible to DRADIS. The major difficulty with the composites is the intensive maintenance and repair of the skin. The new ship was designated Viper SR.Mk I and officially placed in a strategic reconnaisance role. The SR.Mk I program operated for years in secrecy, operating from isolated space stations and carriers on special assignment. The program was revealed to the public eventually once the fleet began working on the replacement for the SR.Mk I, the Stealthstar, based on the newer Mk VII Viper.
One feature of the SR.Mk I is it's adaptability. A myriad of variants were produced to suit various needs. The most common modification, supporting one of the SR's primary missions, is the addition of a plug in nose reconnaisance package, incorporating a suit of sensors and cameras into a tray mounted in the chin of the craft. More specialized was the installation of a miniture and short range jump system into the former location of the third engine, displacing the storage compartment. A highly modified version of the previous experimental unit installed in a few of the earlier stealth ships, the new jump drive was much safer and was built in two parts. The jump drive itself was installed in the ship, SRs modified in this was were designated Viper SR.Mk IA. The second part was a bulky power generator to supply the drive's power needs. This generator was mounted in a framework attached to the rear of the SR, along with a pair of stabilizing fins to increase control and lateral stability in atmospheric flight. With the generator mounted, the Vipers were known as SR.Mk IA*. These jump-capable Vipers were also compatible with the reconnaisance package, transforming them into very useful and capable reconnaisance ships. Another major modification was the conversion of several dozen SRs into dedicated ships for the Colonial Special Operations Command. These SRs were re-equipped with cannons, featured heavier composite armor, and had a modified storage compartment on the non-jump capable ones that allowed the carrige of another person. The SF series was produced with the same variants as the SR and is the only other production model, all the IAs and others were modifications to pre-existing ships.
The SR series was widely used for many clandestine missions, including covert destruction of dangerous targets such as the most infamous space pirates, as well as clandestine missions into Cylon territory, conducting reconnaisance and mapping out the territory, eventually discovering the exact location of the new Cylon homeworld. The SRs were almost completely retired after the introduction of the Stealthstar but a few remained in service. The jump system from many were removed and installed in the newer stealth craft as well. The COLSOCOM maintained their SFs for many years but suplimented them with modified Raptors and newer Scarab strike fighters.
Battlestar Flightgroups for Columbia and Galactica class battlestars
Early Cylon War
-4 squadrons
4 Fighter Squadrons, Viper Mk I/Caprican Viper/Sagittaron Scorpion
8 Shuttles
Mid Cylon War
-4 squadrons
2 Fighter Squadrons, Viper Mk I
1 Light Fighter/Scout Squadron, Viper Mk II
1 Heavy Fighter Squadron, Viper Mk III
8 Shuttles
Late Cylon War
-6 squadrons
4 Fighter Squadrons, Viper Mk I/II
2 Heavy Fighter Squadrons, Viper Mk III
2 Viper PR.Mk I
4 Shuttles
2 Assault Shuttles
Early Post War
-5 squadrons
4 Fighter Squadrons, Viper Mk I/II/IV
1 Bomber/Strike Squadron, Spectre Mk I
2 Viper PR.Mk I
6 Shuttles
2 Assault Shuttles
Mid Post War
-4 squadrons
2 Fighter Squadrons, Viper Mk II/IV
1 Light Fighter Squadron, Viper Mk V
1 Strike Fighter Squadron, Viper Mk II/IV
4 Shuttles
4 Raptors
Late Post War/Cylon Attack
-4 sqaudrons
3 Fighter Squadrons, Viper Mk VII
1 Strike Fighter Squadron, Viper Mk VII
3 Shuttles
6 Raptors
Mercury class first commisioned Mid Post War and later. FOr Mercurys, increase airgroup size by 50-100%