North American F/A-178 Tigershark

The North American F/A-178 Tigershark is a twin-engine, nuclear-powered, supersonic, all-weather, carrier-capable multirole combat aircraft primary utilised and designed as a fighter-bomber jet. Designed by an aerospace consortium and manufactured by the North American Aerospace Corporation, it was developed as part of the Ministry of War's Future Fighter-Bomber Project, tasked with creating a versatile tactical aircraft. The Tigershark has proved to be among the most successful and potent combat aircraft fielded by the CGU Armed Forces. It has several variants, specialized for a wide selection of roles and capabilities.
It first flew in 2674, and was put into service as the F/A-178A/B in 2677, with the A model as a single-seat and the B model as the two-seater variant. Carrier-capable variants were introduced in 2685 with the F/A-178C/D. An upgraded Air Force version, the F/A-178E/F was put into service in 2691 in response to the challenges of the Rim War. It continues to serve as the main fighter-bomber in the Central Galactic Air Force, Central Galactic Navy, and Central Galactic Marine Corps.
== Development ==
=== History ===
The Great War, while successful and ending in victory for the human race, showed some inadequacies with existing armaments. Primarily, it demonstrated that the Terran Imperial Air Force operated aircraft that were outpaced by some United Suns interceptors, and outgunned by Soviet fighter-bombers. The Terran air strategy of utilizing the fighter as the manned, terminal component of a weapons system was shown to be flawed. Fighters were used as missile or gun platforms synchronized to remote air-defense and command-control centers. The extensive use of electronic warfare and surface-to-air missiles by enemy forces rendered these aircraft difficult to coordinate and utilize effectively, and led to tremendous losses.
After the final victory, the Ministry of War undertook a program to develop a new, stealthier multirole combat aircraft, and develop a training program for individual air combat or "dogfighting". The Future Fighter-Bomber Project, operated by the Advanced Research Projects Agency, was established in 2671. The project contracted the North American Aerospace Corporation to design the new fighter, though NAA quickly ran into problems and was forced to bring in other aerospace corporations and defense contractors to aid in the design and testing of the prototypes. A consortium was established in early 2673 between North American, Mitsubishi, Hellfocker, British Aerospace, and EuroDefence to finish the project, partly through the urging of the War Ministry.
The project was completed in late 2674, and the aircraft was designated the F/A-178 Tigershark, continuing the Imperial military's convention of naming aircraft after sharks. The first production F/A-178A flew on 21 December 2674.
=== Design ===
The Tigershark has an unusual design, with aerodynamic instability structurally built into the aircraft to allow for high maneuverability. Its fuselage is designed as a broad, lifting-body design to lower its radar cross-section and maximize lift in a variety of atmospheres rather than aerodynamic performance. Its wings are variable-geometry swing wings, giving it the ability to adjust its sweep and operate more efficiently at both low and high speeds. The Tigershark is devoid of a vertical stabilator, with slight pelikan-styled horizontal tail-fins. This contributes to the aircraft's inherent aerodynamic instability. The aircraft is operated through a system of quadruple-redundant electronic fiber-optic controls. Wireless controls were considered to save weight, but this was rejected in the face of potential weaknesses to electronic warfare, particularly hacking.
== Specifications (F/A-178E/F) ==
=== General characteristics ===
* Crew: F/A-178E, 1; F/A-178F, 2 (pilot and weapons officer)
* Length: 20.6 meters
* Wingspan: 11.2 meters swept; 19.2 meters spread
* Empty Weight: 15,000 kg
* Loaded Weight: 30,000 kg
* Maximum Takeoff Weight: 45,000 kg
* Powerplant:
** 1 x GENESIS Nuclear Aircraft Engine, rated at 2.2 MW
** 2 x F700GE-1 Thrust-Vectoring Turbofans, 204 kN each
=== Performance: ===
* Maximum speed: Mach 2.62
* Supercruise speed: Mach 1.90
* Range: functionally infinite
* Flight Time: 12 hours continuous
* Maximum Ceiling: 22,000 meters
* Wing Loading: 550 kg/m2 
* Thrust/Weight Ratio: 1.63
=== Armament: ===
* Guns: 2 x 20mm M202 rotary cannon with 200 rounds each
* Hardpoints: 4 x underwing pylons, 4 x under-fuselage pylonds, 4 x internal bays with 1-2 pylon mountings, load dependent. Total weapons payload of up to 12,000 kg.
* Air to Air Loadout: 8 x AIM-291 BVRAAM, 4 x AIM-644 Short-Range Air to Air Missile
* Interceptor Loadout: 8 x AIM-291 BVRAAM, 4 x AIR-505 Nuclear Air to Air Rocket
* Air to Ground Loadout: 4 x AGM-502 Air to Ground Guided Missile, 2 x AGM-701 Air-Launched Cruise Missile, 2 x AIM-644 SRAAM, 2 x GBU-25 450 kg Guided Bomb
* Wild Weasel Loadout: 6 x AGM-801 Anti-Radiation Missile, 2 x AIM-644 SRAAM, 2 x AGM-502 AGGM, 4 x AGM-600 Ground-Attack Missile
* Nuclear Strike Loadout: 4 x AGM-701R Nuclear ALCM, 4 x B-101 Nuclear Bomb