The Rapunzel III

The Rapunzel III is an advanced Hybrid Aerostat produced by S.U.P.L.E.X. via their partnership with Zeppelin International. It is a 75 ton airship that uses a combination of Neohelium gas and nuclear powered gravity lenses for lift, resulting in a long loiter time and relatively low energy costs. It is the third airship in the team's history, the successor to the Rapunzel I which was an unmanned tethered aerostat used exclusively for reconnaissance and ECM, and the Rapunzel II which was the purely aerostat version that crashed during the Afterlife Wars. Unlike the previous models, this is a mobile base that has advanced ECM and reconnaissance functions as well as housing and airdrop capability for team members. Recently, the Casino deck was added to the Rapunzel III, allowing premium high-dollar gamblers to enjoy airship travel in luxury and comfort and also defraying some of the costs of operating the ship. Capable of disaster relief, surveillance, aerial deployment of both fixed wing craft and helicopters

Statistics:

* Unfueled Weight: 71.8 Tons
* Length: 1800 Meters
* Lift: 24000 Cubic Meters of Advanced Neohelium (Mined from Dimension D-44) and three class IV gravity lenses
* Crew: 18 (with a capacity for over 200 passengers)
* Cargo Capacity: 5580 Metric Tons
* Munitions: Classified, but speculated to be heavy
* Top Speed: 115 MPH
* Operating Ceiling: 38000 Feet

Development History

S.U.P.L.E.X. has a history of favoring Aerostat aircraft for reconnaissance purposes, due to their long loiter times and minimal fuel costs. (Chris By-The-Throat, World's Luckiest Detective's fascination with blimps and zeppelins might also be a factor.) After the destruction of the Rapunzel II in the Afterlife wars, S.U.P.L.E.X. received a generous compensation for their loss from the Federal government and that funding was used in the development of a purpose built hybrid aircraft. The development took several years and underwent several major revisions, most notably with the use of Singularity's Gravity Lens technology to increase lift and reduce the weight of the craft, allowing it to operate at a lower overall cost and giving it advanced airdrop capability using the gravity well. The ship was eventually launched in 2016 and completed in 2019, becoming the group's primary base of operations for CENTCOM.

Capabilities

The Rapunzel III is capable of heavy lifting using it's advanced gravity manipulation technology, able to carry and deploy almost any vehicle in the team's article by simply using the gravity well to gently float personnel and materials to the ground or lift them up into the air. It also has highly advanced ECM capabilities that are classified, but speculated to be truly ground breaking-it is a matter of public record that it's Radar Cross Section is similar to that of an unmanned drone. The Rapunzel III also has a flight deck that can launch fixed wing aircraft using a catapult similar to that used on Navy Aircraft Carriers. One of the most recent additions to the Rapunzel III is the Casino deck, a deliberately isolated deck in the middle of the craft that is used for luxury passengers who want a taste of the thrill of superheroics and enjoy a bit of gambling. (Regarded as an insane move at the time, this addition actually made the Rapunzel III close to profitable, as high rollers pay quite a bit for the privilege of gambling on an advanced airship.) It can feed and house over 200 crew although the ship is piloted and to some degree maintained by an advanced S.U.P.L.E.X. AI and thus usually only needs a couple of maintenance techs and the usual intelligence and support staff common to superhero operations. In it's role as a disaster relief vehicle, the Rapunzel can broadcast on any frequency (radio, TV, wifi) and is used to provide communication capability to areas where infrastructure has been damaged as well as the transport of relief materials to areas inaccessible to other forms of shipping. It is also well known that the Rapunzel III is an armed craft, though the armament remains classified as of this writing.