MG-290 SuperStarfortress Strategic Bomber

### Armament

* 3 Ball Turret Mounted "EM-1919" Dual Medium Laser Cannons (1 Aft, 1 Dorsal, 1 Ventral/fore)
* 2 Medium Laser Cannon Mounts (1 Port, 1 Starboard)
* 1 Bomb Bay (200 Proton Bombs, or 200 Concussion Missiles, or 1 Cluster Bomb Blister, or 3 Cluster Bombs)

### Crew Burden

1 Pilot, 1 Flight Engineer, 1 Bombardier, 3 Gunners (6 Total)

The MG-290 StarFortress was an exclusive New Republic Navy Refit of the MG-100 StarFortress SF-17 Bomber. It used the main top frame of the SF-17, But completely gutted the interior to fill the main cabin with munitions instead of having the large ventral "Magazine" of the SF-17. This choice made it able to fly faster, and be marginally more maneuverable that it's counterpart. Able to travel at 60 MGLT, which put it on par with large priority target vessels such as the Empire's "Imperial Star Destroyer" Line. It was however less armed, and carried a fifth of the payload, with the advantage of having new possible munition options available to it.

#### Armament

The MG-290 was equipped with the same EM-1919 Medium Laser Cannon Ball Turrets of the SF-14, but the ventral cannon which usually sat at the bottom of the external magazine was moved to the main body, just ahead of the bomb bay. At any give point, it could always cover itself from any direction due to the positioning of the ball turrets, which made it so there was always a point where at least one cannon could fire. It also had two Medium Laser cannons located at the aft section, although there was no dedicated crew for these cannons, and other crew would need to move duties to man them.

The Bomb Bay was moved into the main hull of the ship, as such it's size was significantly reduced. Instead of the 1,048 Proton Bombs that the magazine of the SF-17 could hold, it carried 200. It could also swap it's bombs for an equal amount (200) of Concussion Missiles. These missiles were dropped like regular bombs, and could not alter their targets or course after being dropped. The bomb bay could also store three Cluster Bombs.

For a third configuration, the bomb bay could be fitted to integrate a Cluster Bomb Blister.

#### Countermeasures

The MG-290 Had two countermeasures meant to protect it against enemy craft, notably a Sensor Baffler system, and sensor reflective paint. The Sensor Reflective Paint was the same paint used to cover the Republic T-70 X-Wing, and made it take longer for enemy ordinance or laser cannons to gain a clean lock on the bomber. But once the lock was gained it had no effect on the accuracy of guided munitions.

The Sensor Baffler System created an energy signal at the front of the craft where a laser cannon would've been located on the SF-17. It used Miniature Magnetic Fields and "Rigged Pulses" to emulate the energy signal put off by the crafts engines and internal components. This was used to confuse sensors or seeking ordnance to hit a non vital section of the craft. The system could not replicate the signature of the MG-290s laser cannons however. If enemy sensors were advanced, they could see through this trick.

#### Usage/History

At some point during the war between the Empire and New Republic, a large amount of MG-290 SuperStarfortress Strategic Bombers were used by Wing Commander Hopkins in a campaign pushing the empire out of The Commenor Run. The operation succeeded in destroying upwards of 9 Imperial Destroyers and 3 Clone Wars Era Venator Carriers, as well as various smaller escort craft.

#### Behind The Scenes

The image used for the MG-290 Is actually a MG-100 while it's ventral magazine removed, which is how they were commonly reloaded after dropping their payload.