The Rebel Faction

A3 Nemesis-class Assault Bomber

Name/Type: A3 Nemesis-class Assault Bomber
Designer/Manufacturer: Kashan Defence Industries
Combat Role: Heavy Assault / Medium Bomber
Crew: 1 + 1 Bombardier (optional)
Length: 14 Meters
Speed: 120 MGLT, 950 Kph (175 MGLT, 1450 Kph with SAS)
Acceleration: 21 MGLT/s (27 MGLT/s with SAS)
Maneuverability: 65 DPF
Hyperdrive: x1
Shield Rating: 120 SBD
Hull Rating: 50 RU
Weapons: 2 Laser Cannons, 2 KDI Warhead Launchers (10 KDI Heavy Rockets each, 20 KDI Advanced Missiles each, 15 KDI Advanced Proton Torpedoes each, or 5 KDI Space Bombs each), 1 KDI Bomb Launcher (8 KDI Proton Bombs or 6 KDI Orbital Mines or 64 KDI Thermal Detonators or 4 KDI Space Bombs or 8 KDI Heavy Rockets).
Countermeasures: 15 Chaff Bursts or 10 Flares
Other: Miradyne Phantom 4-x Combat Jammer, Kashan Integrated Combat System, KDI SAS, Partial Vanish 2 Sensor Mask.

Description: Kashan commanders realized that while the S9 was a decent multi-purpose starfighter, it lacked the punch to make it an effective assault starfighter. Thus, they ordered to the A3 Nemesis into production several weeks before Kashan joined the Coalition. The A3 draws on experience gained from the S9 Deathsaber, and the two craft share many of the same components, including flight systems, engines, and stealth armor. Like the Deathsaber, it is an atmospherically designed ship albeit with poor maneuverability. Nonetheless, the A3 is considered to be effective ship by Kashan commanders because of its payload, reasonable speed, and stealth capabilities. Many pilots though dislike the ship, pointing out that the maneuverability is as good as the venerable Lambda-class shuttles. Thus, the A3 is a bad choice for dogfighting. As such, the A3 is fairly vulnerable if attacked by enemy starfighters, thus A3s are always escorted by S9s. Nonetheless, the A3 has been put into production and the Kashan military now plans to replace one Deathsaber squadron onboard a Seraph-class with a squadron of the new bombers.

R&D Explanations:

Engines: The Nemesis uses four fusial-thrust ion drives that use all the same components of the Deathsaber but along with an overdrive system, the SAS. Like the S9, stealth was a key concern in designing the craft; the normal ambient glow of the engines could not exist to prevent its detection. As such, the engine’s exhaust, controlled by electromagnetic plates, is actually channeled through several areas to both the disperse the ion trail and leave no engine glow with which to visually trace the craft. The dispersion of the ions has been designed to make it appear to be one of the many naturally occurring ion clouds within space.

Sudden Acceleration System (SAS): The SAS temporarily boosts the speed of the starfighter by rapidly transferring energy from the laser cannons and the combat jammer into an Ion Scramjet. The engine scramjet thus provides extra thrust, and consequently higher acceleration and speed. While this greatly increases the performance of the ship, it renders both the laser cannons and the combat jammer inoperable while the SAS is in use.

Airframe: The Nemesis uses a unique construction meant to improve its atmospheric qualities. Part of this is met by the use of an Ultrachrome-Ferrocarbon Composite airframe. Ultrachrome is used to build the initial airframe and is then laminated with multiple carbon fibers, which heavily reinforces the frame, making it structurally sound even in high-g maneuvers that would be impossible for other starfighters or speeders to perform.

Stealth:

Passive Stealth Armor:
The A3 is completely plated with Nutorium-Neuranium Reactive Composite Armor. Each plate is made by liquefying the metals with ion fusers and flash-freezing it by the vacuum of space or any number of cooling agents. This process makes the metal abnormally dense and therefore stronger. Nutorium, which makes up 93% of the armor, is a specialized hull plating material that was developed to defeat sensors systems, allowing a ship to move about with relative stealth (CUSWE). On the S9, when Nutorium was liquefied, it was bombarded by Neuranium particles for added protection and stealth. Neuranium is one of the heaviest, densest metals found in the galaxy. Some gravity-sensitive species claimed to be able to feel a small warping of the space-time fabric of gravity when close to a large piece of neuranium. Among its most useful properties was the fact that even a millimeter-thick piece of neuranium was impervious to sensors (CUSWE). Unfortunately, Neuranium is also relatively heavy, which in turn reduced the vessel’s speed. As such, only a minimal amount for its effects was used on the Nemesis. For increased strength, the backs of the plates facing into the craft are laminated with carbon fibers for increased durability and tensile strength.

Nutorium is naturely black. Also, Kashan engineers added a glossy finish to the craft to partially reflect the starscape. In order to ensure that it does not reflect anything else, the gloss coating has been manufactured to only show colors of the stars.

The dark canopies of the starfighter are covered in the same reflective gloss as the rest of the craft and contains nano-Nutorium-Neuranium threads, making it just as effective in stealth as the rest of the craft.

While the passive stealth armor is nearly 100% effective against electronic sensors, careful organic observation of the surrounding starscape can reveal the presence of an A3 because the gloss reflects the stars facing it, not the ones it’s covering. Hence, when it is moving, the starscape seems to slightly change. Generally, it’s next to impossible to detect it when the observer is moving as well.

Vanish 2 Sensor Mask: This sensors countermeasure was developed and manufactured by Fabritech, this device combined electromagnetic and holographic transmissions to "hide" a starship from most sensors. This device didn't absorb sensor beams but, rather, disrupted them by sending back information on the environment surrounding a starship. The Vanish 2 made a ship virtually disappear by sending back sensor data about the starfield around it (CUSWE). The Vanish 2 system is always engaged to enhance the ship’s already formidable stealth properties. The main benefit to the A3 compared to its other systems is its ability to disguise the energy readings from raised shields and powered up weapons. Kashan personnel did not see the benefits of using holographic transmissions to visually disguise the craft because of its armor. As such, in order to conserve power and space, the holographic overlay normally in the Vanish 2 has been omitted when in use by the A3.

Weapons: The A3 carries the next wave in Kashan Weapon Technology. While the S9’s laser cannons fired dark emerald bolts, the A3’s laser cannons fire a black bolt and the warheads launched by the A3 are hard to detect, making the A3 one of the best offensive stealth ships available.

KDI C-L7.4 Laser Cannon: The KDI C-L7.4 shares many of the same components with the R-S4.3, including a particle accelerator and an advanced rapid-pulse energy module. However, the C-L7.4 uses a new prismatic crystal simply labeled Isotope Se23. Se23 was developed during the frenzy of Kashan stealth work as an artificial version of stygium. While it failed in its plan for a cloaking device, when a light beam was focused through it, Kashan researchers noticed the beam came out with a translucent effect with a slight dark gray tinge. Thus, the bolts from the C-L7.4 are hard to spot visually, making it perfect for use as a stealth weapon. Unfortunately, Se23 crystals are larger than normal, which forces the laser cannon in turn to be larger. The fact that the laser bolts can’t be seen also makes targeting harder for the user, because he or she will not be able to see where they went or if they hit the target except through their targeting computer.

KDI Ordinance:
Kashan engineers realized that using typical warheads with their protective energy sheaths would reveal the stealth fighter’s location. Thus, Kashan commanders have had their warheads energy sheath deactivated and the warheads painted black, making them hard to detect and see (This applies to the S9 and A3). However, without their protective energy sheath, these weapons are more predisposed to detonation by nearby laser blasts and physical elements, reducing their effectiveness in most combat situations.

Thus, Kashan engineers produced their own line of weapons for use by the Kashan stealth starfighters. They have about the same performance as their galactic counterparts but instead of using energy sheathing, they use extra darkened ferrocarbon hull plating. Not only does this reduce sensor output, both electronic (since ferrocarbon is a nonmetal) and visually, but it also makes the weapons more durable against physical defensives such as flechettes. Unfortunately, the extra hull plating reduces the maneuverability and atmospheric speed of the weapons.

Weapon Comparison Statistics:

Tie Bomber Mk II: 3.6 Laser cannons, 1 Dual Launcher (14 Missiles or 14 Torpedoes or 14 Heavy Rockets), 1 Bomb Launcher (14 Proton Bombs or 14 Orbital Mines or 123 Thermal Detonators or 7 Space Bombs or 14 Heavy Rockets).

Missile Boat: 1.4 Laser cannons, 2 Advanced Concussion Missile Launchers(56 missiles), Two Warhead Launchers (23 Heavy Rockets, 42 Advanced Missiles, 42 Advanced Proton Torpedoes or 14 Space Bombs).

Kashan Integrated Combat System (KICS): This works in conjunction with the Kashan Integrated Battle Computer used on the Seraph-class. The KICS itself is very simplistic; it does little more than automatically send sensor data from the Nemesis to Kashan Integrated Battle Computers and vice-versa. The only other function of the KICS is to act as a homing and navigation beacon to ships equipped with the Kashan Integrated Battle Computer.

EDIT: Forgot to list the partial sensor mask to the "Other" section.