Aquarius

Description
The Aquarius was first introduced into service in 2515, after the success of its older counterpart, the Lyonesse. It is a large small craft designed to escort spacecraft from a planet's surface to orbiting WarShips or space stations.

Despite having a limited fuel capacity, the ship has been given balanced firepower and heavy armor that rivals many DropShips and Aerospace fighters. The Aquarius was a highly sought out craft for its time.

However, surface-to-orbit escorts were eclipsed by newer heavy weight Aerospace fighters and some newer designs of DropShips.

The Aquarius and its sister class, Lyonesse, designs were revisited during the early years of the Jihad, where they were upgraded with new technology for other uses in the conflict.

Weapons and Equipment
The ship's principal weaponry includes a pair of Long Range Missile launchers with 2 tons of ammunition. The launchers are augmented by a pair of large lasers for medium range targets. The craft has a Six-tube Short-Range Launcher and medium laser in each wing section. To protect the craft's aft, it has been given an additional two medium lasers.

The ship's fusion engine has been given a maximum thrust of 6, with six tons of fuel.

Variants

 * Aquarius-M1 : A Jihad era variant, the Marik variant replaces all its lasers with Extended-Range models. The ship is given a larger engine to improve the craft's speed. BV (2.0) = 2,568


 * Aquarius W1 : This is a Word of Blake variant that was produced in the early years of the Jihad. The Aquarius is changed from an escort craft to a mobile artillery battery, using Arrow IV artillery missiles launcher while grounded. The Blakist variant's armor type is changed out for Ferro-Aluminum while still maintaining the same armor protection.  Also the ship's engine is altered to increase the ship's speed. BV (2.0) = 2,698

Related Aerospace Small Craft

 * Lyonesse Escort
 * Tigress Close Patrol Craft (Gunship)