Typhoon (Aerospace Fighter class)

Description
Developed by CBM Aerospace of Donegal, in its heyday the Typhoon was the pre-Star League era Lyran Commonwealth's ground attack AeroSpace Fighter of choice. But while a vital part of the Lyran military's AeroSpace forces for many years, technology marched on and CBM ultimately discontinued the Typhoon in 2485 as it was entering into a business alliance with Lockheed Corporation of Tharkad to develop the Thunderbird that would ultimately trigger their merger into the powerful Lockheed/CBM Corporation.

The Typhoon features a simple flying wing design, intended to provide both excellent glide characteristics and ample room for bomb ports. Though slow compared to more modern designs, the heavily armored Typhoons speed was more than adequate for its ground attack role when compared with contemporaries of the era.

Weapons and Equipment
Serving as the core unit during air assault missions, the Typhoon's primary weapons were a series of Defiance 600 PPCs and an array of Rassal Emerald Series Large Lasers in its wings, all of which were supported by a single nose-mounted Screamer LRM-15 rack.

Variants

 * TFN-3A : This version of the Typhoon introduced in Introduction Year::2469 trades the Large Lasers for 2 AC/10s with 2 tons of ammunition. The cooler running ACs allow the removal of 6 heat sinks. Bv (1.0) = 1,439


 * TFN-3M : This version of the Typhoon developed in Introduction Year::2473 trades 2 Large Lasers and both PPCs for 2 LRM-20s with 2 tons of ammunition. The cooler running LRMs allow the removal of 4 heat sinks. Bv (1.0) = 1,674


 * TFN-5H : This version of the Typhoon is a modern upgrade fielded in Introduction Year::3074 . It is wrapped with 7.5 tons of Ferro-Aluminum armor. The missile weapons are changed to an Artemis IV-enhanced LRM-10, and each wing carries 2 Large Lasers and a Heavy PPC. To cool off, 23 double heat sinks are included. BV (1.0) = 1,971

Notable Pilots

 * The illegitimate son of Tatyana Steiner, Robert Steiner became an accomplished ace at the controls of his Typhoon-A prior to his efforts to overthrow Margaret Olsen to become Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth.