Fire Bird Orbital Defense Aerospace Gunship

Fire Bird Union Of Worlds Aerospace Defence Craft:

Overview:
The Fire Bird is a revolutionary new design for the Unions PDF forces. A combination of an anti-orbital platform and aerospace aircraft the Fire Bird can deter orbital assaults and destroy any landing forces. More of a ship than a aircraft the FireBird is operated by 20 crewman who work alongside a sophisticated AI. The Fire Bird is powered by a fusion reactor and can indeed never need to land, it flies literally on the edge of space and its armoured super structure is more than capable of stopping space debris impact. If not then the Fire Bird also has a medium shield generator that can protect it for a large amount of time. The Fire Birds primary role is to destroy drop ships and other craft entering the atmosphere. The Fire Bird also carries weapons that can engage escorts but it is not armed for anything bigger. The weapons available to the Fire Bird are 2 Hellfire ML mounted on its top hull, 2 Spearhead Drone weapons launchers also on the top hull and an experimental Maser cannon. The Fire Bird is also armed with multiple point defences including lasers and heavy cascade cannons to destroy fighters and a Hellfire ML on the underside. An escort squadron of Firestorms accompanies the Fire Bird at all times. The Union also deploys these when they are attacking a world as the Fire Birds underside ML can be used to launch missile attacks on the surface and can if needed be modified to fire nuclear warheads. Speed is another advantage of the craft as it can with its inertial dampeners fly at Mach 7, thanks to the non-existent air drag.
Capabilities:

Armament wise The Fire Bird mounts
2 Top side Hellfire ML
2 Bottom side Hellfire ML
2 Top mounted Spearhead drone launchers
1 Experimental Maser cannon
Numerous pin point defences (cascade cannons, Laser Projectors)

Defensive measures and armour wise The Fire Bird is equipped with 180mm of Quantum lattice plate with a mark 4 shield generators on top of that to help protect against attacks from orbit and other air craft.

Electronic abilities wise the Fire Bird mounts a hacking array and a missile and smart ordinance destruction package which detonates ordinance close to the Ship. It also carries numerous flare and chaff launchers and also is equipped with a dead man’s weapon if required. When activated the Fire Bird can cause a massive EMP burst which will destroy all enemy aircraft in the vicinity though this also includes friendlies and so is hardly used apart from in last ditch scenarios.

Speed wise the Fire Bird is Unbelievably Fast able to go up to Mach 12 though it usually operates at Mach 7 for combat, its turning ability is limited due to speed but flies at the very edge of space. It runs on a Mark 8 Fusion reactor which powers 2 Hyper pulse jet engines modified for edge of space use.


while this is technically not an aircraft in a sense of purpose this is found in the Union air core.

Fire Bird design and Union of Worlds belong to me