Terran American Empire Air Force.	US Air Force SF-45 Saker Space Fighter.		Terran American Empire Air Force.
A lot can be said about the US Air Force's SF-45 "Saker" fighter. Very little of it good. The fighter was conceived as a manned version of the Air Force's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) Anti-Ballistic Missile Program; The theory was that a manned platform could put a situationally aware operator A US Air Force's SF-45 "Saker" Fighter In Action (date unknown). right in front of the Russian missiles headed towards the United States, Canada, and possibly Britain, where judgement calls could be made faster than the nuke's could compensate. The Saker was the first generation of these fighters. It failed. Miserably. The lasers were far too underpowered to effect much of anything, the coms relay system couldn't effectively coordinate other, unmanned system (such as the much vaunted "Godian Rods"), and even the radar system was simply inadequate without ground support. Finally, the platforms themselves couldn't survive without a platform of their own to support them, defeating the whole purpose of the program. The program was abandoned, and about 200 derelict units were rounded up and placed into a top secret depository on the far side of Luna. Here they would languish, since the cost of returning them to Terra was too high and would reveal the programs existence, until chance returned them to a kind of glory- The ill-fated space fold of the SDF-001 MACROSS, through a weird spatial anomaly, literally reached out and grabbed them, despite their position, with the ship. A few were retrofitted as self-defending missiles, but once again, chance intervened. A Veritech pilot recognized the Saker as sturdy (they certainly were that), well-equipped system for EVA in place of the Searcher SFV's for massive repair jobs, by the instillation of a strong manipulator arm. So effective were they, in fact, that Searchers were taken off-line entirely for most repairs, and only used when either extremely detailed work was required (such as electrical work) or when the Sakers were overwhelmed (such as just after the Battle of Saturn and the Battle of Mars). The Sakers are still in use, but are not counted as "inventory" on ships, both because there are so few used (maybe 2) for a BREETIA TULL-Class Ultra-Dimensional Fortress and because they are considered part of the ship itself; Most are in fact even tethered. They have come into secondary use on the M-611 Perceval "Charlotte" Armored Logistics Vehicle and the M-613 Mobile Repair Facility. NOTE: The operator's instructions on the use of a Saker on a Charlotte says it must be tethered and operate with a ground crew with tag lines or a Destroid holding it in place; This is not actually correct. The Saker has an on-board powerplant perfectly capable of holding a Saker aloft and operating as a repair platform, though it is not recommended in winds of excess of 25 knots (in which case merely operating outside is recommended against in any case), but REF Army staff realized there's always some jackass that will want to try and take on "lightly armed" malcontents, terrorists, and etc. with the first thing they can grab; As a result, they wrote the manual in a way that stopped such foolishness before it could become a problem. When the ASF and Marine took Sakers and Charlottes into inventory themselves, they took the Army's operator's manual as a rough draft, without questioning the section in question; After all, they took these on as repair platforms, not combat systems, and as such it never occurred to them to inquire about the prohibition. Most UGC militry personnel only come to question it as individuals after field experience shows them capable of working without such restrictions in excess of the operator's manual, usually by compete accident. The Spacy did not take the Army's manual but rather the contract developer's, which fortunately did include "recommendations" to use tethers, and the Patrol uses the Spacy's manual without even the mere act of replacing the word "Spacy" at the top of the document with "Spaceways Patrol" (the legal name at the time), but merely rubber stamping the document's cover page "Accept For Distribution" on the cover page. Due to the Saker's well-known reputation as a vastly inferior combat platform nobody really tries to. Name: US Air Force SF-45 Saker Space Fighter. Model Type: Repair. Class: Spacecraft. Crew: 1. Passengers: None. No room. MDC By Location:
Fuselage Gripper Arm	400 50	Radar/Sensor Mast Laser Torches (2)-	25 50 each
Notes: Usual penalties apply. Speed and Statistical Data:
Speed: 40 MPH max. NOTE: Due to the use of gravity pods, there is NO physical terrain that they can't traverse. Range: 2,000 miles. The grav pods WILL work over water. Hovering Height: From 2 to 10 feet. Maximum Range: 20 years (untethered). Height: 6 feet 2.25 inches Width: 20 feet 3/4 inch. Length: 10 feet. Weight: 4 tons Powerplant: Vinar-Greeze 2100 Reactor Pile; Output: 60 MGw.		Hover System: Normal grav pods. Drive System: GRX-443 Tractioning Drive; Output: 300 hsp. Cargo Capacity: A Saker can only carry a few pounds of operator survival gear only there is a mounting bracket for all standard UGC long arms and a charging port for e-clips. Cost and Availability: Each unit costs 40,000credit, and is commercially available. Black Market Cost and Availability: You might be able to sell a stolen one for a few hundredcredit, but much more likely to be trading one for "something else." They always seem to be available.
Weapon Systems:
1. Dual Laser Auto-Cannons: While the SF-45 Saker Space Fighter proved to be a disappointment as a weapons system, tney are still very dangerous at short range. Purpose: Immediate self-defense (for escape and evasion). MD: 2D6 times 10 per blast. Range: 4 miles. Rate of Fire: Per pilot's attacks per melee. Payload: Unlimited.		2. Variable Full-Force Barrier Field: The Variable Full-Force Barrier Field provides additional protection for the vehicle. Purpose: Defense. MDC: 200 per panel; 1,200 total available. NOTE: Each panel MUST still have 1 MDC for the system to continue working. Effect: Provides 200 MDC in each of 06 panels. Range: 40 feet. Coverage Characteristics: A full 360 degrees coverage area around the craft.
Features:
HUD: Displays maps, radar, targeting information, and any OTHER information the user wants directly in front of the user. Video Recorder: Records from sensors and the cockpit itself. 500 hours of recording available. Radar: Civilian grade radar. Range: 2 miles, can track up to 40 individual targets. 95% reliability (00% against unfriendly stealthed vehicles). FLIR/SLIR: Forward and Side Looking Infrared. Allows operator to get visuals on targets at night, and to see what individual welds are doing. Virtual Map: Displays a continuously-updating map of local terrain for the operator. Effective land navigation of 85% as updates come. Good to 50 miles. Specific range can be adjusted in 1 mile increments. Vacuum Seal: Permits the Mecha to be used in hard vacuum (such as outer space), and other hostile environments.		Loudspeaker: Amplifies voice 1 to 100 times. 100 feet in normal crowds. Fire resistance: Fires external to the pod are not felt at all. Variable Tint Cockpit Canopy: Adjusts tinting to light conditions, up to an including a black dot if the sun is directly on the operators face (only covers eyes). Internal temperature and humidity control: Automatically maintains users desired heat, humidity, and other personal comfort settings. Magnetic Clamps: Electro magnets in the underside of the hull allow the unit to adhere to the hulls of warships and the exteriors of SOME buildings. Type-11 wide band radios: Effective 10 mile range, auto encrypt/decrypt. Works on standard radio band wavelengths, so it can still be jammed (if the enemy knows the frequencies).
Combat Bonuses from SF-45 Saker Combat Elite: Ya, about that. There are none. Seriously, you're better off trying to throw rocks at an enemy. In space. Without a suit.