F-34A Prowler

F-34A Prowler
Role		Medium-Weight Air Superiority Fighter
National Origin		{{{origin}}}
Production History
Service History
Used By		Mechani/Solari personnel under Solani Commonwealth forces, allied forces equipped with Prowlers via lend-lease

F-34A Prowler

The F-34A Prowler air superiority fighter is a twin-engine, super-maneuverable, supersonic combat jet built in the Mechani territories of the Solani Commonwealth.

The Prowler's development program began in the late 2070s, culminating in the start of the 2080s- the goal was a competent super-maneuverable fighter design that filled in doctrinal holes not covered by existing Mechani/Solari fighters, as well as implemented recently perfected "coffin" windowless-cockpit systems that had been limited to experimental test aircraft up until that point in time.

Much influence was derived from the long history of forward-swept wing fighters of Mechani and Solari make, as well as comparable designs propping up elsewhere in the world during that timeframe, such as the infamous Cyten F-74 Tigershark, another wildly successful forward-swept airframe.

Ultimately, the Prowler would be pressed into service rapidly following its development cycle's conclusion, due to the start of the major conflict known as the Great Kerbin War, where the F-34A would serve valiantly as a frontline fighter for the United Front/World Defense Alliance forces as part of that faction's armed contingent, spearheaded by KATO member states.

Service

So far, the Prowler has seen a single real-world engagement outside of combat testing/wargames against comparable allied air assets, this combat being in the sole battle of Operation Lycan, where several wings of Solani fighters conducted Wild Weasel and probing operations into the Kingdom of Strelka over the Comerian border region known as Area D9S.

The sole air battle of the Operation was when a wing of "Blue Jay" fighters from the Strelkan Air Force entered the airspace attempting to intercept the Prowlers present, and the battle quickly devolved into close-range turnfighting and IR-guided missile spam as the long-range radar munitions of the Blue Jays missed the F-34As entirely, while a single Blue Jay was downed by an AMRAAM.

Eventually the battle ended with a loss of all fighters for the Strelkan forces, with one F-34A destroyed by hostile fire completely, and one suffering engine damage due to an accidental friendly-fire incident of some kind, forcing a crash-landing followed by a successful SERE operation conducted by the downed pilot and allied rescue forces.

Since then, the Prowler has served with distinction among the forces of the Mechani/Solani Air Force and allied partners.

Design

The F-34A is a twin-engine, forward-swept-wing design with a set of leading canards and full V-tail and horizontal rear "taileron" fins for maximum aerodynamic agility.

The nose section incorporates advanced fly-by-wire and sensor fusion technology to allow for full encasement of the pilot's cabin within the fuselage, removing the need for a glass or composite canopy entirely from the aircraft.

As such, the "Coffin"-tech cockpit on the fighter is a defining feature, which some civilian pundits believe utilizes some kind of noninvasive neural-AR interface to allow for unprecedented levels of control for the pilot. So far Solani officials have made no comment on such rumors.

• Powerplant: Twin-Panther
• Crew: 1x Pilot, 1x ENSI Pilot-assist VI
• Armament: multiple missile racks and fuselage-mounted munitions, 1x 20mm Vulcan

Comparable Aircraft (by era):

• Cyten F-74 Tigershark
• F-77 Shrike