Z-5 Renegade

Z-5 Renegade
Carrier-based Strike Aircraft
National Origin		Zokesia
Production History
Designed
2148 - 2149
Produced
2149 - Current
Designer		Ward Industries
Unit Cost		45,374(√)
Number Built		120
Service History
In Service
2149 - Ongoing
Used By		Zokesia The Confederacy
Aircraft Characteristics
Dry Mass		42,400kg
Length		21 m
Width		21.7 m
Height		6.4 m
Propulsion		2 x Logi CW-80 Afterburning Turbofan
Maximum Velocity		800 m/s
Operational Range		400 km

he Ward Industries Z-5 Renegade is a Zokesian carrier-based supersonic bomber designed and built by Ward Industries for the Zokesian Royal Navy. Before the 2149 Unification, the aircraft was designated Z5. The Z-5 was built during the Reclamation war, as Zokesia and her allies desperately needed a heavy anti-ship attack platform with which to give carrier strike groups the punching power needed to destroy well defended ships. Despite a record 85-day design to prototype period, the aircraft entered service too late to participate in the Invasion of North Point. It has since become the mainstay of the Zokesian Royal Navy's offensive air arm in the strike and antishipping roles.

The Z-5 is currently the world's heaviest carrier-borne aircraft, with some versions reaching up to 48,000 kg.

Development

Early Studies

Development of the Z-5 had started in 2146 as a private venture by Ward Industries, who sought to produce a capable supersonic long-distance bomber as a successor to the stopgap of Kargadan over-wing Kalibr launch rails. It was a large and complex aircraft that incorporated several innovative features, such as being the first bomber to feature a digital computer, while its ability to operate off of the limited space of carriers while carrying a super heavy strike payload was also relatively ambitious for the era.

Design

A Z-5 refueling another Z-5 over the Central Sea

Overview

The Z5 was designed with heavy payload in mind, its large wings providing the lift needed to reach flying speeds off the end of a carrier without sacrificing top speed. Two Afterburning Turbojets were mounted to provide dash speeds up to Mach 2.2 at altitude, enabling the Z-5 to get out of range of enemy air defense after unloading its missiles. The missiles themselves were the Kalibr-style, very large and heavy and cumbersome to mount on aircraft. The Z-5s large size allowed for no less than eight of these missiles, slung underwing and outside of the internal bomb bay, a secondary capacity for land attack ordinance but rarely used in practice. Later models were fitted with a drogue-chute to reduce landing roll.

Variants

The Z-5 RF drop-in attachment was designed to fulfil a critical role on Zokesian carriers, that of airborne tanker. The bomb bay was filled with fuel cells, and two underwing tanks could be affixed in lieu of anti-ship weapons. The boom, slung under the fuselage and attached to the internal bay, was capable of transferring 5000U of fuel to friendly aircraft. The drop-in nature of the attachment meant crews could perform anti-ship missions, turn around and reconfigure the Z-5 for tanking in as little as two hours time. The Z-5 also had the ability to refuel in flight, allowing buddy tanking on long range missions to extend the carrier's strike range even further

Export

The Prototype XZ5 Performing carrier trials aboard the Arcovdonian carrier CVN Talis, 2148.

Z-5 with tanker attachments refueling a Sarconian Air Force Q55 Vex

A Z-5 with wings and tail folded. Originally designed to fit on a 16x8m elevator, the folding mechanisms allowed the Z-5 to operate on carriers with conventionally-sized elevators despite being nearly twice the size of the average carrier-based aircraft.