BIF-88 Bisento Heavy Starfighter (CAF/Bushido Industries):

There are multiple heavy fighter designs operating within the Three Galaxies. Some include the Consortium Proctor, Xanadu Spitfire, and the Naruni Starsplitter bomber. Due to their popularity, Bushido Industries decided to get involved in the business of heavy fighters as well. In addition to the Bisento, they also developed the Naginata heavy fighters. The Naginata is slightly smaller than the Bushinto and more developed in the tradition design of other Bushido Industries fighters. The Naginata development was actually started later than the Bisento yet entered service earlier.

The Bisento was an attempt at a truly outstanding heavy fighter and some of the best engineers in the company were tasked in the development of it. Still, the heavy fighter was delayed greatly in development and was only just recently introduced into production. So far only a handful of these heavy fighters have entered service. Still, those who have managed to purchase these heavy fighters give excellent reviews to the Bisento.

There has been one problem with the Bisento as a heavy fighter. That is that the Bisento fighter is simply too large to fit in the hanger bays of most starships. As a result, it is much more likely that these heavy fighters will operate from either ground facilities or large space stations. It has also been suggested the craft should be considered a cutter or a light corvette.

Bushido Industries offered the Consortium Armed Forces their new heavy fighter. There seem to be some interest within Consortium military circles although it seems much more likely that they will retain the Proctor or perhaps an ungraded version of the common heavy fighter. The Human Alliance also seems most interested in an upgraded version of Proctor. Still, several independent militaries are looking at purchasing numbers of these fighters.

The Bisento is named after an Oni pole arm which is extremely similar to a Japanese pole arm of the same name. In design, the weapon has a sabre like blade. The name seems pretty appropriated with the long reach of the heavy fighter. Other Bushido Industry fighter designs are also named for various Oni melee weapons including the Katana and Tanto.

It can argued that the Bisento is the heaviest armed fighter presently operating in the Three Galaxies although there are a number of corvette designs that are not that much larger yet are even heavier armed. It is also heavier armored than any other fighter although, again, many corvettes are not much larger yet even heavier armored. Still, it is definitely heavier armored and armed than the Consortium Proctor and Naruni Starsplitter designs, which are considered to be the Bushido heavy fighter’s main competition.

The armor is in many ways more similar to that of a corvette than that of a heavy fighter / bomber and the basic design is more based on a cut down corvette design than an enlarged heavy fighter design. The shield however are modified heavy fighter shields and are only about twenty-five percent heavier than those of a Proctor class fighter and are only about half as powerful as those mounted on some corvettes.

Main direct fire weapon of the heavy fighter is a 12 cm laser cannon mounted in the nose. It is actually a cut down version of the 12 cm weapon carried on many capital ships although it does have a much shorter range. The one weakness of the heavy laser is that it draws more power than the heavy fighter’s fusion plant can provide. As such, it needs to be fed from a storage capacitor. Due to the maneuverability of the heavy fighter, it can actually be used as an extreme devastating anti-fighter weapon. Still, the heavy fighter has been criticized for not mounting any forward firing lighter anti-fighter weaponry.

Still, the fighter has two defensive turrets which can fire directly forward. Mounted on either side of the fuselage, each one has both a heavy GR-1000 gravity rail gun and a variable focus particle beam. Both can be combined on a single target if they are within range. The rail gun has a payload of ten thousand rounds and up to two hundred and fifty bursts can be fire before running out of ammunition.

Of course the heavy fighter also carries heavy missile weaponry. There is a capital missile launcher under the nose with a total of nine anti-ship missiles. In the wings are two missile bays which can carry long range, medium range, or short range missiles. These can be mixed and are not limited to a single ordnance type unlike the capital missile launcher. For rear defense, the fighter has two mini-missile launchers that fire to the rear. In some cases, mini-mines are carried instead of mini-missiles. They can simply be dropped into the path of a pursuing craft and the mine’s drive activate when a ship gets within range.

For its size, the Bisento is incredible fast and is about twenty percent faster than a standard Proctor class heavy fighter. To further increase this however, the heavy fighter mounts an auxiliary thruster. It has limited fuel, enough for around thirty minutes, but while active the heavy fighter can actually accelerate faster than Bushido’s Katana fighter design. It is believed that the thruster is almost a direct copy of the thruster mounted on the Spitfire design although it is claimed by the company that it was an independent development. The faster than light drive allows the Bisento to reach speeds up to four and a half light years per hour.

The electronic warfare and sensor arrays aboard the heavy fighter are extremely advanced, equal to some of the most advanced systems in the Three Galaxies. These systems are extremely useful when the heavy fighter is used for scouting missions. It does not however carry the full high powered jamming array to act as in the “Wild Weasel” role.

Requiring a larger crew than most heavy fighters and rivaling a corvette as far as crew, the heavy fighter has superior crew quarters to most other heavy fighter designs and does not has the very cramped coffin arrangement of most and has double bunks instead. Each bunk has a sliding curtain and the bunk has more space that the coffin has. Each bunk also has a micro communication and entertainment system. The fighter has a total of ten bunks. Nine are for the ships crew and has one extra for any passenger the fighter may be carried. The commander of the Bisento does has his or her own small quarters. This quarters is designed to be used for crew emergencies and has decent but scant medical equipment as well. The heavy fighter can operate for very long period of time and is excellent for long patrols.

This starfighter design uses modified starship speed and weapon range rules. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World / Three Galaxies for more details.

(Note: The power system is fusion not anti-matter because the author’s opinion is that anti-matter is to dangerous to be used in vehicles that may be used in an atmosphere. If a starship powered by anti-matter was to detonate in an atmosphere it would cause huge planetary damage. At GM option, this can also be applied to all starfighters or this fighter can be changed to anti-matter.)

Go here for Deckplans for BIF-88 Bisento

Model Type: BIF-88

Class: Heavy Fighter /Bomber

Crew: Full Military Crew: 10; Pilot, Copilot, Sensors, Communication, Commander, 2 Gunners, 3 Engineers. Can be crewed by one crew member and can be operated by four at virtually full efficiency. Has an extra bunk for one passenger.

M.D.C. by Location:

	12 cm “Short” Heavy Laser Cannon (Nose):	300
	Combined GR-1000 Rail Gun / Particle Beam Cannon Turret (2)	400 each
	Large Missile Bays (2, Wings)	300 each
	Cruise Missile Launcher	350
	Mini-Missile Launchers (2, Rear):	100 each
	Auxiliary Thruster:	200
	[1] Main Body:	2,200
	Pilots Compartment:	400
	[2] Variable Force Field:	500 per side (3,000 total)

Notes:

[1] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will put the heavy fighter out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The fighter itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck.

[2] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (150 M.D.C.) per melee round.

Speed:

Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.

Sublight: Has a special radiation and particle shields that allows the ship to travel up to 50 percent of the speed of light. Fighter can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 1.2 percent of light per melee. The heavy fighter Light has an auxiliary thruster which can be used a maximum of 30 minutes before fuel is exhausted. On auxiliary thrusters, the craft has a maximum acceleration of 1.5 percent of light per melee maximum.

Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum normal speed is Mach 6 (4,448.7 mph /7,159.5 kph), can enter and leave atmosphere because flight system is using contra grav. Since the ordnance is carried in bays, the atmospheric speed of the heavy fighter is unaffected

Stardrive: Uses a Gravitonic Drive system that allows the ship to reach a maximum of 4.5 light years per hour.

Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either drive system but only has supplies for ten crew members for about six months Can be stretched to nine months in emergencies..

Statistical Data:

Height: 22 feet (6.7 meters).

Width: 63.5 feet (19.4 meters).

Length: 140 feet (42.7 meters).

Weight/Mass:650 Tons (589.7 metric tons)

Power System: Advanced Fusion with 25 year life span.

Cargo: Minimal Storage Space 17x11x8 feet (5.2x3.4x2.4 meters). In addition, each crew member has a very small locker for personal items and uniforms. The forward cruise missile bay, if empty of missiles, has about the same amount of cargo space as the main cargo hold.

Market Cost: 350 million credits to legitimate government; 250 million credits to private individuals (remove advanced sensor and stealth systems, heavy laser cannons and cruise missile launchers); black market fully equipped ships will sell for up to 700 million credits (Drop 50 million for every sensor or weapon system missing from ship)

Weapons Systems:

One (1) Nose mounted “Short” 12 cm Heavy Laser Cannon: This cannon is equal in power to the secondary guns of a Warshield cruiser with a shorter range, and is mostly used for space assault and commercial raiding. Unlike most capital class weaponry, the cannon does NOT have penalties to hit starfighters and other small targets, due to the excellent maneuverability of the Bisento!

Maximum Effective Range: 16 miles (25.8 km) through atmosphere and 1,600 miles (2,580 km) in space.

Mega Damage: 2D6x100 M.D.C.

Rate of Fire: twice (2) per melee.

Payload: Limited to fifty (50) shots due to heavy power draw but recharges at the rate of one (1) shot per minute.
Two (2) Dorsal mounted Combination GR-1000 Rail Gun/Particle Beam Cannons Ball Turret: Mounted in turrets on the sides of the fuselage are mounts combine a GR-1000 gravity rail gun with a particle beam above the rail gun laser cannons. Turret are main defensive weapon of starfighter and they inflict a huge amount of damage. Both weapons can be fired together if the weapons are within range and both are controlled by the turret gunner. The turrets may be put under the bridges control. Turrets have 360 rotation and 120 degree arc of.
1. GR-1000 Heavy Gravity Rail Gun (1 each): Very powerful rail gun mounted in the turret. This is the same weapon system that is mounted in the nose of the Scorpion starfighter. The weapon cannot be used while the ship is traveling at faster than light speeds. Still, the 30 mm Projectiles are fired from weapon at a significant fraction of the speed of light.
  
  Maximum Effective Range:16 miles (26 km) through atmosphere and 1,600 miles (2,575 km) in space.
  
  Mega Damage: Rail gun inflicts 4D6x10 M.D.C. for a 40 round burst ( Combined particle beam [on heavy setting] and rail gun inflicts 8D6x10)
  
  Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the gunner (usually 4 or 5).
  
  Payload: 10,000 rounds (250 Bursts)
2. Variable Focus Particle Beam Mounts (1 each): The particle beam is copied from those carried on the CAF Assault Shuttle and will fire a very powerful narrow beam and can fire a scatter effect that is less powerful but is capable of striking multiple targets. The weapon system is quite useful against missiles although the cone is not as wide as Tachyon cannon sprays are (Gives +2 bonus vs fast moving targets such as missiles.) The weapon cannot be used while the ship is traveling at faster than light velocities.
  
  Maximum Effective Range: 300 miles (480 km) in space and 3 miles (4.8 km) in an atmosphere.
  
  Mega Damage: Single Target: 4D6x10 per blast. Wide Beam: 5D6 to all targets within a 5,000 foot (1,524 meter) diameter area. When fired as a wide beam, the cannon cannot be used on targets closer than 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) away (Combined particle beam [on heavy setting] and rail gun inflicts 8D6x10).
  
  Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the gunner (usually 4 or 5).
  
  Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Two (2) Wing Mounted Missile Bays: Unlike most Bushido Industries fighters, the fighter carries all of its missiles internally. The wings of the fighter have internal bays the ability to carry various different types of missiles. Different missiles are carried for different missions. Long range missiles are carried against capital targets and against fast moving fighters. Medium range missiles are normally used against fighters. Short range missiles and mini-missiles are usually used against fixed targets. Two medium range missiles, Four short range missiles, or eight mini-missiles can be carried in place of a long range missiles and ordinance can be mixed and matched. Long Range Missiles have a top speed of Mach 20 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 8% of light per turn. Medium Range Missiles have a top speed of Mach 15 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 6% of light per turn. Short Range Missiles: The missile has a top speed of Mach 10 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 4% of light per turn.

Maximum Effective Range: Long Range Missile range is 3,400 miles (5,470 km) in an atmosphere and 1,800,000 miles (2,897,000 km/9.7 light seconds) in space, and Medium Range Missile range is 160 miles (257.5 km) in an atmosphere and 80,000 miles (128,750 km/0.43 light seconds) in space. Short Range Missiles: Missile range is 10 miles (16.1 km) in an atmosphere and 500 miles (804.7 km) in space.

Mega-Damage & Properties: Varies by long range missile type (See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables - Long Range Fusion warheads inflict 2D4x100 M.D.C. each.)

Rate of Fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), four (4), or eight (8) missiles.

Payload: Twelve (12) long range missiles, twenty-four (24) medium range missiles, forty-eight (48) short range missiles (carried at the rate of two (2) medium range missiles, or four (4) short range missiles, per long range missile)
One (1) Nose Cruise Missile Launcher: Missile has a top speed of Mach 25 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 10% of light per turn (far faster than any starship.) Whether weapons can be shot down is calculated from the speed of target, launcher, and missile. When drive goes dead, missile will continue to travel in a straight line unless set to self destruct but has very low odds of hitting starships (Great for hitting bases and planets because target does not move and missile, when unpowered, is at -25% to be detected.) Cruise missiles have penalties to hit small targets but are all considered smart missiles.

Maximum Effective Range: Cruise missile range is 8,000 miles (12,875 km) in an atmosphere and 4,000,000 miles (6,437,376 km/ 21.5 light seconds) in space.

Mega-Damage & Properties: Varies by cruise missile type (See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables - Anti-Matter inflicts 4D6x100 M.D.C.).

Rate of Fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), three (3), or six (6) missiles.

Payload: Nine (9) Cruise Missiles.
Two (2) Rear Mini-Missile Launchers: It is a mainly defensive weapon to protect the rear of the heavy fighter. Fires mini-missiles used for offensive and defensive purposes. Missile has a top speed of Mach 10 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 2% of light per turn (slightly faster than any starship except if it is exceeding it maximum safe acceleration). Fragmentation and plasma mini-missiles are the recommended ordnance. Special mini-mines can be used in launcher as well. The activate when they detect a target, not on launch and accelerates 0.5% of light per turn in space.

Maximum Effective Range: Mini-Missile range is 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere and 100 miles (161 km) in space. Mini-Mines: 50 miles (80.4 km) in space - only usable in space.

Mega-Damage: Varies with mini-missile type (See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for details.)

Rate of Fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), four (4), eight (8), or twelve (12) mini-missiles / mines.

Payload: Twenty-four (24) per launcher for a total of fort-eight (48) mini-missiles
Special Bonuses: Like the Katana starfighter, this fighter is extremely maneuverable; add +5% to the pilots piloting skill, +1 to strike, +1 to dodge. The fighter also have a very advanced terrain following system and advanced sensors (+10% read sensory instruments). All bonuses are in addition to pilots bonuses (Hand to hand and Starfighter Pilot: Basic or Elite).

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Basic designs and Images drawn and copyrighted by Derek Stanley (dstanley@direct.ca) .

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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