10 g and 500 m/s: the Striker fighter
Published
At Mk3, a Striker pulls up to 10 g on your orders and tops out at 500 m/s. It is the carrier’s fighter, built to the size of a Super Hornet: 18 m long and 15 t in game, against the real jet’s 18.31 m and 14,552 kg empty[1].
Built to a g budget
Speeding up, braking, turning and climbing all share one limit: what the pilot can take. In game:
| Mark | Top speed | On orders | In a fight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mk3 | 500 m/s | 10 g | 5 g |
| Mk2 | 400 m/s | 8 g | 4 g |
| Mk1 | 300 m/s | 6 g | 3 g |
| Mk0 | 250 m/s | 5 g | 2.5 g |
A fight lasts minutes, so in combat the pilot flies at half the limit. Speed itself costs nothing; only changing velocity does. That is why a fast turn is slow at full speed: at 500 m/s a Striker turns about 11° a second, but 90° a second when slow. A Mk3 flips end over end in 1.5 seconds.
In a fight it flies with full freedom in all directions, with side and reverse thrusters at 30 % of the main engine.
Guns
In game:
- 20 rounds a second shown, each one’s hit rolled. The real M61 Vulcan cannon typically fires 6,000 a minute[2].
- Muzzle speed 1,050 m/s.
- It fires only while its nose is within 8° of the lead point, in bursts of 0.7 seconds.
- 500 rounds a magazine, reloaded in 5 seconds from its own hold.
- No missiles yet: guns only while the fights are tuned.
Reach by Mark. A gun’s reach comes from how tightly it groups its rounds:
| Mark | Reach | Full hits within |
|---|---|---|
| Mk0 | 500 m | 250 m |
| Mk1 | 625 m | 312 m |
| Mk2 | 833 m | 417 m |
| Mk3 | 1,250 m | 625 m |
Hold Alt to see the bands drawn on the gun cone.
The Mark ladder
Each Mark up is a big step. In game:
| Mark | Accuracy | Evasion | Hull |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mk0 | 45 % | 0 % | 45 |
| Mk1 | 60 % | 5 % | 90 |
| Mk2 | 75 % | 30 % | 180 |
| Mk3 | 90 % | 70 % | 360 |
Hit chance is the shooter’s accuracy minus the target’s evasion. A Mk3 hits another Mk3 20 % of the time, a Mk1 85 % of the time; a Mk1 hits a Mk3 just 1 % of the time. A Mk3 against a Mk1 is a jet against a biplane. The four Strikers you start with are one of each Mark, so you can see the difference.
Stances
You choose how each fighter fights (see Commanding the fleet):
- Reckless: fights to the end, or until out of ammunition.
- Cautious (the default): never picks a fight with a higher Mark, holds at the edge of its own reach, comes in at an angle, and turns evasive below half its hull.
- Evasive: guns off, 10 % faster, 20 % harder to hit, and keeps 300 m outside every enemy’s reach.
Fighters pick the enemy they would hurt most, not the nearest one. On a move order a Striker starts no new fights, but it still fires at what it passes.
Related
- 350 m long, 80,000 hull: the carrier
- 74 to 78 aircraft: what a US carrier air wing carries
- Orders, not joysticks: commanding the fleet
- 747 rounds, 146 hits: the same fight, watched or not
Sources
- Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet: specifications, Wikipedia.
Length: 60 ft 1.25 in (18.31 m) … Empty weight: 32,081 lb (14,552 kg)
- M61 Vulcan, Wikipedia.
The Vulcan's rate of fire is typically 6,000 rounds per minute