I like much of the Crusader design aesthetics and despite a large number of fighters in the game there is a severe lack of long-range, heavy fighters to compete with the Vanguard. So I had an idea for a new long-range fighter made by Crusader Inc. This would also go with the lore surrounding Crusader Inc that CIG has published. In the lore it indicates that Crusader is running into security concerns and they could endanger the future of the company. Today, Crusader remains atop the list of companies providing charitable donations. The good that it has enabled across the empire is undeniable. However, some critics have questioned whether more good could come if the company reduced its charitable spending to provide stricter security. One expert called Crusader’s rising security costs “the biggest financial threat to the future of the company.” After nearly a century and a half of success, powered in part by its willingness to adapt, one wonders if Crusader needs another radical idea to help it overcome its latest obstacle and if the company will once again find a smooth course to fly. So the idea of Crusader Ind making a long-range fighter that could help secure the system, as well as act as an escort or bomber hunter to protect cargo convoys would make perfect sense. They already have experience with military designs with the Ares and Hercules, so expanding on that to make a heavy fighter is a natural outgrowth. I haven't worked out an exact model for it yet but overall I am looking at a merger of the Ares wing and engine design, with the MSRs centerline body, though slimmer since it does not support cargo or tunnels. Specifications of the ship. Crew: Two man (pilot, copilot/EWAR operator) Length: 38 m Height: 6 m Width: 35 m Range: Long Weapons: 2xS4/5 hardpoints Turrets: 3xS3 (under chin), 2xS4 missiles (top turret) Missiles: 12xS3, 8xS4 (turret) Radar: S2, 1 Long range directional scanner/EWAR pod Shields: 2xS2 Components: 2xS2 power plant/cooler The ship uses a side by side cockpit setup like the MSR does with the second crewman acting as the top turret missile operator or EWAR operator. The airlock area has the two escape pods as well as the access hatch into the ship. The living quarters houses the beds, kitchen, Shower and storage. It also hoses either the EWAR computers or additional storage, depending on the variant. The final area contains the S4 missile storage and the components such as shield generators, quantum drive, power plants, coolers. Weapon wise it has 3xS3 guns on a remote chin turret under the pilot control and has 2xS4/5 hardpoints located on the shoulders. It has two wing housings that can each house 6xS3 or 12xS2 missiles. The top remote turret contains 2xS4 missile hardpoints with an additional six missile reloads for a total of 8 missiles. The top turret can be controlled by either the pilot or copilot, but using the coilot allows it to fire on multiple targets. It carries a standard S2 radar but in addition, it also carries a long-range directional scanner located on the right side wing. the wings have a similar profile to the Ares so the slot where the S7 gun is housed has a slot to mount a long-range directional scanner or EWAR pod. The EWAR variant has three major changes to its loadout. First is it loses some gear storage and has EWAR computers in its place. The pod on the wing becomes an EWAR pod as opposed to a long-range directional scanner. The final change is that in place of the S4 missiles it carries EMP rockets. These rockets are located in disposable pods that each contains 4 rockets for a total of 32 EMP rockets. These rockets release a 300 m EMP pulse when they detonate. Due to their unguided nature they are most useful against large slower or stationary targets. The ship is designed around the mission of hunting down targets. Even the EWAR variant is more geared towards disabling big targets as opposed to the Sentinel which has a broader defense suppression flexibility. For a patrol, it is common for a fighter variant and an EWAR variant to be operating side by side. Depending on the expected targets would depend on if you would carry 2xS5 guns or 2xS4 gimballed guns. The chin turret acts as an anti-fighter weapon in either case. I will add a concept image or model when I can get one done, but I wanted to get this idea out there. The idea of its overall design is to make it an easy outgrowth, design wise. The basics are to gut out the MSRs center section, slim it down vertically, and then mount the Ares wings and engine section onto it.