Void-Sphinx
The Void Sphinx fighter is a product of Suzuki Konbinaato, Broken Drive, and all fighters produced to date have been built in their facilities. Negotiations are underway which would allow all H9 compliant facilities to produce the craft.
Tech Summary[edit]
| name: | void sphinx fighter, mark I, mod 1 |
| role: | short/medium-range interceptor/interdictor/scout |
| length: | 10m |
| speed: |
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| impulse engines: | standard with overdrivers |
| warp engines: | M/ARA type SCE, mark IV, mod 3 |
| maneuvering: | twenty-six type V reaction control system (RCS) thrusters |
| computer system: | daystrom model ES924-C expert system |
| crew: | 1 (2 in trainer version) |
| gravity: | type III inertial dampers |
| armor: | parametallic polydiburnium with crystalline ablative matrix |
| armament: |
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| shielding: | tri-layered multiphasic harmonic |
| misc.: | standard tractor beam |
| variants: |
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Defensive Systems[edit]
Shields[edit]
The deflector shield system of the Sphinx is a hybrid of Federation and captured Borg technology called multi-layered shielding. The shields are composed of three shield layers nested closely together.
The outer layer is optimized for distribution and radiation of thermal energy.
The middle layer rotates shield frequency and nutation, absorbing enemy fire and spreading it out along the shield before finally redirecting it into space as thermal energy. The shield can then adapt to the frequency of the enemy weapon and render it useless.
The innermost layer is virtually identical to the middle layer, though the nutation is polarized in an opposite direction to the former shield's This redundancy serves two purposes. First, it ensures that the fighter will not be caught unawares by a weapon tuned to the shield's frequency, as no two layers will ever be tuned to the same frequency. Secondly, it ensures an additional margin of survivability during combat situations.
The innermost shield forms within five meters of the fighter's hull, with the outer layers forming at an approximate three meter interval beyond that. Shield power is drawn from the fighter's M/ARA.
Armor[edit]
Comprised of layers of the light alloys used in the construction of the Defiant class, the fighter's armor can best be termed ablative parametallic polydiburnium armor. Its surface has the ability to reflect much of the energy from beam weapons (q.v. SHIELDS).
The hull is also treated with sensor-absorbing substances designed to reduce the sensor signature of the fighter. While not as stealthy as a cloaked vessel, a lone Sphinx can lie in wait powered down and go undetected by any but the most through of scans.
Ofensive Systems[edit]
Most of the weapons systems carried onboard the Mako fighter have been carried over to the Sphinx. The pulse phaser cannon, a hybrid of phaser and disruptor technology, is carried in paired, front-mounted linked configuration. The phaser cannon automatically rotates frequencies, and in conjunction with the expert computer system, can home in on opposing craft shield frequencies, increasing the weapon's effective yield.
The missile weapons system has been designed to handle standard issue quantum mini-torpedoes. More stable than the conventional photon torpedo, and capable of a warhead yield of approximately 18.5 isotons, the quantum weapon is carried in sixteen individual launch tubes, distributed among the fighter's four engine pylons.
The maximum velocity of the torpedo's warp sustainer engine is determined by the speed of the launching vessel, as determined by the formula Vmax = V1 + 0.75*V1/C, where V1 is the velocity of the initiating vessel.
Computer / Targeting System[edit]
Following the Federation High Court Decision on the Rights of Synthetic Intelligences as Sapient Beings (UFPHC Ruling 188901, Section 1, Subsection C), the production of new Artificial Intelligences has been halted. While existing AI units can be fitted to the new fighter (with the consent of the AI), the Mako's AI has been replaced by a sophisticated Expert System. Developed by a design team from Memory Alpha in conjunction with the Bynar Institute, the systems onboard each Sphinx are operated by an Expert System (ES). The ES monitors the status of the fighter as well as the pilot. As the pilot logs more flight time with the ES, the ES becomes more aware of its pilots needs and abilities. Its link to the holographic targeting heads-up display (HUD) enables it to assist the pilot with tracking multiple targets. While most commands to the computer are verbal, several functions, such as targeting, can be configured to be visually activated (giving a new meaning to the term "look down, shoot down").
With time, the ES will use its knowledge of its pilot's preferences (for attack, maneuvers, etc.) to help the pilot in deciding a plan of action. Using the fighter's incredible communications ability, all fighters in a flight, wing, or squadron can share their telemetry, assembling a composite image of a battle's progress. In addition to increasing the individual pilot's situational awareness, this situational database may be of great use to flight controllers planning mission tactics.
Cockpit / Ejection System[edit]
Cockpit controls have been designed to minimize familiarization time for any Mako-qualified pilot. The Void Sphinx retains the two-hand, two-foot control system used in the Mako, in which the pilot's primary hand controls the weapons systems, as well as pitch and roll, while the secondary hand controls velocity. Foot pedals control yaw.
Additionally, five configurable multi-function displays can show tactical, engineering, or weapons system status, as well as information from external sources the fighter may be able to access. The holographic head-up display serves as a virtual sixth display, shortening pilot response time in combat situations.
Integrated into the rear of the cockpit is the pilot survivability module, known as the Pilot Out In Space Ejection (POISE) capsule. This module is designed to activate in an emergency, giving the pilot a margin of safety in conditions where transporters can not be used, due to distance, intervening shielding, or other unforeseen circumstances.
Upon activation, POISE activates explosive bolts, which set off a sequence of events. First, nets deploy around the pilot, then tighten, bringing arms and legs safely within the module's boundaries, to avoid accidental amputation. Then, a multi-segmented Physical shield deploys, enclosing the pilot in a bubble which holds both atmosphere and temperature. Finally, the entire module is propelled clear of the fuselage of the fighter craft.
Once POISE has been ejected from the fighter, it contains consumables capable of sustaining the pilot for up to five hours. In addition, it contains a medical stasis generator, which the pilot can use to enter protective hibernation. Though the longest-duration test conducted with this specific hardware is a period of twelve months, it is based upon the same principles as the pods in which the Vaadwaur survived for nearly a millennium.
The module is equipped with an automated distress beacon. This beacon is dormant until it is activated by either incoming Star Fleet coded IFF transmissions, or by manual pilot override.
Propulsion[edit]
The propulsion suite of the Void Sphinx fighter is comprised of three major systems: the warp drive, impulse engine, and reaction control system (RCS) thrusters.
The Void Sphinx uses an enhanced small craft engine, with two microfusion reactors and a mater / anti-matter reactor assembly (M/ARA) in a sealed unit, along with deuterium and anti-deuterium storage.
Reaction Control Thrusters[edit]
In vacuum, Newton's laws of motion can be observed in a nearly pure environment, and in a much more obvious fashion than in an atmosphere. Once a Fightercraft has established a vector, for instance, it will continue to move in that direction and at that speed for a practically infinite distance, unless thrust is applied to change its momentum.
For this reason, the Void Sphinx has a linked group of twenty-four RCS thrusters mounted as far as practical from the fighter's center of gravity. Because of the fighter's low mass, the RCS thrusters provide angular momentum, and thus, agility which can not be matched by larger ships.
Impulse Engines[edit]
At sublight speeds, the fusion reactors power the impellor coils, which lower the apparent mass of the fighter, as well as activating the energetic plasma which serves as reaction mass for propulsion.
The actual impulse thrust emitters are located on the trailing edges of the engine mount pylons, providing for thrust vectoring.
Warp Engine / Nacelles[edit]
As defined in the Design Specification, the sealed M/ARA core used in the Sphinx has a maximum cruise mode output of 150 cochranes, enabling the craft to reach a speed of warp 4.5 at maximum output. In this mode, the range of the craft is practically limited more by the pilot's endurance than by the fighter's.
In burn-out mode, this output increases to a maximum of 2000 cochranes, enabling the craft to reach a speed of warp 9.9. As the name implies, burn-out mode can not be sustained for lengthy periods. The craft's supply of deuterium and anti-deuterium is consumed at a rate which increases on a geometric scale as velocity increases, and the increased violence of the matter-antimatter annihilation reactions causes damage to the dilithium crystals within the intermix chamber. At maximum velocity, the ship's power plant will deplete its consumables literally within minutes. Damaged dilithium crystals must be removed and replaced by qualified engineering crews onboard the squadron's duty station. These damaged crystals can be restructured in a Starship's engineering core, to enable them to be reused.
Due to the likelihood of damage, the Void Sphinx is equipped with four warp nacelles, though it is capable of making warp speed on any one. Designed for the Void Sphinx, the craft's nacelles are the latest in propulsion technology. They use low impedance warp coils which lessen the craft's effect on subspace, as well as lowering the effective power needed for a given mass / speed matrix. Each nacelle contains a complete set of four warp coils, creating a bulky, bulldog look. Under normal conditions, only one coil in each nacelle is actually in use. This arrangement increases the angular distance between the lobes of the warp field, leading to increased maneuverability at hyperluminal velocities, though it lowers the overall efficiency of the system. For increased efficiency, and higher straight-line sprint speeds, the warp field can be flattened by reducing to a standard two-nacelle operation. Should circumstances dictate, any one or all four of the nacelles can be jettisoned.
