Thembrian Fighter

Thembrian "Juggernaut" fighters form the backbone of the Glorious People’s Air Force. Sturdy and heavily-armed, these short-range attack aircraft are the most widely-used planes in the Thembrian combat arsenal and the most familiar to Thembrian pilots. These rugged craft are employed constantly to patrol the air vectors throughout the frozen country and hunt down those who trespass the sanctity of Thembrian airspace. They are the best the Thembrian Air Force has to offer — which is not to say that they are very good.

Thembrian fighters are 36 feet long and constructed with a biplane wing design. They are extremely heavy, though this is not so much due to the size of the aircraft as it is to the amount of armor the fighter carries. Built using "boiler-plate construction," as scoffers refer to it, the planes are made of one-inch-thick metal panels bolted together at the seams in two layers. The entire fuselage is fabricated using this method, with numerous rivets prominently decorating the airframe. While this affords a great deal of protection to the pilot and the plane’s systems, it also means that the Thembrian Juggernaut weighs three times as much as an unarmored plane its size.

To compensate for the poor maneuverability of the aircraft, Thembrian designers have installed a powerful single engine mounted on the nose, of a grade similar to the one used in Thembrian heavy transports. It provides enough thrust to keep the Juggernaut airborne, but pilots must keep the throttle wide open in order to maintain a respectable speed. Normally this would cause problems with overheating, but the icy air of the Thembrian skies keeps the engine well-cooled in flight.

Due to the constant use of full throttle in flying, Juggernaut fighters are strictly relegated to short-range duty. Extra fuel tanks can extend the distance the plane can travel, but the Juggernaut is best suited for flights near the Thembrian homeland, which is its main base of operations anyway.

Juggernauts are rugged just like the tundra people who built them. They can withstand bullets, bombs, windstorms, blizzards, rough landings, and even the occasional stray flying bathtub. Mid-air collisions are an altogether different matter. In countless incidents, Thembrian fighter teams have crashed into each other, usually while pursuing trespassing aircraft. Notwithstanding, these poor safety records are more the pilots' fault than the planes'.

The rash of mid-air accidents involving the Juggernaut has persuaded Thembrian designers to install ejection seats on newer models of the fighter. This addition makes the fighter the only Thembrian aircraft to carry a special emergency device for its crew. Activated by the press of a button, the spring-loaded seat launches the pilot to safety through a hatch in the cockpit ceiling. It saves the pilot from injury, but does nothing to prevent the verbal onslaught launched by both victims of a collision over whose fault the crash was.

Thembrian Juggernauts sport hefty 80-millimeter cannons on the wings in addition to double 35-millimeter cannons mounted atop those. These big guns are incredibly powerful but also incredibly clumsy to operate, making attacks difficult to execute without a proper setup and crossfire pattern. Although the Juggernauts could never compare to advanced fighters like the Khan Industries models, they have proven themselves more than equals to larger and less maneuverable planes such as cargo transports.

Juggernauts also contain rather large cargo bays and a belly hatch, enabling them to drop freefall ordnance such as pianos or bathtubs on top of targets. The roomy hold can also be outfitted with seats for conversion into passenger planes. Some Thembrian officers and dignitaries use modified fighters as personal transports.

THEMBRIAN FIGHTER
Craft: Thembrian Juggernaut Type: Short-range attack fighter Scale: Aircraft Length: 36 feet Skill: Aircraft piloting: Juggernaut Crew: 1 Crew Skill: Aircraft gunnery 4D+2, aircraft piloting 3D+2, navigation 2D+2 Passengers: 4 with optional seating installed Cargo Capacity: 1,300 lbs. Cost: $45,000 (new), $12,000 (used) Top Speed: 220 mph Maneuverability: 1D+1 Weapons: 2 80-Millimeter Heavy Cannons (fire-linked) Fire Arc: Front Skill: Aircraft gunnery Fire Control: 1D Range: 50-200/400/800 ft. Damage: 5D+2 2 Double 35-Millimeter Cannons (fire-linked) Fire Arc: Front Skill: Aircraft gunnery Fire Control: 1D+1 Range: 30-300/500/800 ft. Damage: 4D+1 Hull: 4D+2