Skylyte/T11 Tanuki

The Skylyte Shuttle, known as the T11 Tanuki in the Star Army of Yamatai, is a medium-lift combat shuttle designed to deliver troops to the battlefield or carry small amounts of cargo. It was designed by Origin Industries in YE 42

Designed to Fulfill a requirement by the Star Army of Yamatai for a sturdy Aeroshuttle designed to move troops, specifically power armor-clad, around a battlefield, as well as deliver them to and from a planet, whether it be solo, or ship supported, the Skylyte took practical cues from an everyday source: the humble Minivan. As such, it features a large central open compartment with armored sliding doors on either side to allow for the swift ingress or egress of troops, allowing for rapid mobilization to the battlefield, minimizing turnaround times, and retaining a simple, easy to use design.

The Skylyte, or Tanuki, is most notable for the dual sliding doors it features, offering troops an easy way to get on and off the shuttle. this feature is also helpful for ambulatory duties, as well as observation, among other things. The T11 shuttle is also a very fast shuttle, both in air and space, and boasts quite powerful drive systems, giving it speed similar to many fighter craft. Additionally, the inclusion of swing-out door guns allows the T11 to defend itself, as well as provide ground support and cover fire for the embarked troops.

The Skylyte or Tanuki was designed as a medium-lift troop transport, and is specialized for delivering troops into contested areas.

• Sliding doors on either side of the troop compartment
• Door gunners for self-defense

The Skylyte/Tanuki has a rounded front end, with large windows both on top of and below the nose. It transitions back into an angular, somewhat rectangular fuselage that has two large sliding doors. The back quarter of the craft contains primary propulsion, power generation, and other important systems for the craft, and sports eight large fusion thrusters, as well as a protruding FTL drive at the very back.

The Skylyte shuttle was designed in YE 42, as a response to a request from the Star Army of Yamatai. Developed for speed, defense, and ease of use, both by pilots and troops, the Skylyte, or Tanuki as it is known to the SAoY, was rapidly developed as the Kuvexian War escalated during that year. With Ketsurui Fleet Yards busy building ships to support the war effort, research and development of new craft was increasingly pushed onto other corporations, with Origin Industries doing its part to support the war effort by designing and building vehicles and craft to help the SAoY gain a battlefield advantage.

The Skylyte/Tanuki is a fast shuttle, designed for both planetary and space use.

• Class: OI-T11-1A/2A, Ke-T11-1A
• Type: Combat Aeroshuttle
• Designers: Origin Industries
• Manufacturer: Origin Industries, Ketsurui Fleet Yards
• Fielded by: Star Army of Yamatai (1A), Various Civilians (2A)

• Crew: 2 pilots and 2 gunners are recommended, Only 1 pilot is required to operate the shuttle.
• Maximum Capacity: The Skylyte/Tanuki is designed to hold up to ten power-armor troops in the rear compartment in addition to the two pilots and gunners. The Skylyte/Tanuki could fit about 20 unarmored people on board in an emergency, but the ship would be very cramped.

• Length: 13.5 meters
• Width: 6 meters
• Height: 4 meters

The T11 Skylyte/ Tanuki is a very fast shuttle.

• Space speeds: the T11's speeds in a vacuum environment
  • Combined Field System: 1A Model Only: Category 7; 18,750c (~2.14 ly/h)
  • Continuum Distortion Drive: 2A model only: 17,000c (~1.94 ly/h)
  • Sublight Engines: 1A model: .375c, 2A model: .4c
• Atmoshperic speeds: The T11's speeds in a Yamatai-like atmosphere.
  • Fusion thrusters: 1A model: Up to 7,000 KM/H¹⁾. 2A Model:up to 8,000 KM/H²⁾.
  • Antigravity: 1A model: up to 400 KM/H 2A model: up to 500 KM/H
• Range: 4 weeks unsupported
• Lifespan: Indefinite with regular service
• Refit Cycle: Major overhaul required every 5 years.

See Damage Rating (Version 3) for a guide to damage ratings.

While the 1A version is armored for combat use, the 2A variant is unarmored, making it somewhat lighter and faster.

• 1A variant: Tier 8 'Heavy Mecha', Armored
• 2A variant: Tier 8 'Heavy Mecha' size, Unarmored, Defense Tier 7

The Skylyte/Tanuki has a rather sparse layout, without a lot of frills or extras. It is designed to do its job and do it well, with a minimum of extras to make maintenance simpler and faster.

The T11 shuttle has a very simple general Layout, with the cockpit at the front, the main compartment in the middle, and main mechanical and propulsion systems at the back of the craft

The Cockpit of the Skylyte/Tanuki is very spacious, and features all of the controls, gauges, and displays mounted on the thick bar that divides the upper and lower halves of the windscreen. Side-by-side seating is provided for the pilot and co-pilot, with all the controls easily configurable and within easy reach. The cockpit can be entered either from the rear, utilizing the troop bay as egress, or via the hinged outer panels of the lower windscreen, which can be used as doors to enter the cockpit without opening the rear doors. Behind the two pilot/copilot seats, are a pair of stations, which in the 1A variant, are used as control stations for the door gunners, but in the 2A variant are configurable for a multitude of purposes, from spotting, to navigation, to simply passenger seats.

The Troop/Cargo compartment is the largest single section of the ship. Measuring 2.3m tall by 4m deep and 5m long, this compartment has sliding doors on either side which allow swift egress and ingress of troops as well as quick loading and unloading of supplies. the flooring is made of a heavy duty Durandium Alloy diamond-plate, with multiple recessed d-rings for cargo tie down, or securing of stretchers, and has ten large heavy duty loops near the roof for passengers to hold onto.

While not an engineering section per se, the rear of the craft contains the vast majority of the mechanical components, and can be accessed internally via a panel located at the back of the troop compartment. All of the thrusters, as well as the FTL drive, can be easily removed from the craft for servicing, and a refueling port for the fusion reactor is located behind a panel on the port side of the craft, between the cockpit and the troop compartment.

While the 1A versions of the Skylyte/Tanuki are identical, they differ from the slightly stripped down 2A civilian variant, which is only produced by Origin industries.

<NOTE: See Damage Rating (Version 3) for more info on damage ratings>

• Both models utilize a Durandium-T windscreen, which includes both the upper and lower cockpit windows.
• 1A Model: The 1A model of the Skylyte/Tanuki shuttle is armored with Yama-Dura alloy armor, for intermediate level armor with self-healing capabilities.
• 2A Model: The 2A civilian version, sold only as the Skylyte, has a Durandium Alloy hull.

As a combat aeroshuttle, the Skylyte/Tanuki uses an appropriate computing system for all its needs.

• 1A Model: Built with the Kessaku CIES in widespread use by the SAoY, for familiarity and ease of maintenance.
• 2A Model: built with the Origin Pawn system, for widespread civilian familiarity, usage, and support.

The emergency systems and features are identical for both the 1A and 2A models.

• Fire Suppression system: The skylyte/Tanuki uses a dry chemical based fire suppression system, which, in the presence of fire, will spray a dry powder on the source of the fire, displacing oxygen and reacting with any oxidizers rendering them inert and putting out the fire.
• Atmospheric retainment system: In the event of a hull breach, door failure, or other even in which the internal atmosphere might vent to vacuum, the shuttle has a retainment system that automatically activates, sealing air in, but allowing more massive objects through.

The Skylyte/Tanuki only has a few life support systems, however, they are simple and effective at doing their job.

• Air-lock bulkhead: between the cockpit and troop compartment, there is an air-locked bulkhead with a double-sealing door, which allows the troop compartment to be ventilated, while retaining atmosphere in the cockpit. this door may be traversed even when the troop compartment is ventilated, without losing any atmosphere from the cockpit.
• Atmospheric retainment system: the same system used for emergencies, this system allow the troop compartment to be opened in a vacuum condition without losing atmosphere.
• Oxygenating Air Scrubber system: A system which scrubs carbon dioxide from the air, converting it back into Oxygen and Carbon. This system operates automatically, and utilizes a scrubbing filter system that must be replaced on a yearly basis.

All variants of the Skylyte/Tanuki utilize a HONEY fusion generator for power, and Heavy Fusion thrusters for slower than light propulsion. For FTL propulsion, the 1A version uses a Combined Field System, while the 2A simply uses an off the shelf Continuum Distortion Drive. Additionally, both variants utilize anti-gravity for low-speed atmospheric operations.

• Power Generation: Both the 1A and 2A variants of the Skylyte/Tanuki utilize a HONEY CRUSH reactor, with a triple fuel supply as a main fuel supply, and a remotely installed single fuel supply as a backup/auxiliary fuel supply, giving the shuttle up to a month of uninterrupted operations. The fuel supplies can be refilled from a receptacle mounted behind a panel on the starboard side of the craft, near the cockpit.
• STL Propulsion: Both the 1A and 2A variants utilize a set of 8 heavy fusion thrusters, mounted in four pairs of two, in order to provide STL propulsion, as well as forward propulsion in the air.
• FTL Propulsion:
  • 1A Model: The 1A variant of the Skylyte/Tanuki utilizes a Combined Field System, which works not only as an FTL propulsion, but can also be utilized for STL propulsion, defensive fielding, and even stealth duties.
  • 2A Model: The 2A civilian variant utilizes a standard Continuum Distortion Drive, which can only be utilized for FTL travel.
• Low Speed atmospheric operation: in low-speed atmospheric operations, such as normal flight, hovering, landing, and taking off, the Skylyte/Tanuki uses a standard, basic Anti-gravity flotation system, which lets the craft float, hover, and fly at low speeds without the use of its fusion thrusters.

While the 1A version's shields are taken care of by its CFS, the 2A has a separate shielding system for navigational and defensive purposes. Both variants can project their shields in front of the ship in a virtual Aerodynamic shape to allow for very high atmospheric speeds when using fusion thrusters.

• 1A variant: the 1A variant utilizes the shields of its Combined Field System, providing both defensive and navigational shielding.
• 2A Variant: the Civilian version uses two different kinds of overlapping shielding, for both navigational and defensive duties, they are electromagnetic shields and gravity shields.

Only present on the 1A Tanuki variant, are a pair of 30mm gatling cannon, one mounted on each side, which has been taken from the KE-T9-W3300 turret assembly. Each cannon is fed by a box magazine containing 1,000 rounds. The cannon are controlled remotely by gunners seated inside the cockpit of the shuttle, but have manual controls in case a need arises to use them as such.

• 30mm Gatling Cannon: x2, Tier 4

The 1A variant is capable of having several additions or modifications.

• The Tanuki can mount the KE-T8-P3102 Fold module from the Kuma shuttle, giving it a fold speed of .5 LY/M
• The Tanuki can be coated in Xiulurium, with hull-energizing systems added to allow the Xiulurium to enact its stealth properties. Crews of craft with this modification call it the 'Slylyte'

Kai created this article on 2020/03/25 14:20.

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