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[FTS] AGT-65 Ossifrage (unmodded)

Disclaimer: This ship is not necessarily optimized for PVP combat. It was designed from a roleplay standpoint.

For the correct functioning of the ship you will need to enable the use of scripts and use WHIPS subgrid thruster manager and WHIPS subgrid gyro manager scripts. I also recommend not to mess with the landing gear's configuration. It was done using timer blocks and although some security features were implemented, the system is not fail proof.

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The AG/T-65 Ossifrage is a one-man piloted light assault gunship designed and used by the Federated Tarintian States. It's primary role is to offer close air support for ground forces but it can also be used to transport small infantry squads.

The ship was developed as part of the Space Warfare Modernization Program to serve as a mean to deploy infantry squads on hot landing zones. For this purpose the Ossifrage is armed with two automated gatling turrets to serve as point-defense against infantry and missiles. After a few tests with an early prototype the aim of the project shifted from designing a light troop transport aircraft to developing a light assault gunship with troop transportation capabilities. In this regard, an assault cannon turret was installed under the nose of the aircraft as well as six missile launchers mounted on the wings and a pair of autocannons.

The Ossifrage is a decently maneuverable aircraft in atmospheric situations specially for a gunship. This maneuverability is a bit reduced in space, but the aircraft is still able to perform some basic evasive maneuvers. The ship has two main vertical atmospheric thrusters aided by multiple h2 and ion subthrusters that gives VTOL capabilities to the aircraft. It also has a fairly decent forward acceleration specially in space thanks to two large h2 thrusters mounted on the wings and two more large ion thrusters installed on the back.

As mentioned, the ship is capable of transporting a small infantry squad. For this purpose, the aircraft has a passenger compartment in the back. This compartment is unpressurized but it has a survival kit and the necessary life support systems to keep the crew safe and ready until deployment.

The Ossifrage is also equipped with WHIP's radar system (optional), subgrid thruster manager (mandatory), subgrid gyro manager (mandatory) and weapons salvo code (optional). It also has a surveillance system (camera protected by glass in the nose of the ship), antenna, navigation lights, spotlights and a retractable landing gear.

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This ship is my first serious attempt at building a dropship/gunship-like aircraft. For reference I used some other simple dropships/gunships that i like such as the Astarte dropship from mikeangel and Keen's Red SOTF dropship. I also used a very nice picture that I found on the internet as inspiration but sadly I can't share it with you because I've lost the link.

The initial design had a much more fighter-like shape like you can see in the last uploaded image. The tail of the ship was thinner and the two main vertical atmospheric thrusters were mounted on the wings. I really like the aesthetics of that design and I may revisit the blueprint in a near future but in the end I decided to add more troop transport craft vibe into the design so I expanded the back of the ship, place the atmo thrusters there and try to build a passenger compartment.

After that I started planning the addition of the retractable landing gears. At first I was thinking about using magnetic plates with hinges and some cylinder columns but wasnt happy with the looks on the back of the ship so started experimenting with pistons and wheels and I loved it. I tried to conceal the rear landing gear but in the end I was having some clang issues (mesh collisions) and decided not to. In any case I think the wheels give a bit more greeble to the ship. Then I made a simple set up with timer blocks to retract and protract the landing gear and added some security measures to avoid some malfunctioning.

At this point I started to see some missed opportunities that would have made the ship much better like adding another fighter cockpit for a gunner or reworking the side engines making the aircraft a true VTOL with thrust vectoring nacelles. But it was a lot of work and I felt that I was starting to lose interest and inspiration so I left all those ideas for future projects. After I was happy with the general look of the ship I began conveyoring it and adding more detail.

The ship was originally called AG/T-65 Dragon but I decided to change the name to avoid comparisons with Omega's Dragon interplanetary dropship wich is another VTOL-like gunship/dropship with a similar shape but much better looking than mine. I ended up naming the ship "Ossifrage" which is the common name of the bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus).

Finally, I painted the aircraft as well as I could (I really suck at it) using the faction colours of FTS (blue and white) and this is the end result. Thanks for reading all this tome and I hope you like the ship as much as I do. Next project: an armed landspeeder or a space superiority starfighter for FTS. See ya!!