While whether or not the Super Eagle will be equipped with a jump drive is merely speculation until it appears in the series, we can most likely assume that a jump drive may be one of the upgrades that Deliza Takar has in mind for the Eagles. What I;m curious about is what does everyone think the jump range would be? I would assume it would be 1 light-year like the Falcon/Super Falcon. Also does anyone think they'll include a subroutine that will automatically deploy the Super Eagle's atmospheric wings when it jumps into atmosphere from the start or will someone have to do it manually a few times before someone decides to include it? And who would you think would be the better choice for a test pilot: Josh or an EDF pilot more familiar with the previous versions of the Eagles?
Less I Recon at best if the Super Eagles get Jump drive it will be interplanetary at best, almost like an in system patrol fighter. but most of the time it will be planetary based combat so surface to orbit, quick escape jumps and such.
I only say interplanetary so in Tau Cetie you can have one/two squadrons based in system that can cover all three worlds.
I would like a mini jump drive feed directly from the fusion reactor giving maybe a light day max jump with no other non essential systems running, and light minutes at combat ready.
I see former EDF test pilots mentioning the wings off the bat, but not being too worried about it because its second nature for them to open wings after reentry.
Interplanetary jumps seems like a good bet but I would not like to try it with the canopy open for multi jumping.
Interplanetary (or micro-jumps) are something every jump-capable vessel can perform, but Eagles are about the size of utility/combat shuttles. Both of those can jump one light-year at a time, so I think it would be safe to assume that a jump-capable Super Eagle could jump an equal distance in a single jump.
I think Josh and Loki already proved that it isn't a wise idea to perform multi-jumps in a series with the canopy either open or damaged.
Problem with Eagles is space. If you make room for a mini jump drive like what the shuttles use, you'll have no room for weapons. You can miniaturize the field generators to an extent, but you need considerable power, as well as room for energy banks (which are still used as a buffer to ensure an instant release of power).
The solution is to use a variation of the limited jump system invented for the JKKVs. No power source, only energy banks and field generator. An Eagle would take off fully charged, with enough energy for a max range jump of 1 light day. You can jump 1 light second 86,400 times, or you can jump 1 light minute 1,440 time, or a light hour 24 times...or any combination thereof. But once you've used up the power in your energy banks, no more jumping. Even to get that, you'd have to remove the VTOL fans and ducting to make room for the energy banks and field generator.
Restricting, yes, but think about the Eagle's mission. It's usually in a single engagement area in space, or in orbit, or down in the atmosphere, or providing combat air cover for ground ops. The limited range jump system improves the Eagle's service range and performance by quite a lot. You get their faster, burn less propellant getting there, and can jump about in tiny hops during combat, making you really hard to hit. And you can be nearly out of fuel and still jump back up into space to get picked up. Hell, you could jump all the way out to Pluto, engage the enemy, and jump back, all with plenty of energy left in your jump system. And all you have to sacrifice is your VTOL capabilities.
I assume someone would include a subroutine or something that would automatically extend the wings when it jumps into atmosphere. And the canopy would opaque like the Falcon/Super Falcon when jumping.
As a dedicated dog fighter, Maneuverability would be almost as important as Thrust and Firepower, not only to avoid being hit, but to put guns on target quickly.
Being able to Jump adds surprise helping to attack and get clear out of danger, it also frustrates the opposition. The threat of being jumped in on will force Jung pilots to fly erratic. Unless they are using energy weapons to take the Super Eagle down, they will end up wasting quite a lot of munitions. And for those energy weapons to be effective, the Jung will have to steady out and ingage the Eagles and therefor be exposed to return fire.
The best advice I can give for weapons on the eagle is to have multiple laser turrets for as close to 360* as possible, coupled with directed plasma weapons. Ball turret under and forward of the cockpit, another one on top of the fuselage with the proper programming to not shoot off the wings might work. why do i suggest this? Because if I was piloting one of these in a hot zone I would not like to be pointing at my target when I need to escape jump.
I would assume that the Eagle's projectile weaponry would be replaced as well with energy weaponry?
More then likely... it would sertenly make repairs easier if all the weapons were standard (ie Mark 1's and Mark 2's etc)
A few light hours would make more sense than a light day. A light day is 173 AUs. Where as a light hour is 7.2 AUs.
The distance from the Sun to Pluto is approximately 39.5 AUs. So, a range of 11 light hours would allow them to jump from the Earth to Pluto and back again (77 AUs or 10.67 light hours). Though, if it's an emergency response force, they could get away with just 40 AUs or 5.5 light hours.
EDIT: *Using the Sol System as a point of reference in regard to Tau Ceti as a local defense force.
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter much as they still can't get to another system with a Light day's jumping. But I guess if they pulled some of the batteries and set up redundent back up batteries then maybe that would make for a Super Eagle mark 2.
