The Gryphon fighter/bomber was designed to update the aging starfighters of the aerospace corps. Design was started after the success of the AH-12 Phoenix fighter, both Mark I and II designed by John Barstow. After he introduced the Mark II Starfleet R and D saw an opportunity to apply his design principals to new technology that had recently emerged And combine then with the very successful Valkyrie Fighter hull design. The result was the Gryphon class fighter/bomber.
The Gryphon sports an updated shielding and phaser package as well as adding an additional hard point for a full size Quantum torpedo and 4 additional micro-Quantum torpedoes. With the addition of the extra phaser and full size torpedo the micro-launchers were moved to both be behind and to either side of the cockpit with 12 micro-Quantum torpedoes each. The pagers start at the top with a 240 degree type V phaser strip on the top most section of the hull.
The 2 type U+ micro-pulse phaser arrays are located in the forward facing section of each wing on either side of the fuselage. Finally, the type VI arrays are located on the fuselage on either side of centerline, to each side of the centerline hard point and set to be slightly shorter. All are forward facing.
When configured for bombing runs and ground assault the Gryphon has 4 torpedoes. In this configuration, however, the type VI arrays are not available as they are covered by the centerline torpedo launcher.
Finally, the Gryphon took the Phoenix’s reconnaissance pod and shrunk it down with the most advanced sensor package available and put it in the nose-cone of the fighter. This allows for the sensors to always be mounted without the need for reconfiguring the fighter.
Specifications
Crew: 2
Length: 20m
Height: 3.5m
Width: 14m
Cruise: 4.3
Max. warp: 5.5
Emer. warp: 6.5 (for 2 hours)
Armament-
Type U+ Micro-pulse: 2 (in wings)
Type VI: 2
Type V: 1 (dorsal)
Micro-torp launchers: 2
Micro-quantums: 24
Quantums: 4 (hardpoints)
Shielding: Fighter Shielding System