Also nicknamed the "Space Shrew" due to its peculiar nose shape. Armed with 2 Gatlings in the protrusions in the thick part of the wings, 2 under-body missile bays, 4 30mt nuclear bunker busters in another under-body bay, a gauss gun in the nose, and a Laser in the tail (not modeled that yet). The weapons can be replaced by, respectively, 2 nukes, 4 nukes, and one more nuke for increased anti-ship firepower. Intended for planetary defense, these fighters are stored in underground bunkers. For launch, they are lifted onto a massdriver rail, fired up in the air, then the liquid fuel engines of the Helios itself and the two boosters engage. The Helios' rocket engines shut down once it's at mach 2, where the Scramjets are activated until there is no more air for them to work. At that time the liquid fuel boosters are jettisoned, and the rockets of the Helios are activated again untill it reaches Orbit, at which point the Fusion engines at the wingtips fire up. A single flight of 4 Helios' can destroy a cruiser. To land, they fly to the airfield on scramjets and fusion engines, and land vertically using underbody fusion thrusters, as well as thrusters in the wingtip pods.
Really good work, looks awesome!
Got inspired by the Sabre from Halo Reach right?
Indeed.