Mark IX Hawk

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Mark IX Hawk
First appearance	War Games
Affiliation	Moonbase Alpha
General Characteristics
Maximum speed	30% speed of light
Armaments	Machine guns, missile launchers, conventional lasers
Propulsion	"gas core" nuclear rocket

The Mark IX Hawk is a fictional spacecraft in the Space 1999 TV series. Brian Johnson's design is clearly influenced by 2001 A Space Odyssey; in turn, it influenced Star Wars and later science fiction.

[edit] Design

The Mark IX Hawk is essentially a two man cockpit and life support system mounted on a single fusion engine and fuel tank. Strap on boosters provide acceleration of up to 20g, and dual weapon pods house computer targeted laser batteries, 16 independently activated missile silos, and two self guiding torpedoes housing fusion warheads. All weapons are operated manually by a gunner, or are programmed to follow a predetermined attack plan. In an emergency, the weapons pods and and engine assembly can be jettisoned and the command module can be used as a lifeboat.