Rapier medium fighter

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In-game render of a F-44A Rapier

The F-44A Rapier II is a fictional spacecraft found in the computer game Wing Commander.

The YF-44 Rapier II is field-tested from 2653-4, its final field test being an examination deployment from the TCS Tiger's Claw in 2654 in the Gimle system; flown by then-Lieutenant Christopher Blair and Captain Jeannette Devereaux. After Gimle, the YF-44 is accepted into production as the F-44A; the F-44A is unchanged from the late-development prototype. The Rapier bears a strong resemblance to the fictional MiG-31 Firefox from the novel and movie Firefox (film).

The F-44A Rapier II is an advanced medium space superiority starfighter which debuts in the late part of the game (the Kurosawa mission sequence) after a brief teaser in Gimle 2, the second mission of the third sequence in the game. The Rapier II has a high maximum speed of 450 kilometers per second (even faster than the speedy, light Hornet), afterburners up to 1,250 km/s, and rapid maneuverability. Its firepower includes twin laser cannons for long-distance fighting, twin neutron guns for close-in and an array of five missiles (two Dart Dumbfire, two Pilum Friend-or-Foe and one Spiculum Image Recognition missile).

In Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi, the Rapier II is still in service as the F-44G. The neutron guns have been replaced with longer-ranged particle cannon and the missile loadout is expanded to six (two Dart DF, two Pilum FF and two Spiculum IR).

The Rapier II first saw combat onboard the TCS Tiger's Claw: a pair of YF-44s were assigned to the carrier for active duty testing during the invasion of the Gimle System. Lieutenant Christopher "Maverick" Blair and Captain Jeanette "Angel" Devereaux of Star Slayer squadron credited the fighter's first space to space kills during a three point patrol mission. The prototypes performed magnificently and the same carrier soon received the first batch of production models, which Black Lion squadron would fly during the battle for Kurosawa. By the invasion of Venice, Rapier II squadrons were assigned to both the Tiger's Claw and the Kyoto.

Within a year, the F-44A had been replaced on the assembly lines by the F-44B, which boasted a larger missile loadout and a limited use jump drive. A combination of cost and technical issues would force the removal of the jump drive from future iterations - making the F-44B unique among the Rapier II's lineage. A and B model Rapier IIs served with distinction during Operation Thor's Hammer, the assault on Jakarta and the defense of Firekka. A pair of F-44A's even flew off of Col. James Taggart's famous intelligence ship, the Bonnie Heather.

The re-designed F-44 Rapier II

In the late fifties the Rapier II went through a significant redesign of its spaceframe, reducing the overall size and mass. The new design premiered in the popular F-44C model, which would go on to serve onboard escort carriers through the late sixties. F-44Cs flew with distinction off of the TCS Tarawa during Operation Backlash and the Third Enigma Campaign.

Finally, the G and H models served off of fleet carriers through the Battle of Terra in 2668. The TCS Concordia's F-44G Rapier II squadron, with its distinctive lightning bolt tails, was considered to be the single finest active duty fighter unit in the Space Forces.

Surplus Rapier IIs served with both the Free Republic of the Landreich and the Union of Border Worlds through the mid 2670s.

The real-life XF-108 Rapier, the F-44's namesake, was a prototype Mach 3 interceptor/escort fighter developed by the North American Aircraft Company to escort its supersonic XB-70 Valkyrie long-range bomber. It was designed in the late 1950s and discarded without even a maiden flight when the XB-70 was cancelled.

In the Wing Commander movie, the Rapier has a very different appearance from the game (the full-scale stage mock-up being constructed from the nose and cockpit sections of two English Electric Lightning jet fighters). This version of the Rapier is designated CF-117b and its primary weapon is a gigantic Gatling neutron gun on its nose; the lasers are never fired during the movie. The movie Rapier also carries only four missiles each, versus five for the game Rapier II.