The Colonial Blackbird at its naming ceremony. |
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| First appearance | Flight of the Phoenix |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Colonial Fleet |
| General characteristics | |
| Class | Blackbird (Custom-built) |
The Blackbird (also known as the Laura) is a custom-built stealth-capable fighter from the fictional universe of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series. According to executive producer David Eick it is not a Viper, though some parts for the craft were derived from scrapped Vipers.
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The Blackbird is designed by Chief Galen Tyrol in the second season episode, "Flight of the Phoenix". Despite being a capable engineer, the chief has no experience in building Vipers from scratch although he does have a deep familiarity with the Viper and its systems from a maintenance standpoint. The Blackbird's engines are of a more primitive design than the rest of the fighters. In addition metal is at a premium and was needed for repairs on existing Vipers. Lt. Karl "Helo" Agathon suggests that another material be used, and the Blackbird is thus built with a non-reflective black carbon fiber composite skin making the ship very difficult to detect on DRADIS. The craft is named the Laura in honor of President of the Colonies Laura Roslin, but continues to be known as the Blackbird. Its external design and hull configuration show a commonality with the Viper series ships, with clipped wings showing a marked dihedral, deleted vertical stabilizer and much cleaner lines in keeping with its sensor stealthing.
The Blackbird is generally unarmed and fitted with a surveillance kit, which was used by Starbuck in the ship's initial reconnaissance to determine the function of the Resurrection Ship. In the episode "Resurrection Ship, Part II", the fighter is shown to have a hardpoint, which is used to deliver an anti-ship missile used to destroy the FTL drive on the Resurrection Ship.
Shortly after neutralizing the Resurrection Ship, the Blackbird collides with a wrecked Raptor and is destroyed.[1] Despite possessing additional materials to make a new Blackbird craft, no new Blackbirds were commissioned, and no explanation has been given for this. The Blackbird is briefly seen in the Hangar being prepared for launch against the Basestar of the Rebel Cylons during the Final Five conflict.[2]
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