Vigilance class Interceptor

Interceptor
Unpublished, non-canon smallcraft design.
Type: PL Light fighter
Size	6 Tons
Hull Configuration	[[Cone Hull]]
Streamlining	Streamlined Hull
Tech Level	TL–7
Engineering
Computer	1
Jump	J-0
Maneuver	2 G
Armaments
Hardpoints	1
Accommodations
Staterooms	0
Personnel
Crew	1
Officers	1
High/Mid Passengers	0
Payload
Cargo	0.0 Tons
Fuel tank	0 Tons
Construction
Origin	Distant Fringe
Year Operational	None
Price
Cost	MCr8.150 (base) MCr6.520 (discounted)
Architect fee	MCrAde Stewart
Statistics
Quick Ship Profile	Smallcraft
Images
Blueprint	No
Illustration	No
Source
Canon	Unpublished, fan design
Era	1105
Reference	-
Starships are designed with the Classic Traveller format, using High Guard.

The Interceptor is a combatant smallcraft.

• It is a paramilitary ship and a fighter.
• Please also see: Ships of the Distant Fringe

Description (Specifications)

The Interceptor is a cheap, reliable vessel designed to engage enemy units from close range. Similar designs have been in use from the time the Distant Fringe was first settled. It is defined as a microfighter due to its small size.

• The vessel is a TL-7 design.

Basic Ship Characteristics

Following the Imperial Navy and IISS Universal Ship Profile and data, additional information is presented in the format shown here. The small craft factor indicates the number of squadrons (of ten craft) carried on the ship. Tonnage on the universal ship profile is shown in kilotons (thousands of tons) when necessary.

Basic Ship Characteristics
No.	Category	Remarks
1.	Tonnage	The Interceptor is constructed using a 6 Ton hull built in a generally cone-shaped configuration. The hull is fully streamlined and has airfoil surfaces, giving good atmospheric performance. The vessel has a sturdy retractable wheeled undercarriage, allowing surface landings. The vessel is not fitted with artificial gravity generation equipment but has thrust vectoring capability, giving it VTOL performance within atmospheres and gravity wells.
2.	Crew	Total Crew Complement: 1 x1 pilot. Accommodations The cockpit contains an acceleration couch, control equipment, and has full life support and environmental systems. It does not have an airlock: if the cockpit is opened life support integrity is lost. There is a small emergency locker.
3.	Performance	The vessel mounts an extremely efficient non-gravitic Maneuver-2 drive and a fission Power Plant-2, giving performance of 2-G acceleration. The ship has an agility rating of 2. The internal fuel tankage is sufficient to give the power plant approximately 20 weeks duration. The engineering section is controlled from the cockpit. Access to the machinery can be gained via a sealable hatch.
4.	Electronics	The vessel is fitted with a Model/1 computer: no backup computer is installed. The vessel is fitted with communications equipment, a standard sensor array, and has an Avionics suite. It has a transponder unit that can be deactivated on command. It is equipped with a sophisticated ECM package.
5.	Hardpoints	x1 hardpoint.
6.	Armament	The normal weapons fit-out for an Interceptor is: Fixed triple missile racks. Each missile rack mounts x3 standard Missiles. The Interceptor is equipped with a Light Machinegun in a fixed forward-facing mount. The LMG has a ROF of 200 rounds per minute: the vessel carries 400 rounds of ammunition. The weapon is ineffective against spacecraft or starships but can be used to strafe light targets. It is sometimes referred to as a "frustration weapon", serving to give the pilot a means of striking at a threat, however ineffectively, and thus providing them with a psychological release.
7.	Defenses	The hull is plated, braced and structurally reinforced. It has a High Guard armor rating of 4. The vessel is not fitted with screens or other passive defensive systems.
8.	Craft	The vessel carries no subcraft.
9.	Fuel Treatment	The vessel has internal fuel tankage of 1 Ton. The hull is fitted with fuel scoops. The vessel is not equipped with fuel purification equipment.
10.	Cost	The basic cost of the vessel is MCr8.150. The ship is a standard design. Detailed architectural plans are widely available and no design fee is chargeable. If multiple examples of the design are ordered all of the ships in the production run qualify for a 20% discount, which reduces the price of each unit to MCr6.520.
11.	Construction Time	24 weeks (5.5 months) as standard. Build times can be reduced by mass production and the efficiencies such processes generate, by increased financing, and by allotting additional yard resources and facilities to the construction contract.
12.	Comments	The vessel has no internal cargo capacity.

History & Background (Dossier)

An ubiquitous design used throughout the Distant Fringe, the Interceptor is cheap, durable and reliable. The design is representative and a large number of variants exist, particularly with regard to the allotted weapons systems and onboard electronics. Despite their status as space fighters, designs of this type have airframe features, augmenting their handling characteristics within planetary atmospheres.

Class Naming Practice/s & Peculiarities

Individual designs of Interceptor are named by companies but these organizations generally draw on traditional naming protocols.

• Individual vessels are given distinctive serial numbers but are generally named by their crews.
• The Vigilance 3 pattern hull is named to imply constant readiness. They have relatively slender hulls characterized by bulky fuselage-mounted engine nacelles and long thin wings. The design is known to have a slightly inferior sensor suite but has superior handling characteristics within planetary atmospheres.
• The Granite Blue pattern hull is named to imply solidity and permanence. The design is has rear mounted engines and swept wings located on the forward fuselage. The design is known for its reliability and is popular with crews.
  • Many examples of Granites sport checkerboard patterns on their forward hull.

Selected Variant Types & Classes

Interceptors are mass produced commercial fighter craft, made from standardized components and assembled in class A and B starports of TL-7 or greater across the region. A range of different hull shapes are available but two main variants have become standard:

Smallcraft - Fighters:

• Type PL class Light Fighter
  • Vigilance 3 class Interceptor.
  • Vigilance 1 was an undergunned early production version, lacking the pilots LMG and with dual missile racks rather than the triple mountings seen on later models.

• Type PL class Light Fighter
  • Granite Blue class Interceptor.
  • Granite Red was a prototype design with a limited production run.

Image Repository

No information yet available.

References & Contributors (Sources)

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This article is missing content for one or more detailed sections. Additional details are required to complete the article. You can help the Traveller Wiki by expanding it.

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Marc Miller, Frank Chadwick, John Harshman. High Guard (Game Designers Workshop, 1980), 20-37. (Design Sequence Used)
• Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master Scout Emeritus Adie Alegoric Stewart of the IISS
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science