Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Surgical Strike

Chemical Mortars is one of the Alliance's support powers.

B-9 Artemis Precision Bomber
"Ladies and gentlemen. We got 'em."

-Artemis pilot upon successfully bombing an MLA terrorist cell

The Talysn Sonic Bomber has good points, but the most common complaint (other than the crew's accents) is the inaccuracy of the "Jethro" bombs. Often, multiple bombing runs are required to destroy a small building or bridge. Alliance High Command knew of this weakness before the war started, and had already commissioned a strike bomber for such a purpose. Angstrom Defense was tasked by the Alliance council to create a high-speed strike bomber that would do the job, and upon coming up with a design, sold it to Himmelhammer Werke in Aselia, a contractor skilled in making heat-resistant plane parts.

As much of Aselia's industry is concentrated around the rivers of Rhine and Ruhr, they are one of the most prominent companies active in the area, as an aeronautics company that specializes in fast and precise aircraft. While only a minor part of the Alliance arsenal, their products have contributed to significant Voshkod casualties during the last war. Himmelhammer got to work on Angstrom Defense's design, which was in effect a weaponized version of the infamous SR-8 Thrush spy plane, which Himmelhammer Werke itself had been responsible for building. The new plane was dubbed the Artemis to keep in line with the Allied and Angstrom Defense tradition of naming new vehicles after classical figures starting with "A". The Artemis is not a VTOL aircraft, so it needs a conventional runway to even take off. For Hawke, Von Esling Airbase in (Iceland) is its home.

This isn't too much of a disadvantage, for the Artemis is extremely fast, going to speeds up to Mach 3. In fact, it was and still is one of the fastest air-breathing aircraft in the world (the Thrush is slightly faster, not needing to carry a weapons load). When a commander or someone with sufficient field authority requests a strike, the order is quickly relayed, and an Artemis is scrambled. Upon taking off, it could get to the battlefield in minutes and then quickly deliver its ordnance. A variety of methods can be used to mark a target for the Artemis, from spectrum designators to simple flares.

The Artemis begins to dive onto the target, releasing its bomb at maximum velocity before pulling up. This maneuver allows great accuracy, but the G-forces are very high for the crew of four. An advanced form of autopilot is available if any crew member blacks out. It then returns to base to rearm and refuel.

Rumors of the sonic boom damaging enemy units as it flies over are patently false.