Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Apollo Fighter

"Keep the tires and light the fires!"

-Apollo Fighter

The Apollo Fighter is the interceptor fighter used by the Alliance of Hawke as a streamlined version of the Vinland J35J Draken fighter. Planned to be voiced by Will Friedle

Tactical analysis

 * Not a Pound for Air-to-Ground!: You couldn't point to a more-specialized vehicle in the Alliance arsenal than the Apollo, which is directly and exclusively suited to its role as an air-superiority fighter. While it cannot retaliate against surface targets, it is fast enough to simply outpace them.
 * The Last Gunfighter: Unlike more versatile and more expensive aircraft such as the Stormchild, the Apollo is armed with just one type of weapon. On the plus side, the "Sol" can cut through all but the most heavily-armored enemy aircraft in moments, and can sustain firing constantly without risk of overheating or loss of accuracy.
 * Time to Bug-Out!: Like some other Alliance aircraft, Apollos have an autopilot mechanism that causes them to return to base immediately using an emergency afterburner. This lets the Apollo deftly retreat from dangerous situations or rearm its weapon as quickly as possible.
 * We may need a bigger gun: It is not advised to use the Apollo against the likes of the Kirov's, as their autocannon lacks the caliber to punch through the hull of heavier aircraft.

History
"They're in MY airspace?!"

-Apollo pilot on intercept

In spite of the combined treasuries of the Alliance, ongoing struggles against the Voshkod war machine have proven undeniably costly. As a result, the Alliance have increasingly sought to fill its military with highly specialized and efficient machines that perform exceedingly well in a given role yet work best as part of a combined-arms strategy. One of the finest results of this philosophy is Angstrom's F-11 Apollo Fighter, born from observing the development of the Republic Vinland-made Saab Draken Fighters and now seeing active duty. This is one of the world's best, fastest, most dangerous air superiority fighters, on par against the F-15 Eagle and the Su-35 Flanker.

Unlike the Draken, the Apollo features a VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) engine configuration, which provides maximum stability and maneuverability. This also lets the Apollo operate effectively in urban environments as well as out in the open, in comparison to the Draken which requires a runway. The sight of this delta-wing jet slicing through the sky with incredible agility and speed is amazing, yet its triple thrust vectoring nozzles keep the Apollo trim with near-perfect stability - all the better to let the Apollo bring it's 20 mm "Sol" radar-tracking autocannons to bear on any enemy bandits.

The Sol is a single-barrel weapon yet can spit out 500 rounds of armor-piercing ammunition per minute easily. Moreover, it is extremely accurate for such a weapon, partly due to the Apollo's own targeting systems and maneuverability. Once an Apollo has marked an enemy target, there is little the enemy can do to escape the Apollo's withering fire, especially because the Apollo can outpace virtually any other aircraft.

The Apollo Fighter is very direct in its design. For better or worse, it is armed with a more-conventional weapons system than some of the latest, more-experimental Alliance vehicles (not the least of which are Angstrom Defense's own Bishop). However, a little-known fact is that the Apollo underwent several bids and design modifications of the Draken before the Alliance finally accepted the model currently in use. The Draken itself lacked the VTOL engine configuration, which made them far faster in the skies but its requirement of the runway made it unsuitable for the Alliance doctrine.

The Alliance also experimented with fitting a modified version of Spectrum cannon design onto the aircraft, to make it score enemy kills even faster while potentially taking down multiple hostiles in a single brilliant attack. However, the Spectrum cannons tended to temporarily blind Apollo test pilots, even through their goggles, which was an unexpected safety concern that Angstrom continues to lament to this day. So this design was ill-conceived, as well as prohibitively expensive. The Apollo model now in use, by comparison, is widely appreciated by for its tried-and-true performance (though the concept of a spectrum armed interceptor was not totally abandoned).

Today, Apollo Fighters are a common sight in Alliance bases, and frequently take point alongside close-support or bomber aircraft such as Longbows, Vindicators or Harriers. They have proven to be absolutely vital to this role, for their unparalleled ability to defend these mission-critical assets. At the same time, Apollos excel at hunting down Destroyer's aircraft reckless enough to trespass into Alliance airspace.

The sleek angles of these fighter jets, as well as the age-old romantic allure of air combat--not to mention the necessity of having to fight for one's freedom against the Destroyers--have drawn out many brave men and women to Alliance flight schools worldwide in the hopes of one day being the Alliance's next famous fighter ace.

Trivia

 * The Apollo Fighter was originally a Andoran Republic unit, before alongside the Vindicator being moved to Alliance unit.

Guardians of the Tacitus

 * F-15 Eagle (Aquila)
 * Apollo Fighter (Alliance)
 * Ares Interceptor
 * Orca Interceptor (ADI)
 * F-15J (Protectorate)
 * Gripen (Andora)
 * J-16 (Empire)
 * Tejas (Community)

Destroyers of Balthazar

 * Su-35 Flanker-E (Voshkod)
 * Su-33 Flanker-D (Brotherhood)
 * MiG-21F (Horde)
 * MiG-29 Fulcrum (MLA)
 * Su-27SM Flanker (Collective)
 * MiG-30 Flashbat (Encantadia)
 * ... (Scrin)

Neutrals

 * Nephilim (Coalition)
 * Pleasure F-15 Eagle (Heralds)
 * A-Wing (Order)
 * Grey Steel Lightning Fighter (Sisters of Battle)
 * F-86D Sabredog (Survivors)
 * Death Wing (Syndicate)
 * Roboraptor (Conglomerate)
 * Lightning Fighter (Legion)

Bonus Faction

 * Interceptor Creep (Rangers)
 * Tornado ADV (Bastion)
 * F/A-181 Black Wasp II (ASA)
 * Mirage III (Pirates)
 * F-14 Tomcat (Elona)
 * Sunburst Interceptor (Ascalia)
 * Valkyrie (Dominion)
 * F-15A Baz (Security)
 * ... (Ascendancy)

DLC

 * Viper Mark I (Federation)
 * Bird of Prey (Corona)
 * ... (Party)
 * Vulture Droid (Skynet)
 * ZR-27 "Yae" (Elemental)
 * Jackal Fighter (Autocracy)
 * J-7MG Fishcan (League)
 * ... (Swarm)
 * F-39E Gripen (Confederation)
 * Viggen (Kingdom)
 * ... (Goo)
 * Ta 183 (Imperium)
 * ... (Dynasty)
 * F-6 Farmer (Warlords)
 * ... (Cult)
 * Razorwing Jetfighter (Raiders)
 * Fw-190D (Theocracy)
 * F-4F ICE (Reiksgard)
 * F-5E Tiger II (Insurgents)
 * Lightning Racer (Guardians)
 * Foo Fighter (Hierarchy)
 * ... (Sundered)
 * Su-27S Flanker (Ecumene)
 * Phantom FGR2 (Concordat)
 * Su-75 (Contingent)
 * Typhoon (Eden)
 * Discontenter (InGen)
 * ... (Hallows)
 * F-14 Tomcat (Commune)
 * Mirage 4000 (Clique)
 * Shiden-Kai (Guild)
 * Screech Mosquito (Threat)
 * ... (Traders)
 * CS7 Thunderhawk (Entente)
 * ... (Oblivion)
 * ... (Corporation)
 * ... (Covenant)
 * ... (Institute)
 * MiG-29UPG (Commonwealth)
 * ... (Nimbus)
 * ... (Carnival)
 * ... (Wraiths)
 * ... (Chronophage)
 * Sea Vixen (Privateers)
 * ... (Foundation)