FA-57A Remora
With the rapid expansion of Terran offworld colonization, interstellar commerce boomed with the movement of raw materials and goods amongst the many worlds in Terran space as well as the space of adjacent races. Piracy continued to be a problem that affected even shipping lanes in the core systems.
One of the main builders of interstellar cargo vessels, Hyundai's Deimos Shipyards, came upon the concept of a small fighter that instead of being housed in a hangar bay (which would take away cargo space), it would be docked on the outer hull of the vessel and could detach as needed if pirates were encountered. The Terran fleet command supported the idea and tendered a specification to industry for a light FA-class fighter based on Hyundai's proposal. SpaceX won the competition with the FA-57A Remora and soon Hyundai and other cargo vessel builders were fitting out their designs to accommodate two to as many as six Remora fighters on external mounts. The pilots accessed the Remora from ventral docking hatches hence the need for the Remora to have a flat undersurface. All primary servicing could be remotely carried out while the Remora was attached to the vessel's hull.
FA-57A Remora
With the rapid expansion of Terran offworld colonization, interstellar commerce boomed with the movement of raw materials and goods amongst the many worlds in Terran space as well as the space of adjacent races. Piracy continued to be a problem that affected even shipping lanes in the core systems.
One of the main builders of interstellar cargo vessels, Hyundai's Deimos Shipyards, came upon the concept of a small fighter that instead of being housed in a hangar bay (which would take away cargo space), it would be docked on the outer hull of the vessel and could detach as needed if pirates were encountered. The Terran fleet command supported the idea and tendered a specification to industry for a light FA-class fighter based on Hyundai's proposal. SpaceX won the competition with the FA-57A Remora and soon Hyundai and other cargo vessel builders were fitting out their designs to accommodate two to as many as six Remora fighters on external mounts. The pilots accessed the Remora from ventral docking hatches hence the need for the Remora to have a flat undersurface. All primary servicing could be remotely carried out while the Remora was attached to the vessel's hull.