Source: Technical Readout 3025
Mass: 100 tons
Frame: Interstar Heavy
Engine: Pitban 300a
Armament:
1 Imperator Zeta-a Class 20 Autocannon
4 Beta Short Range Missle 6 Racks
1 Gamma Long Range Missle 10 Rack
Manufacturer: Free Worlds Defense Industries
Communications System: Lassiter-3QZ
Targeting and Tracking System: IMB SYS 3740
Overview:
The F-100 Riever heavy fighter is the impressive mainstay of House Marik's aerospace forces. As with most fighters this large, it moves sluggishly at best and its weaponry packs less total striking power than the average heavy fighter. However, the Riever's armor makes up for these deficiencies by enabling it to stay in heavy combat much longer than lighter-armored vehicles.
Capabilities:
Unlike many other aerospace fighter designs, the Riever is not a copy of a Star League production model, but an original design. In addition to being a reliable fighter, the Riever is more easily maintained and repaired than most Star League-based designs. Designed purely to aid in establishing air superiority, the Riever has a low thrust rating that prevents it from carrying much air-to-surface ordnance. Instead of attacking surface troops, the Riever engages enemy fighters and DropShips in close combat.
The Riever's main weapon is an Imperator Zeta-a Class-20 autocannon adapted for aerospace combat. Though its ammunition supply is limited to ten rounds, the weapon can still inflict devastating damage. The four Beta-6 SRM launchers are used at close range. A full spread of twenty-four SRMs can inflict more than twice as much damage as the autocannon, destroying light fighters and severely damaging mediums or heavies. Added to later production models as an adjunct to the Imperator cannon, the Gamma-10 LRM launcher is the final element of the Riever's weapons array. Though the Riever's total firepower is slightly lower than that of some other heavy fighters such as the Thunderbird, most pilots feel that the extra armor protection more than compensates for this slight inferiority.
Because of the unusual wing design necessitated by the vehicle's heavy armor and weapons, the Riever is not particularly fast and maneuverable. The extra lift provided by its wings in atmospheric flight precludes intricate acrobatic maneuvers, meaning that the Riever cannot easily evade lighter, more agile enemy fighters. If such an enemy happens to enter the Riever's field of fire, however, the battle usually ends right there.
Against fighters of similar mass, the heavily armored Riever is well-matched. Though inferior to some craft, the Riever actually outguns faster heavy fighters such as the Eagle because it can sustain heavy damage while waiting for an enemy to get within range of its weapons.