Golden Age Weaponsmiths AV-8B Plus Harrier II:

When Golden Age Weaponsmiths found the Wasp class amphibious carriers, they also found multiple AV-8B plus Harriers II that had been put in mothballs. The Harriers had long been replaced by supersonic VTOL fighters but had been retained and forgotten about. Taking advantage of the situation, the people at Golden Age refitted the aircraft and sold them to interested governments and individuals. Golden Age had first offered to sell the design to the CS but since the CS was not interested, they have marketed the aircraft to other parties.

They replaced much of the outer skin with MDC armor to enable the fighter to survive MDC combat. Because of the needs for more powerful missiles, the original hard points were fitted to carry the standard missiles built on Rifts Earth. They convinced Wellington Industries to develop a new ramjet round for the 25-mm gun and replaced the conventional ammo with ramjet rounds. Wellington Industries had previously developed a ramjet round for the 20-mm cannon carried in most American fighter designs.

Because this fighter is V/STOL, the fighter can take of and land just about anywhere. Another large selling factor is the fact that they are being sold for a fraction of the amount that a new fighter normally costs. This has made the aircraft very popular and it has been sold both to many independent nations and raider groups. The biggest weakness with the design has been the Harriers relatively slow speed.

Several companies have begun considering building a modern version of this fighter that is upgraded using Rifts Technology and built from the frame out from MDC materials. This would create a much stronger and dangerous fighter.

Model Number: AV-8B Harrier
Vehicle Type: Single Engine Fighter-Bomber
Crew: One

M.D.C. by Location:
[1] Wings (2):60 each
[2] Elevators (2):35 each
[2] Rudders:35
Cockpit:60
Engine:80
Landing Gear (4):5 each
[3] Main Body:120

Notes:
[1] Destroying a Wing will cause the plane to crash.
[2] Destruction of the rudder or one elevator will still allow the fighter to be controlled by the varying of power levels of the engines but the fighter has a penalty of -10 to dodge, and a -30% penalty to all piloting rolls. Destruction of both of the elevators will leave the plane uncontrollable and pilot must eject to survive.
[3] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will shut the Aircraft down completely, rendering it useless and causing it to crash if in flight.

Speed:
Driving on Ground (Taxiing): Only possible for take offs and landings as well as for parking and storage. Speed is 40 mph (64 kph) when traveling and not on take off or landing.
Flying: The Harrier can hover and go up to a maximum speed of 650 nm/hr (748 mph/1203 kph). It can hover stationary up to 10,000 feet and can fly up to 50,000 feet (15240 m) if not hovering. Aircraft cannot use VTOL mode if over half loaded but can still take off and land in a short distance. The Harrier does not have afterburners.
Range: 965 nm (1110 miles/ 1787 km) with no ordnance load. Loaded, the plane's range is reduced to 865 nm (995 miles /1602 km). The aircraft can carry a drop tank on each of the wing hard points which increases range by 130 nm (150 miles/241 nm). The Harrier can be refueled in the air

Statistical Data:
Height 12 feet (3.7 meters)
Wingspan: 25 feet (7.6 meters)
Length: 47.5 feet (14.5 meters)
Weight: 12.4 tons (11.2 metric tons) without ordnance or extra tanks
Power System: Conventional, One Rolls Royce F402-RR-406 (21,450 lb thrust) or F402-RR-408 turbofan engine (23,800 lb thrust), uses aviation fuel
Cargo: Minimal (Storage for small equipment), does not include hard points
Black Market Cost: 3 million credits (Can sometimes sell for double that price)

Weapon Systems:

  1. GAU-12 25 mm Autocannon: This is the original Pre-Rifts cannon mounted in a pod underneath the fighter. They have replaced the standard ammo with mega damage, armor piercing ramjet ammunition which allows the aircraft to hold it own against other Rifts aircraft.
    Maximum Effective Range: 4,000 feet (1,220 m).
    Mega Damage: 2D4x10 for a burst of 20 round, 3D4 for each round.
    Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the pilot (usually 4 or 5).
    Payload: 300 rounds (15 bursts)
  2. Hard Points (7): The Harrier has seven hard points for ordnance and equipment. The aircraft has one hard point on the center of the fuselage and three hard points on each wing. Below is a list of hard points and the loads that they can carry. Missiles, rocket packs, and bombs can be mixed or matched but all ordnance on a hard point must be the same type.
    Central Hard Point: ECM, Pod Towed decoys, or Missiles/Bombs (1 Long Range Missile /Heavy, 2 Medium Range/Medium, or 4 Short Range/Light).
    Inner Wing Hard Points (2): Fuel Tanks, Towed decoys, Rocket packs, or Missiles/Bombs (1 Long Range Missile /Heavy, 2 Medium Range/Medium, or 4 Short Range/Light).
    Middle Wing Hard Points (2): Fuel Tanks, Towed decoys, Rocket packs, or Missiles/Bombs (1 Long Range Missile /Heavy, 2 Medium Range/Medium, or 4 Short Range/Light).
    Outer Wing Hard Points (2): Fuel Tanks, Towed decoys, or Missiles/Bombs (1 Medium Range/Medium, or 2 Short Range/Light).
    1. Bombs and Missiles: The only restriction is that a hard point must carry all the same type of missiles or bombs. Both unguided and guided bombs can be carried.
      Maximum Effective Range: Varies by missile type for missile and varies by altitude bombs are dropped at (Go to Revised bomb and missile table).
      Mega Damage: Varies by missile or bomb type (Go to Revised bomb and missile table).
      Rate of Fire: Missiles can be fired and bombs can be dropped one at a time per hard point. Multiple hard points can be linked as one attack but must be the same size (light, medium, or heavy) and style of ordnance (all missiles or bombs in a volley)
      Payload: Varies by hard point (See above).
    2. Mini-Missile Pod: Large capacity mini-missile pod. The Aircraft normally carries missile pods for ground strafing, anti-troop, and anti-emplacement attacks. Normal missile used are armor piercing, plasma, or fragmentation mini-missiles. Mini-Missile pods can be carried on inner and middle wing hard points.
      Maximum Effective Range: Varies with missile types, mini-missiles only (Go to Revised bomb and missile table).
      Damage: Varies with mini-missile types (Go to Revised bomb and missile table).
      Rate of fire: Each pod can fire one at a time or in volleys of 2, 4, 8, or 16 and can be linked with other mini missile pods for greater number of missiles (Counts as one attack no matter how many missiles in the volley)
      Payload: each pod carries 16 mini-missile.
    3. Active Jamming Pod: Pod takes place of all ordnance on the Hard Point. Causes -25% to detection but when it is active, other vehicles/ bases can detect that it is jamming, and some missiles will home in on jamming signals. Jamming also causes a -4 penalty to all radar guided weapons.
    4. Towed Decoys (4): The pod takes place of all ordnance on the Hard Point. The aircraft can carry a special pod that carries four advanced towed decoy drones. These drones are dragged about 328 feet (100 meters) behind the aircraft on a thin cable. Each is a specially designed radar lure that creates a radar image to mimic the aircraft. If decoys are not destroyed, they can be recovered and repaired. Rifts Earth decoy systems are assumed to not operate against Phase World weapons due to technological difference.
      M.D.C.: 5
      Effects: The decoy has an 65% chance of fooling ordinary non military radars and non smart guided missiles, the decoy has a 35% chance of fooling military level radars (like those of the Coalition), and the decoy has a 10% chance of fooling advanced military radars (Like those of the New Navy and Triax) and smart missiles.
      Range: Not Applicable although the decoy is deployed 328 feet (100 meters) from the aircraft
      Rate of fire: One can be deployed at a time and requires 15 seconds to deploy (Reel Out) another decoy
      Payload: 4 Decoys each pod.
  3. Anti-Missile Chaff/Flare Dispenser (1): Use the same effects as the TRIAX model. However, each time the system is engaged, the system fires off one chaff and 1D4 flares. Rifts Earth decoy systems are assumed to not operate against Phase World missiles due to technological difference. Reduce effects by 20% against smart missiles (Add +20% to rolls for smart missiles.)
    Effect: Also note that the chaff cloud will also blind flying monsters that fly through cloud. They will suffer the following penalties: reduce melee attacks/actions, combat bonuses, and speed by half. Duration: 1D4 melee rounds.
    Payload: 20 chaff, 40 flares. Each time the system is engaged, the system fires off one chaff and 1D4 flares.

Special Equipment:

The equipment of the fighter has been upgraded but many of the original systems are still on the fighter. Consider the fighter to carry all standard equipment that robot vehicles carry (not including loudspeaker and microphone) plus the following extra systems: