Airship

Bulletin from HQ, it had a section from Crimson Team themselves.

More information on this topic is available on Wikipedia's Airship article.

"Remember, attack these things from above or below, never from behind or head-on."

― Arnold Frenken

Airships, sometimes called gunships, are massive aircraft powered by cordium engines, seen in the After Calamity Era. Like other vehicles, they have found both military and civilian use.

Gameplay

Like a naval ship, all weapons of an airship must be destroyed before the hull itself can be normally targeted and destroyed. However, some weapons such as the Anti-Ship Missile and Railgun can destroy the hull directly (although an accidental hit on an airship weapon will destroy only that weapon). Otherwise, Multi-Lock Anti-Air Missiles can be used to thin out the weapons at range, and passes with Standard Missiles and weapons like the Heavy Gunpod will strip an airship given time.

In Conquest mode, enemy fighters tend to swarm around friendly airships, providing opportunities for MLAA fire. They may also crash into them.

The player should be careful at all times to avoid crashing into nearby airships, even ones that have already been shot down. Furthermore, they should also not stick around an airship for too long, as their weaponry could shred hull strength in mere seconds, and try to use the aforementioned weapons to take them down as quickly as possible. Bombs are the second best option other than railguns in doing the job.

Characteristics

Airships are slow-flying and often use bodies of water to land, hence their boat-shaped hulls. They typically have cordium engines protruding from the back, usually two. Because of this, their hulls usually combust into flames and trail a lot of fire and smoke when they take too much damage. Like regular surface vessels, they have fire prevention equipment and lifeboats, presumably escape pods with parachutes. They can also mount a range of weapons including AA guns, SAM launchers, and even railguns. In addition, large viewscreens can be seen dotting parts of the airship's hull, and the bridge seems to be typically located at the front like a regular aircraft.

History

Little is known of the history of airships aside from cordium's capability of powering such large-scale vessels. Likely because of this, they are proliferated in large numbers by various great powers; for one, the Pacific Federation used large airships such as 205-class air battleships in the late stages of the Oceanian War.

The Federation also fielded them in large numbers in their own airship branch, the Federation Vertical Navy, through fleets such as Task Force 1 in global military deployments. The surface-based Federation Navy holds jurisdiction on a number of airships as well, such as the Lanzelet.

Political conduct by great powers flows through entire airship groups; Cascadia pre-Cascadian Conflict had the Cascadian White Fleet for ambassadorial duties. The Cascadian Independence Force during the war also fielded airships occasionally, the White Fleet itself one prime example as its ships, under Independence Force HQ General Faust's own control, bristled with assortments of weapons including the energy-type HPBC.

Civilian airships are also operated by commuter companies such as Air Cascadia. The city of Prospero was a major airship port in the northern hemisphere.

Classes

• Anura-class air cruiser
• Arcion-class air heavy cruiser
• Littoria-class air battlecruiser
• 205-class air battleship
• CDV Roosevelt

Trivia

• The gameplay and dialogue/Files Archive designations of airships in missions are often mismatched; for instance, the "destroyer" Espadon in Mission 2 appears as a Littoria-class air battlecruiser.
• Two airships known as the Suriname-class air carrier and the Condor were originally going to be in the game, but were cut during development.
• Airships almost always appear with a noticeable fighter escort, as they prove vulnerable to attack from smaller aircraft.
• Regardless of the airship type, all kills on them are always registered as "air cruisers" in gameplay and debriefings.