Grand Admiral, First Order Central Command
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: First Order MANPADS
- Image Source: Enrique Bono - Artstation
- Canon Link: N/A
- Restricted Missions: N/A
- Primary Source: FIM-92 Stinger | 9K333 Verba
- Manufacturer: First Order Corps Of Imperial Engineers
- Model: 7J4421N 'Thunderstorm' Man-Portable Air Defense System (MANPADS)
- Affiliation: The First Orderhttp://starwarsrp.net/forum/2493-the-first-order/
- Production: Mass-Produced
- Material: Reinforced Duraplast
- Classification: MANPADS
- Size: Large
- Length: 1.34m
- Weight: Heavy (22.6 kg)
- Ammunition Type: 93M5JA Advanced Concussion Missiles
- Ammunition Capacity: 5 Warheads
- Reload Speed: Slow
- Effective Range: Long Range (out to approximately 10.6km)
- Rate of Fire: Average (1-5 rounds per volley, at a rate of about 1 per second, engaging new targets is limited more by target acquisition)
- Stopping Power: High
- Recoil: Average
- Integrated Multi-Track Target Acquisition System
- Compact: A lot of power in a small package, the X is fully capable of engaging multiple air targets ranging in size from small drones or droids all the way to full-size starfighters. With five missiles able to home in on a single target it is a remarkably capable anti-air weapon, able to destroy most light fighters outright (with successive impacts) and disable or heavily damage heavy fighters, dropships, and landing craft.
- Multi-Target: The robust Target Acquisition system on the LCU allows for an operator to engage up to five targets at the same time, launch all five missiles at a single target, or any option in between.
- Liquid Booster Gel: The liquid booster gel in the WBR accelerates the 93M5JA missile significantly faster than is normal for a MANPADS
- Thunderstorm: Multiple missile strikes on the same target in rapid succession is visually and audibly impressive, but most importantly it can be incredibly devastating to any sort of aircraft.
- Too Smart Missile: The 7441N will not dumb-fire, it requires a target lock with at least one seeker head before the Enable Launch lights up and missiles leave weapon.
- Two-'Man Portable': Despite the name, the 7441N is heavier than most MANPADS, and generally requires a two-man team to move it. A single operator is going to be significantly slower at assembly, targeting, and reloading. This also means ammunition is very limited, a soldier simply cannot use this weapon like a blaster.
- Light ACM's: The 93M5JA is lighter and smaller than most Advanced Concussion Missiles, and has a somewhat smaller warhead as a result. The damage profile is less, overall.
- Backblast: Don't stand behind missile launchers, dumbass. The backblast for a single warhead launch is lethal out at least a foot, even to an armored subject (overpressure ftw).
The 7441N is a man-portable, reusable, multi-seeker, recoilless, surface-to-air missile system designed to be carried by ground troops and used against any form of airborne target (with the exception of other missiles). Loaded 93M5JA Advanced Concussion Missiles, the 7441N (dubbed the 'Thunderstorm' by troops by the sound successive impacts make on a target) is an extremely capable air defense system and is representative of the technological superiority wielded by the First Order in their efforts to control and stabilize the Outer Rim.
The 7441N (New Republic Reporting Name: SAP-52 'Groza') is carried in two pieces, the Launcher/Control Unit (LCU), and the Warhead Booster Rack (WBR). The LCU consists of the forward section including the integrated fire control system and most of the seekers. The WBR consists of all five warheads in blast resistant sheaths and their liquid fuel-gel boosters. To assemble the unit, the sheaths are removed and the WBR slides into the LCU. Once 'mated' the two pieces are locked into place with the visible clamps, a process that activates a coolant and engages a thermal battery, allowing for target acquisition and tracking, and thus enabling the weapon to be fire. A properly trained team can assemble the weapon and be ready to fire in a few seconds.
The WBR is essentially a 'magazine' and a standard Air Defense Squad of Army Troopers consists of 10-man squad carrying 3 LCU's and 6 WBR's, essentially 3 complete weapons with one reload each. Standard procedure calls for the WBR carrier to act as a spotter, and the squad leader to direct volley fire on groups of targets. Reloading a LCU that was just fired takes somewhat longer than initial assembly, mostly to allow the weapon to cool down. The longest delay in the firing sequence either way is target acquisition, which is also where the 7441N shines.
The primary seeker system is a passive infrared built into the missile itself, but the LCU also has a dedicated laser targeter and microwave radar transmitter for semi-active targeting, an optical tracker for Semi-Manual Command-to-LOS, and a specialized Laser-Wire Guidance (CLOS) system. Additionally, the LCU can interface with the Integrated Fleet Command Data Exchange Network and receive target cueing from other, more powerful sensors and units, firing on the operators command on a target they can't even see. While impressive, this system is somewhat limited by weather, atmospherics, and is more susceptible to jamming than the onboard seeker systems. The end result is nevertheless an extremely robust weapon that is hard to jam or evade with simple countermeasures (flares don't work on radar, chaff doesn't work on infrared, etc).
The typical process to fire the weapon sees a soldier notice a distant aircraft, or be keyed into an inbound target on comms. They assemble the weapon, a process that takes only a few seconds, the firer raises the weapon onto their shoulder and points it towards the target. Actual fire-control Target Acquisition takes several seconds but does not necessarily trigger Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) Gear unless it is forced to use the microwave radar for lock-on (typically because the laser can't get a bead, infrared can't get a lock, or its too far away for Laser-Wire). If multiple targets are in a close formation, the weapon will default to 'multi-target' mode and work to acquire all of them (max of five). Once locked, the weapon auto-selects a salvo size based on target size, relative velocity, and matched against a known database. This is also balanced against the number of locked targets, of course. After all this has happened (the entire process from aiming to pulling the trigger is usually 2-5 seconds) the weapon fires.
All the various selections (seeker type, number of targets, salvo size) can be manually modified by the operator if necessary, but most tend to just use it in auto mode as it saves time and the onboard computer is pretty solid. The weapon launches its missiles at a rate of around 1 per second (typically a little quicker, a little slower if its running hot). Reloading is a simple affair of ejecting the expended WBR (by slapping the clamps) and loading a new one in, again a process that takes a few seconds at most. There is an extended delay in firing full salvo's to let the LCU cool down, however, around 5-10 seconds, after which one engages in the target acquisition process again.
In summary, a properly-trained crew of two could locate, load, target, fire, reload, and fire again all inside of approximately 30 seconds.
The second major advantage the 7441N has is that the liquid fuel-gel boosters accelerate the missile upon initial launch to almost mach 2.6, a velocity it can sustain for most of its flight. This is almost twice as fast as normal MANPADS, making the weapon much quicker than standard shoulder-launched missiles (though still dramatically slower than dedicated Surface-to-Air Platforms like the SA-900C.
Despite the 'recoilless' terminology the power of the boosters is such that the weapon does have a noticeable 'kick' when firing, though most of the force is directed in a backblast out ports in the rear of the WBR. With a staggered ripple-fire this is significant enough that an unprepared operator could be knocked down. There is minimal danger of a misfire as a result (the weapon system can detect when its dropped and ceases any firing process immediately) but this does lose target-acquisition (meaning missiles in flight are limited to infrared homing) and prompts an emergency booster vent process to prevent fires or 'cooking off,' causing any remaining shots to be rendered inert, and the WBR expended. It also generally causes blue liquid booster fluid to cover anyone nearby, which isn't inherently hazardous (it has a very high flammable temp) but is pretty embarrassing (it also is a pretty gnarly irritant for exposed skin, eyes, and should most definitely not be ingested).
While not filling a role for which there was no currently active weapon (conventional missile launchers can do Anti-Air just fine) the 7441N 'Thunderstorm' performed so well in tests it was pushed swiftly in mass production, seeing widespread deployment across front-line and expeditionary units in the fleet and gradually moving to become the standard MANPADS system in the First Order military.
