Battlestar Galactica 2004, Caprica and Blood & Chrome
The Viper is a series of superiority fighters, originally developed on Caprica, at least a decade before the 1st Cylon War. Originally an air superiority fighter, by the time of Viper Mk. I, it grew into a space superiority fighter used by the Colonial Fleet.
History[]
Prelude to War & First Cylon War[]
The origins of the Viper lie with the Caprican Air Force Viper jet, which was in service for some time before 58 BCH. When Cylons rebelled about one decade later, the Colonial Fleet was ready to deploy a new version, Viper Mk. I to counter the Cylon threat. By the third year of the First Cylon War, Scorpion Fleet Shipyards was ready to deploy a new version of this iconic craft, Viper Mk. II[1], While successful when introduced, in the second half of the War, newly deployed Cylon fighters stemmed a need for the outmatched Colonials to develop Viper Mk. III who served alongside Mk. II until the end of the war.[2]
The Interwar Period[]
Little is known about the Colonial Fleet in the interwar period. Vipers Mk. IV, V, and VI were developed and fielded in the following 30 years, with Viper Mk. VII was already in the experimental phase by the year 10 BCH. Alongside Viper Mk. VII, the Colonial Fleet developed a variant of Viper design, the Stealthstar.
The Second Cylon War[]
By the year 0 BCH, Mk. VII became the mainstay of the Colonial Fleet, replacing all previous versions with the exception of the Stealthstar. Heavily computerized and networked, it relied heavily on the newly deployed Command Navigation Program[3]. It was noted by Viper pilots after the Fall, that Mk. VII was significantly harder to control than Mk. II, without its CNP and networking enabled. Uniquely for the Viper series, the Mk. VII came in two variants. older Mk. VIIa[4] and newer Mk. VIIb.[4]
- For the main article, see: Air Force Viper
Gallery[]
Sources[]
- ↑ Battlestar Galactica 2004, video game: "Battlestar Galactica Deadlock".
- ↑ Battlestar Galactica 2004, concept art: "Battlestar Galactica: Razor".
- ↑ Battlestar Galactica 2004, episode: "Miniseries, Night I".
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wiki Descriptive Term (In the absence of official sources, a descriptive term may be used).
Colonial Fleet
| |
|---|---|
| Battlestar Classes | Artemis-class · Chronos-type · Jupiter-class · Mercury-class · Valkyrie-class · Zodiac-type |
| Battlestars | Archeron · Athena · Atlantia · Bellerophon · Columbia · Columbia II · Chronos · Erasmus · Galactica · Night Flight · Pegasus · Prometheus · Ramses · Solaria · Triton · Uned · Universal · Valkyrie · Yashuman |
| Escort Ship Classes | Alert-type · Berzerk-class · Defender-class · Demeter-type · Hornet-type · Orion-class · Ramses-class · Ranger-class · Tiger-type |
| Escort Ships | Alert · Berzerk · Osiris |
| Support Ship Classes | Caprica-class · Loki-type |
| Support Ships | Cyclops · Loki |
| Fighters | Viper (Mark I · Mark II · Mark III · Mark VIIa · Mark VIIb) · Stealthstar |
| Transports | Raptor (Mark I · Mark IIa· Mark IIb · Mark IIb Heavy) · Shuttle (Mark I · Mark II) |
| Installations | Armistice Station · Colonial Fleet Headquarters · Colonial Fleet Hub · Fuel Depot 576 · Ragnar Anchorage |
| Shipyards | Daidalos Mobile Shipyard · Scorpion Fleet Shipyards · Tauron Shipyards |