Bearcat interceptor
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In the Wing Commander series of computer games, the fictional F-104 Bearcat was the Terran Confederation Space Force's first attempt at a dedicated interceptor. The Bearcat, unlike the later Wasp, evolved into more of a "chopped and channeled" dogfighting-optimized version of the larger multirole F-103 Excalibur than a pure interceptor, equipped with four auto-tracking light tachyon guns and two racks of four image recognition missiles. A speedy craft, the Bearcat's top speed of 550 kilometers per second was unmatched by any other fighter of its day. However, the finely tuned top speed and heavy weapons loadout came at an extremely high economic cost, and the fighter had a very short lifespan - advancing technology obsoleted it in a short time. The Bearcat was introduced in 2671, just too late for the Kilrathi War, and was phased out of front-line service by 2680.
Namesake
The Bearcat was named for the real-world Grumman F8F Bearcat fighter, a propellor-driven carrier fighter during the Second World War. The F8F was the culmination of a series of successful propellor-driven fighters built by Grumman (the F4F Wildcat, F6F Hellcat and F7F Tigercat preceded it) and would be eventually succeeded by one final "cat" fighter in the late 1960s, the F-14 Tomcat.