Shrike medium bomber
|
The fictional TB-81 Shrike medium torpedo bomber is a general-purpose strike fighter deployed by the Confederation in the Wing Commander computer game.
It was designed as a strike fighter/torpedo bomber that could be fielded in numbers, as opposed to the more capable and expensive Devastator heavy bomber. From all appearances, it seemed that Confed planned to replace the Kilrathi war-era Thunderbolt heavy fighter with the Shrike.
The TB-81A was armed with two particle cannon, three mass drivers with alternate charging setting, a stormfire cannon, and defensive laser turrets at ventral, dorsal and aft surfaces (though the initial delivery was only fitted with the rear weapon). Four image-recognition missiles, four unguided heavy rockets, six light torpedoes, two heavy torpedoes, 36 light rockets and 18 mines could be carried internally. In the wild-weasel role, the torpedoes were replaced one-for-one with anti-turret missiles.
The TB-81S "Black Shrike" was an improved version that mounted two dust cannon and three pulse-particle cannon as gun armament, and upgraded missile models, including rapid-fire guided-rocket pods. Its increased offensive power, however, was still limited by the craft's lackluster maneuverability; all the firepower in the world means nothing if it can't be pointed in the right direction. Furthermore, the spaceplane's gun capacitors were sometimes found wanting if all five guns were fired at once.