Thunderbolt heavy fighter
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The HF-66 (later F-66) Thunderbolt VII heavy strike fighter was a fictional spaceplane in the Wing Commander computer game. At its introduction in the 2660s it was one of the best strike fighters in existence and it would soldier on well into the 2680s. The F-66's nickname of "Thud" was shared with the 20th century F-105 Thunderchief; it was also nicknamed the "T-Bolt" or "T-Bone." Its odd designation of HF indicates that it is used not only for fighter and attack duties but also for search and rescue ones, a mission enabled by its built-in tractor beam.
The Thunderbolt VII's main adversary at the end of the war was the Kilrathi Vaktoth heavy fighter. The two craft were extraordinarily well-matched in firepower, defenses, speed and maneuverability and duels between the two craft often came down to personal skill, a measure which generally favored the better-trained Confederation pilots.
At least four different versions were fielded by Confed; three of them have been shown in the game series.
The HF-66A was the initial version. It was armed with two plasma cannon, two photon guns, two meson blasters and a rear mass driver turret. Her usual missile loadout consisted of six heat-seeking missiles and a single torpedo. The Thud's weapons package was the heaviest of any fighter in the Confederation's arsenal until the introduction of the F-103 Excalibur.
The HF-66B was a less-expensive variant fielded after the war's end. Two plasma cannon replaced the meson blaster and the heatseekers were replaced with IFF missiles.
The F-66D was the final version fielded by Confed. It carried four ion cannon and two tachyon cannon plus a rear laser turret. In fighter configuration she carried three IFF missiles, three image-recognition missiles, one light torpedo and 24 unguided rockets. In bomber configuration, two extra light torpedoes were carried in lieu of the image-recognition missiles.
While the Thunderbolt VII was very successful against the Kilrathi for which she was designed to fight, the design was aging by the time of the Nephilim invasion. In combat she was too slow and insufficiently protected to deal with the teeming masses of alien fighters and her armament was weak for a strike fighter. The smaller and much more capable TB-81 Shrike medium bomber would replace the venerable Thud.
The Thunderbolt is named after a number of real fighter and attack aircraft made by Republic Aircraft Company/Fairchild Republic, including the P-47 Thunderbolt ("Jug") and A-10 Thunderbolt II ("Warthog").