ASP

Asp over Saturn   The Asp has seen faithful service with the Federal Navy. Quite why the Federation dropped this ship as a mainstay of their military remains unknown to the AJN engineering team who found the ship to be an ideal part of their defence system with only minor changes to the design. The Federation sold the plans for the Asp for only a nominal fee of 2.2 million credits to the AAAI in 3270. As a consequence, the AAAI have restarted civilian production of the ship with a number of modern improvements, plus supplying the AJN with its Asp requirement. All Asps in service prior to 3270 are retrofitted civilian models, newer Asps are purpose built for the AJN.

  Under AJN service, the Asp is typically used as a forward defence craft, being attached to the docking clamps of a Valiant-class battlecruiser until required. A long-range version and a system defence version are employed by many AIS members.

The current variants are:

Only the FGA.2 type has a hyperdrive fitted. The FGA.2 is the most common variant, with over 1000 in service with various AIS members. The FGA.1 is next most common. The F.1 and GR.6 make formidable carrier borne craft, carrying 6 NN-550-B missiles along with a new technology 525 n.m. 6MW dual beam laser. The GR.6 additionally has a bomb-bay which can contain anything from simple assault weapons to deep space probes. All the Asp variants have a crew of two: a pilot and a weapons/navigation officer. F.1's launched from the Valiant class "Bounty" successfully drove off an INRA attempt to prevent Veliaze from switching to the Alliance during September 3262.