Arrow light fighter
The fictional Arrow light fighter was a small, swift, agile craft seen in three installments of Wing Commander. Its first appearance was in Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger.
About
The Arrow has appeared in four major variants in three Wing Commander games.
"Armada": The Arrow is The Primary light fighter of the TCS Lexington special operations carrier in 2669 (See Wing Commander: Armada). It is fast, agile, and well armed with two laser cannon and two Dart DF missiles.
"Wing Commander III": This is the most well-armed version of the Arrow. This version of the Arrow adds a pair of ion cannon and eight missiles (four Friend-or-Foe missiles and four dumbfire missiles), creating an agile, hard-hitting light fighter with a copious weapons loadout. This version played in the roles of carrier-based point defense interceptors, while still having enough fuel tankage to perform long-ranged operations, and was a favorite mount through the last years of the Kilrathi War.
"Wing Commander IV": This version of the Arrow is a stripped-down peacetime craft that served later after the Kilrathi War. This variant was equipped with only four missiles (two dumbfire and two heat-seeking missiles) and its standard laser and ion guns.
"Wing Commander IV": This version of the Arrow is essentially a stealth version of the post-war Arrow; the weight and space opened up by the removal of two of the previous Arrow's missile hardpoints is utilized by the addition of a cloaking device. This stealth Arrow is in limited operational use by the end of the Black Lance Crisis.
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Wing Commander Academy
The Arrow makes a very brief appearance in Episode 1 of the animated television series Wing Commander Academy. A traitor from the Confederation uses an Arrow to make his escape to a Kilrathi blockade runner. Not much is known about this version of the Arrow because of its very short appearance.
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Namesake
- The Arrow shares its name with the Avro Arrow, a Canadian-designed interceptor which was briefly tested in the late 1950s and broken up for scrap in 1959.
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Trivia
- Like the real-world F-16 Fighting Falcon, the lightweight Arrow grew into a powerful, flexible and capable fighter over its lifespan. There are at least four variants of the Arrow.
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External links
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