This is the big mom
Darth Vader wishes his ship was this cool
ma of the fighter corps, only carried on the largest warships. She is big, slow, and ugly. That's her downside. On the upside she is armed to the teeth, surprisingly maneuverable for her size, and is the only Earth Fleet fighter equipped with a computer controlled, turret-mounted point defense system. Offensively, she mounts two six-tube launchers for heavy anti-ship Blackhawk missiles. Nothing compares to a squadron of twelve of these puppies kicking off 144 heavy anti-ship missiles in a few seconds. The first use of these fighters even stunned the Bugs, who when confronted by the massive launch hesitated before charging in. For self-defense, there are a pair of railguns for taking out enemy starfighters, and four plasma phalanx point-defense weapons for defense against incoming missiles. The pilot sits in front of a panoramic viewing dome in the nose, while the gunner sits behind him and operates the sophisticated targeting and defense systems. The massive phased-array radar next to the pilot's dome can burn through almost any enemy jamming. The Avenger cannot enter an atmosphere, and is manufactured on Avalon by the Sukhoi Grumman Corporation. Its equivalent in Eastern Bloc service was the J-4 Daimyo.
Behind the Scenes
This fighter is named for the abortive A-12 Avenger II project. It was designed by Martin Hohner based on a description by Nathan Bax, and the design was inspired largely by the heavier variants of TIE fighters from the Star Wars universe.