The F7 Hornet Series are a series of ships by 铁砧航天. They are mostly dedicated towards combat and dogfighting. They are (and have been) some of the most powerful dogfighting ships in Star Citizen.[1][2]
"Legacy. For almost two centuries the Hornet has played a role. Like most Citizens in the UEE, it understands its part in the betterment of Humanity. Every time the Empire has asked the Hornet to step up, it has answered and answered with vigor. The Hornet is a defender. The Hornet is an attacker. The Hornet has been everything the UEE Navy needed it to be." Hornet: F7C Series brochure
The 铁砧航天 F7C Hornet is the civilian version of the classic F7A 大黄蜂, the carrier-based medium fighter utilized by 地球联合帝国海军. It is a multi-purpose fighter and is heavily redesigned to fit non-military components. The F7A's iconic center turret has been taken out and replaced by a cargo hold with a capacity of 2SCU.
The 铁砧航天 F7C-M Super Hornet is the closest to the military load-out as is legally possible for a civilian model. It reattaches the ball turret and offers near mil-spec parts under the hood. Proving that two heads are better than one, a second seat has been added to split the logistic and combat duty, making the Super Hornet a truly terrifying mark to engage.[3]
The 铁砧航天 F7C-R Hornet Tracker is the scanner variant of the F7C 大黄蜂. It boasts an advanced radar suite making it ideal for deep-space explorers who require depth and accuracy in their scan packages. Local militia and larger merc units will also repurpose Trackers to act as mobile Command & Control ships for their squadrons.[4]
The 铁砧航天 F7C-S Hornet Ghost is the stealth variant of the F7C 大黄蜂. Through a combination of low-emission drives, low-draw weapons, and Void Armor technology capable of diffusing scans, it allows the ship to keep a low profile.[5]
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Special editions
F7C Hornet "Wildfire"
The Wildfire pays tribute to famed pilot Aria Reilly for her distinguished service with the legendary 42中队. This Hornet comes equipped with her own personally selected loadout preferences and a custom special edition livery honoring her iconic ship. Part of the Masters of Flight series.[6]
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F7C-M Super Hornet "Heartseeker"
With a unique emblem on the side of the cockpit, it is loaded with top-of-the-line components and outfitted with four imposing Behring laser cannons. The top gun turret is replaced with a S4 weapons hardpoint.[7]
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Paints
The following paints (skins) can be used on all F7 Hornet civilian variants.
"Frostbite"
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Blueish white colour with grey & black camo.
Soar like the winter winds with the Frostbite Camo paint scheme for your Anvil Hornet.
[not available]
7.00
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"Invictus Blue & Gold"
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Blue colour with gold accents and a Invictus logo.
Featuring a vibrant blue base color and gold highlights, the Invictus Blue and Gold paint scheme will give your Anvil Hornet a striking style. Available only during the annual Invictus event.
[not available]
7.00
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"Timberline"
Colour description
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Olive green colour with orange accents.
Customize your Anvil Hornet with the Timberline paint scheme that’s olive green with orange accents.
[not available]
4.50
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Series Military Variants
None of the military variants are available to the general public for purchase.
The F7A Hornet, manufactured by 铁砧航天, has been the UEE Navy's primary military fighting craft for front-line attack combat missions for hundreds of years. It is the original Hornet that all other variants are based off. While not outfitted for long range runs, the Hornet can take her share of hits and dish out a consistent, powerful response. [8]
The 铁砧航天 F7A Hornet Mk II is the cutting-edge carrier-based fighter revamped from the classic older F7A 大黄蜂 model. It is used by the elite pilots of 地球联合帝国海军.
The first F7A Hornet came out in 2806 and replaced the AegisAvenger as the standard medium fighter for the 地球联合帝国.
The F7C Hornet is the first civilian ship produced by Anvil Aerospace. Due to the UEE military secrecy laws, that 60% of the military hardware in a given spacecraft cannot be offered to the civilians, Anvil has to replacing existing systems without being given access to their military equivalents. In some cases, designers must reconstruct subsystems based solely on publicly available holographs. Civilianizing top-of-the-line military spacecraft is a frustrating process, but one that has proved ultimately valuable for Anvil: company profits rose 34% after the first civilian model F7C Hornet was made available.[10]
Development
The original F7A 大黄蜂 was created by CGBot and it was used in the first pitch video of 星际公民 in the Kickstarter campaign in 2012. Because F7A will be featured in 42中队 as a hero ship, in 2016, 云间帝国游戏 decided to update the F7A Hornet to current standard since its mesh is still the old CGBot model.
The F7A Hornet Mk II is designed by Chris Smith (Lead Vehicle Artist) in CIG Austin. The idea was to keep the original Hornet F7 MK1 series in the game and then add the F7A MK2 model, modelled completely new from the ground up with the latest techniques and pipeline procedures in 2016, as 克里斯·罗伯茨 thought it would be cool to have the classic Hornet and the new version run side by side, and players would have the opportunity to keep the old MK1 as a classic collectors item.[8]
Trivia
The F7A Hornet was originally featured in the Star Citizen Kickstarter trailer.[11]
At first the Hornet was to be a light fighter, but then after designs came back with it being heavily armed and beefy.[1]
The original F7A Hornet paid homage to the Hornet from Wing Commander which was a light fighter the player started out in.[1]
