UFAF-ACC-43 'Shepard'
"Stand among the graves of thousands of dead Forenians and ask the ghosts if honor matters. The silence is your answer."
Some old-timers deride the new era of "push button warfare." All as if there was more honor in the traditional mano-a-mano aerial dogfight of days past. A true knight of the skies doesn't need RADAR, missiles or even wingmen. The Shepard aerial command center aims to put that notion to rest.
Visually identified by its characteristic radome, the tried and true Reckless Effect airframe has been modified into a flying command center. The airframe has plenty of space to mount a de-complexified Deadliest Ray RADAR system, essentially bringing the command tower forward to the fight. No longer can maverick flyboys ignore commands from base claiming "poor comms." Fighter jocks are irked by this development, but are at least glad to have RADAR 'sheparding' their maneuvers now. To meet complaints from Haast aviators about "never being pointed to anything good to blow up," the command center compartment includes CAS liason officer on a common-air-ground frequency radio to direct in-air assets to fleeting targets of opportunity. Entirely a support C3 asset, the airframe mounts no weapons itself, and relies upon high altitude operation, counter measures, and coordination of air superiority assets as defense. More skittish officers request a pressurized cabin and electric coffee pot to entice them out of their cozy offices, but engineers remain skeptic.