Spike-class Gunship

The Spike-class Gunship fills a role of outer fleet picket and convoy guardian, as well as being an excellent anti-pirate patrol ship. It is fast enough to run down fleeing vessels and carries enough armament to fight its way out of most trouble. Its only lack is ion cannons, but designers felt that tasks needing ion cannons would be better left to the Sentinel-class Corvette.

Special Notes
As with all MMA-produced combat vessels, the ship features the innovative syntharmor repair system. A network of tubes run thoughout the outer hull; in the event of a hull breach, the system uses high pressure to squirt a fast-drying, tarlike substance across the breach, which temporarily will patch the hole long enough for personnel to escape to more safer compartments. In case of larger breaches, a network of tiny cables is first shot out to provide additional support and stability to the patch. Once dried, the syntharmor, in addition to sealing the hole, provides the equivalent protection of a panel of phototropically treated transparisteel. The duration the patch will hold for depends on the size of the breach.

As also standard, a set of backup shields rated at one-third the power of the ship's standard shields exists. Finally, the vessel also features the new PDS, a network of rapid-firing rotary blasters which provide excellent anti-missile and anti-starfighter defense, in addition to the ship's standard weaponry.