MDJPA-4 "CLUSTER" AIRCRAFT
Basic Information
- Full Title: Mobile-Deployment Jet-Propelled Aircraft
- Generation: 4
- Candidate #: 241/6
- Role: Carrier-Based Strike
- National Origin: FoGM
- Manufacturer: Undetermined
- Introduction: 1989
- Produced: 1986 - 2009
- End of Service: 2019
Mounts [weight capacity: 8000 lb]
- 1x Frontal Turret (HMG)
- 6x Wing-Mount [750 lb]
- 1x Bomb Bay [3000 lb]
Utilities
- Targeting Unit (Radar, Infared, Laser, Optical)
- Electronic Countermeasures
- Decoy Dispenser
- Deployable Towed Decoy
- Ejection System
Loadouts
- Configuration "Reflex" [7200 lb]
- Description: General-purpose configuration viable in most situations.
- Frontal Mounts
- 1x C2-SPAW-S [300 lb]
- Ammo [900 lb]
- 1x C2-SPAW-S [300 lb]
- Wing Mounts
- 6x Midrange Missiles [active homing, 500 lb]
- Bomb Bay
- 4x Medium Bomb [laser-guided, 750 lb]
- Configuration "Joust" [7200 lb]
- Description: Anti-air configuration.
- Frontal Mounts
- 1x C2-SPAW-S [300 lb]
- Ammo [900 lb]
- 1x C2-SPAW-S [300 lb]
- Wing Mounts
- 6x Midrange Missile [active homing, 500 lb]
- Bomb Bay
- 6x Midrange Missile [active homing, 500 lb]
- Configuration "Break" [7450 lb]
- Description: Bomber-centric configuration; limited A2A combat.
- Frontal Mounts
- 1x C2-SPAW-S [300 lb]
- Ammo [900 lb]
- 1x C2-SPAW-S [300 lb]
- Wing Mounts
- 2x Midrange Missiles [active homing, 500 lb]
- 4x Medium Bomb [laser-guided, 750 lb]
- Bomb Bay
- 1x Heavy Bomb [laser-guided, 2250 lb]
"Come together, come apart. The hardest blows vanish into the haze."
Background
The MDJPA-4 "Cluster" is an exceptionally compact strikecraft made with the sole purpose of complementing the Pointer. Unlike its predecessors, the Cluster completely lacks any VTOL system whatsoever, making it more similar to its now-ancient forebearer, the Periphary. Even then, it is only its descendent in name; it shares few similarities visually to the three previous MDJPA aircraft, except for those which are inherent to a strike craft of its type. It's the smallest of the lineup, and bears a distinct compact wing shape which enables many of its kind to be stored.
Even with VTOL ditched in favor of maximal spatial efficiency, the Cluster has a very limited payload capacity; less than the prior generation, alongside a small bomb bay. It is, however, incredibly nimble and features every single avionic that its sibling does. Though nowhere near the most dangerous aircraft of its generation, it can still hold out on its own, especially because one never fights a single Cluster at once.
The lesson: terrible things come in small packages.