GAT-12 Skipray Blastboat

Skipray Blastboat "Skipray Blastboat here."

- Unidentified Zann Consortium Pilots The Sienar Fleet Systems GAT-12 Skipray Blastboat was, early in the Galactic Civil War, the smallest hyperspace-capable combat starship in use by the Imperial Navy.

Characteristics
While small enough to be carried aboard capital ships as a starfighter, its immense power output (produced by a Sarylcorp ViX multi-flux reactor), weaponry, and shielding caused some registries to designate it as a capital ship itself.

The most popular variant, the GAT-12h, had a standard crew consisting of a pilot, copilot/sensor operator, and two gunnery officers; however, the ship could be piloted by just one person. It was standard equipped with a Class Two hyperdrive and a limited nav computer capable of storing four jump coordinates, and was stocked with sufficient consumables for a month of independent operation. On short wings on the side of the cockpit it housed two Siep-Irol "Omni-Vu" sensor pylons.

Two forward-swept stabilizer fins branched out from a rotating assembly at the aft of the ship and housed two of the Mendarn Arms Dar-2 ion cannons. The stabilizers were kept vertically in flight, with the ion cannons deployed above and below the rest of the ship; the fins rotated horizontally for landing, putting them on either side of the ship in a more traditional winged configuration.

A third Dar-2 ion cannon was housed in the nose of the ship, with a concussion missile launcher and proton torpedo tube flanking it starboard and port, respectively. On the dorsal fuselage, a fire-linked pair of Senko Systems "Tru-Lok" 5000x2 laser cannons were mounted in a turret.

While designed as a space-faring vessel, the ship actually performed better in atmospheric flight, with a (reported) top speed of 1,200 km/h; and its aerodynamic frame provided a better atmospheric maneuvering performance than all but high-performance airspeeders. Its maneuvering performance was not as remarkable out of the atmosphere, and the ship often relied on swift first-strikes or coordination with other ships in space combat.

Variants
In addition to the GAT-12h, several other models were produced, including the GAT-12g (which replaced the concussion missile tube with a tractor beam), the GAT-12j (which more evenly distributed gunnery duties between gunners than the GAT-12h), the GAT-12m (which had better realspace and hyperspace performance, and thus was used as an interceptor and courier), and the GAT-12p (which had an upgraded sensor suite).

A newer model, the GAT-24 with its variant, the GAT-24r, saw service in the Jedi Coalition during the Second Galactic Civil War.

History
Republic Sienar Systems designed the ship prior to the Clone Wars. Its design was based on the Turbostorm-class gunship. Many of its systems were tested on Shobquix Yards' Toscan starfighters, modified by Sienar for the task as testbed gunships.



It was later sold primarily to the Empire; however, the Navy's tactical philosophy wasn't open to the idea of a hyperspace-capable capital-starfighter hybrid, and all but snubbed the ship. This led SFS to sell the ship on the open market.

Those Imperial fleets that received Skiprays praised the ship, but the Skipray Blastboat ultimately gained its fame and reputation as a staple of corporate, mercenary, pirate, and smuggler fleets, as well as among individuals such as the former Emperor's Royal Guard Kir Kanos.

The first GAT-12h Skipray Blastboats were released prior to the Battle of Yavin, and proved to be a reliable ship which saw use in Outer Rim planetary patrol forces and smuggling fleets for many years.

Though it was a favored craft of the Empire, it was known that many of these ships fell into the hands of the Zann Consortium who added sensor blocking equipment to make these ships more difficult targets during space combat.

Appearances

 * Death Star
 * Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire audio drama
 * Star Wars: Empire: A Little Piece of Home
 * Star Wars: X-wing Alliance
 * Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption
 * Heir to the Empire
 * Dark Force Rising
 * The Last Command
 * X-wing: Isard's Revenge
 * Crimson Empire
 * The Bounty Hunters: Kenix Kil
 * Jedi Search
 * I, Jedi
 * Children of the Jedi
 * Darksaber
 * Planet of Twilight
 * Vision of the Future
 * Survivor's Quest
 * Young Jedi Knights: Shadow Academy
 * Dark Tide I: Onslaught
 * Recovery
 * Star by Star
 * Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream
 * The Unifying Force
 * Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen
 * Invincible
 * Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream
 * The Unifying Force
 * Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen
 * Invincible

Notes and references
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