Both Battlestar Galactica’s Colonial Vipers and Babylon 5’s Earthforce Starfuries represent
excellent depictions of combat spacecraft in a high-realism environment, both the Battlestar
and Babylon 5 properties depict a fully-newtonian physics model, and their fighters are designed
to operate in the exact manner that real spacecraft need to, as opposed to the simplified ‘Aircraft
in Space’ model employed by many other Science Fiction properties.
the similarities between the Viper and Starfury allow for fair comparison between the fighters,
to determine which craft might emerge victorious, were the ships to meet in battle.
PROPULSION AND MOBILITY.
As famously stated in Newton’s first law, an object in motion remains in motion unless
acted upon by an outside force, given that no natural atmospheric resistances exist in
space to slow a fighter should it cease to burn its engines, extensive opportunities
are opened for extreme fuel and engine efficiency in flight, and this is depicted perfectly
in both Babylon 5 and Battlestar Galactica.
The Starfury Aurora is possibly the most plausible high-realism fighter in science fiction, featuring
multiple engines of similar power fixed in all directions to arrest the fighter’s acceleration
in three dimensions, this allows the craft to take full advantage of the theatre of war
in which it operates, firing its thrusters only as needed, to change its heading or build
acceleration on a particular vector, cutting its thrust entirely once it’s journey is
underway.
As a result of this, the direction in which the fighter and the pilot are facing does
not need to correspond with the direction in which the ship is travelling, allowing
for a wide variety of complex maneuvers ideal for strafing larger ships or outrunning pursuing
craft.
All of this is also true for Battlestar Galactica’s Viper, and the use of these maneuvers has
become a visual staple of the series.
One primary difference can be noted between the craft however, where the Starfury features
multiple full sized particle-engines arranged in multiple directions, the Viper uses a single
array of powerful aft-mounted engines, and relies on reaction control thrusters to arrest
acceleration and change direction.
This is perhaps more realistic overall, as the installation of multiple full sized engines
onto a small fighter craft could be seen as implausible, given the limited space for fuel
and components, but it does result in the Viper taking far longer to bring itself to
a relative stop, or change its direction without substantial drift.
This is far less of an issue for the Viper than it would be for many other craft however,
as the fighter is incredibly small, a mere 8.4 meters in length, and weighs very little
compared to other fighter craft, this places the ship’s thrust-to-weight ratio firmly
in it’s favour, allowing the RCS systems to exert substantial thrust on the Viper,
though naturally less than the Starfury’s Particle Engines, and for the vipers main
engines to accelerate the vessel incredibly quickly, far more quickly than the Starfury.
ARMAMENT AND DEFENCES Unlike in the universe of Battlestar Galactica,
directed energy weapons are prevalent in Babylon 5’s universe, and as such the Starfury Aurora
is equipped with four medium pulse cannons and two light pulse cannons, all of which
are mounted in a tightly-packed cluster at the fighter’s chin.
Conversely, the Viper Mk II is equipped with two 30mm mass accelerator cannons, fixed to
the fighter’s wings.
Though the Starfury’s pulse cannons are naturally capable of inflicting far more damage-per-shot
than the Viper’s ballistic weaponry, the Viper does possess a serious advantage in
rate-of-fire, being able to maintain a constant volley of fully automatic weapons fire so
long as ammunition is available, whereas the Starfury’s rate of fire is locked to roughly
one shot every 0.6 seconds, in order to prevent overheating.
Both the Viper and Starfury are equipped with eight missile hardpoints, compatible with
both Heat Seeking and Aspect Seeking Missiles, as well as complements of missile defence
flares.
Both ships have proven capable of shooting down incoming missiles, but the Viper’s
increased fire rate again provides an advantage in this area, allowing the fighter to create
small fields of fire to eliminate multiple approaching missiles simultaneously.
Neither ship is especially well armoured, carrying only lightweight alloys which add
to their parent ship’s agility, but offer minimal protection from enemy fire, the Viper
however has a far smaller silhouette, making it much more difficult to hit with unguided
weaponry, whereas the Starfury’s frame makes for a larger target, and features structural
weak-spots in its engine pylons, which could allow its drive systems to be severed by enemy
fire.
UTILITIES AND OTHER FEATURES.
It should be noted that the Starfury Aurora is completely incapable of atmospheric flight,
sacrificing wings and control surfaces in favour of its iconic engine layout, which
in turn provides the fighter with its deadly manoeuvrability in space.
The Viper Mark II is capable of atmospheric flight, but performs extremely poorly in this
environment, only being able to perform simple ground attack strafing runs or basic missile
combat.
The ship’s small wings provide limited lift, and the majority of the combat maneuvers for
which the fighter is designed are unavailable within a planet’s atmosphere.
The reactor used to power the Starfury has been known to irradiate the cockpit should
it suffer damage, posing a lethal risk to it’s pilot, but it should be noted that
a dogfight between the Viper and Starfury would most likely be very short, ending long
before the pilot could be incapacitated by radiation.
The Starfury’s entire cockpit module can be detached as an escape pod, allowing the
pilot to separate themselves from the engine assembly and escape harm, should his or her
fighter suffer catastrophic damage.
The Viper Mk II does not possess this ability, instead carrying a standard ejection seat,
and relying on it’s pilot’s vacuum suit to sustain them until rescue.
FINAL VERDICT.
The Viper Mark II and Starfury Aurora are extremely well-matched, and a single engagement
between them could never determine the superiority of one vessel over the other, as factors like
pilot skill, environment and simple luck could easily turn the tide of the engagement.
The primary example of this is seen in the ship’s weapons systems, where the Starfury
will likely have far more difficulty hitting a small target with it’s slower semi-automatic
cannons, but should it land even a single hit successfully, the blast would almost certainly
shear clean through the Colonial Viper, destroying the vessel completely.
Conversely the Viper could not destroy the Starfury in a single hit, but a volley of
ballistic weapons fire from close range could easily sever the Starfury’s engine pylons,
or kill it’s pilot.
The defining factor of this battle would be manoeuvrability in space, and while the viper
does perform exceptionally in this regard, the Starfury performs even more so, able to
adjust it’s direction at speeds only limited by the endurance of it’s pilot’s body,
and arrest it’s momentum far more quickly than the Viper’s RCS system is capable of.
Outside of a planet’s atmosphere, the Starfury’s mobility is superior to that of the Viper,
and this advantage would prove vital in a battle between them, as the Starfury would
likely require a far greater number of attack runs before landing a hit, than the Viper
would.
In conclusion, it seems that the majority of engagements between these two fighters,
would result in a victory for the Earthforce Starfury, though the ship would likely suffer
damage in most battles, potentially breaching it’s reactor or wounding it’s pilot, the
fighter’s incredible agility would provide the necessary window to strike the target
with it’s energy weapons, and destroy it completely.
The Viper would no doubt be capable of destroying the Starfury in some engagements, and consistently
if piloted with superior skill, but the fighter’s drift when arresting momentum and extremely
small frame, leaves the ship simply unable to survive it’s enemy’s weapons, and for
the average pilot, the Starfury would prove to be an insurmountable opponent.