Death from above, comrade!
—A Yukel pilot
The Yukel-class assault fighter was the primary fighter of the Srav Federation during the Cruentusian War. Like nearly all other fighters of the era, it was designed mostly for atmospheric combat, although it could operate in space, albeit not for a long time. It was designed mostly for ground support, and was usually equipped with tactical nukes. However, it fared poorly in dogfighters due to its low manouverability and lack of countermeasures.
Characteristics[]
Yukels in action
It is evident from battlefield results that the Yukel is capable of devastating ground battalions and structures, and it is formidable against our space presence as well. Nonetheless, flight commanders report that Yukel presence is often greeted with glee by our DarkBird pilots...
—Excerpt from a Necasian report
The Yukel was designed foremost with anti-ground duties in mind. Tactical nuclear missiles and bunker-busters were standard armament, as well as sidewinders for limited air defense. The Yukel's targeting computers often guaranteed target hits on ground targets, and when faced with no air opposition, increased levels of sadistic feelings and overconfidence were recorded amongst Yukel pilots. It also had fairly heavy armour and flare countermeasures that could shrug off most SAMs. Sometimes, the Yukel would be equipped with bomb bays that could decimate anything below it, and if a battlefield situation become dire it could be used as a kamikaze vehicle, with devastating results. A fully-armed Yukel, when ramming an enemy ground target, could sometimes result in a city-destroying blast.
Nevertheless, Yukels were almost useless as dogfighters. The designers had given it heavy anti-ground payloads at the cost of air defences, which meant that they were often chewed up by Necasian DarkBirds or mercenary FireWings. For this reason, Yukels usually stayed close to Srav anti-air presence or SAM sights, and later models, at the begging of pilots, were given advanced ejection systems that greatly increased pilot survival rates.
Early versions of the Yukel were considered to be lacking in adequate safety features, allowing missiles fixed to the aircraft to be accidentally ignited during maintenance. An incident of this type once endangered a Srav training camp on Hypori.[1]