Quiriqui, Tail Number 2-0109, of the Brazilian Army’s 21a Divisão de Cavalaria Aerea flying without mimetic skin engaged during operations near Manaus, Amazonia estado, 6 July 2299.

Narrative

Capitão-Tenente Paulo Medeiros, Brazilian Marine Corps, glanced down at the approaching sere, grey-green flatness of Ainniseachd-Mor Island, deep in the depths of the Ramadenthian Archipelago, his helmet’s display editing out the cockpit around him to give him an unobstructed view of the island. Responding to automated navigation cues, he put his RA-909 Quiriquiri attack tilt-rotor into a right bank, leveling out to run parallel to the coast, while Sub-Oficial Carlos Martins, his gunner, trained the aircraft’s powerful optics on the island. Behind him, the other three aircraft in his flight, call sign “Ganso,” turned to follow his lead, the aircrafts’ six-bladed propellers whispering through the wet air.

“Visual contact with landing party,” Martins reported. On the edge of the island, a mixed battalion composited from 751o Batalhão de Fuzileiros Navais, Brazilian Marine Corps, and reservists of the 4th (Reserve) Battalion, Royal Alician Marines, were unloading from contracted civilian hovercraft simulating “host nation” support. Medeiros spared a moment to examine the infantry fanning out towards the bluffs overlooking the landing beach, Dendara heavy combat walkers and Alician hover-rover weapons carriers leading the way at a fast clip. Somewhere further inland, the OPFOR of the Alician Advanced Training Detachment were lurking with their Kafer kit and VISMOD vehicles.

Medeiros keyed his tight-beam array for a burst message, telling the landing force his flight was on station. The reply was initially equally terse, but then the landing party command post came back online with a longer transmission, “Ganso Lead, Alpha Three-Zero reports company strength mechanized formation moving towards beachhead.” Operational graphics followed, as did quick information for an aerial attack.

The flight turned towards the enemy force, and quickly simulated the launch of sixteen Corvo II anti-tank missiles, firing the weapons on autonomous attack profiles. Distant flashes and smoke signatures followed. Medeiros grinned. This was his first training encounter with Kafer forces and air defense, and thus far things were going quite well.

When ground control did not return him a good battle damage assessment, he decided to take his flight forward, two aircraft high in SAM overwatch, two lower to engage any survirors, and all four relying on their chameleon-skins to survive the fray.

The first SAM contrails were arcing up into the sky well forward of the mechanized Kafer unit. Dodging and weaving, Martins called a warning, glimpsing awkward looking figures scuttling down a gully towards the beachhead, well inside the hasty defensive perimeter on the ground. Medeiros was keying his tight-beam when a flat monotone announced that his SAM point defenses had been overwhelmed by the volley of missiles.

Cursing, he turned back out to sea, climbing to administrative altitude and de-stealthing his aircraft. Behind him, grenade simulators were blossoming near the beachhead command post.

Development History and Description

Named for a small, swift Kestrel native to Brazil, the Quiriquiri is a specialist light attack aircraft plying its trade along Brazil’s border with the Inca Republic in the ongoing and undeclared war between those two nations. The design was initially conceptualized in 2281, as the post-3rd Rio Plata War revealed itself to be largely unsatisfactory (and anything but ‘peace’) along the new borders of Amazonia, but was not acted on until 2287 as the political and senior military leadership were resistant to spending money for research and development peculiar to the Amazonia theater (and, thus, not of potential use against Argentina). As military and civilian losses continued to mount from cross-border incursions by Inca military and paramilitary organizations, funding was finally made available for high-priority programs. Among these requirements was a light aircraft suitable for attack and reconnaissance/surveillance missions capable of operating in the austere and environmentally extreme conditions of Amazonia.

The program was initially dubbed the Experiência Reconhecimento e Ataque Modelo 909, or XRA-909, with proposals solicited from a number of Brazilian and foreign firms. After virtual fly-offs and other studies, the four most promising designs (two Brazilian, one American, and one French) were funded for construction of demonstrators. Competitive testing of the designs finally resulted in the selection of the Industría Aeroespaciais Bahia (INAEBA) design in 2292.

Dubbed the Quiriquiri, the selected design was a relatively conventional high-wing tilt-rotor design capable of VSTOL and VTOL operations. The Quiriquiri was designed from the ground up to be a very stealthy aircraft on a “low sophistication” battlefield. Radar signature was reduced as much as possible, but much more emphasis was placed on reducing acoustic, visual, and infrared signature, as the Quiriquiri was intended primarily to “bounce” small guerilla groups operating in the jungle and maquis. The most notable aspect of this was the use of distinctive six-bladed propellers to drastically reduce acoustic signature and a fully mimetic synthetic skin on the aircraft, linked to the all-aspect camera system that makes up part of the “glass cockpit” avionics; this “chameleon” feature makes visual detection of the Quiriquiri nearly impossible in the visual (0.4-0.7 mm) spectrum except at point blank range. The mimetic coating is also fairly effective in the infrared spectrum, though the Quiriquiri relies more on other thermal masking features for stealth against thermal imagers. The aircraft’s stealthing features are not adequate for service on a high-intensity battlefield saturated with modern surface to air detection and defense systems, but it has proven highly successful in the low-intensity Amazon theater, where the primary threat is from shoulder-fired SAMs. As most ordnance (excepting some reusable pods) is not equipped with the mimetic coating, Quiriquiri on strictly reconnaissance and observation missions, especially during daylight hours, sometimes operate “sterile” with no additional weaponry or equipment fitted.

The Quiriquiri is powered by a pair of 0.9MW MHD turbines, provided with 250kg of hydrogen fuel for long operational range and loiter time (six hours of flying time), even without the use of drop tanks. A pair of drop tanks boosts this to nine hours, and the Quiriquiri is equipped for mid-air refueling. Maximum combat-loaded speed at sea level is a respectable 470 kilometers per hour.

To better cope with the rigorous demands of sustaining flight operations in the Amazon basin, the Quiriquiri relies on proven components. The power plants are slightly modified versions of the power plant used on the successful I-12 Andorinha trainer used by all services of the military for basic pilot training. The mechanics of the tilt-rotor assembly are identical to those used on the T-77 transport tilt-rotor. All major avionics and power plant components are installed in a modular fashion, allowing the rapid removal and replacement of components that cannot be repaired in place. The one component that proved problematic on early production models of the Quiriquiri was the mimetic coating, though subsequent modifications to the basic design have addressed a tendency for power fluctuations in the mimetic coating that caused it to “blur in” and otherwise compromise the aircraft’s camouflage.

The two man crew is seated in tandem, with the aircraft commander seated forward and the weapons system operator to his rear. The cockpit is provided with a single, forward-facing observation window, the crew otherwise relies on the electro-optical sensor input which is unified into a “glass cockpit” environment. Sensors include variable magnification visual and thermal spectrum feeds embedded all around the skin of the aircraft, plus a nose-mounted sensor ball with a 240^o field of view. This sensor ball includes a stabilized dual channel day/night telescope (up to seventy power magnification) and a laser rangefinder/designator capable of painting targets up to 20km distant. A second ball turret on the belly of the aircraft carries one emitter for the aircraft’s 40-01 laser point defense system, which doubles (in lower power modes) as a terrain-following LIDAR. (Another ball turret on the dorsal spine of the aircraft provides protection from missiles approaching from above the aircraft.) An unsophisticated air-search radar is provided primarily for self-defense against higher performance fighter aircraft, though the Quiriquiri can carry air to air ordnance and is a credible threat to unescorted transport aircraft and the like. Sensor capabilities can be augmented, based on mission requirements, through the addition of various sensor pods in lieu of ordnance.

Besides the point defense system, armament consists of four hard points, two per wing, capable of carrying up to 400kg each (two of these hard points are plumbed for drop tanks), plus three conformal hard points on the belly of the aircraft, each capable of carrying up to 200kg, for a total load of 2200kg. Mission loads vary, but a typical interdiction strike mission along (or across) the Inca border might consist of two external drop tanks, two Cobra-Trovão stand-off cluster bomb units and three belly-mounted guided rocket pods. A close air support mission might rely on up to four Cobra-Trovãos, proximity fused conventional guided bombs, or guided rocket pods, plus a pair of 25mm gun pods or the turreted Cobra-Flecha 80-01 laser pod. For a reconnaissance mission, the Quiriquiri usually carries guided rocket pods plus dispensers for Aranha disposable UGVs. One of the more unusual loads possible is four Cobra-Ovo stand-off personnel pods, allowing the Quiriquiri to deliver a four-man reconnaissance or special operations team.

The Quiriquiri has proven itself quite effective in Amazonia, primarly in service with the Brazilian Army’s 21^st Air Cavalry Division and with the Esquadrãos de Reconhecimento e Ataque (ERA) of the Air Force’s Amazonia-based 3a Força Aérea. The Quiriquiri is known among Inca soldiers and paramilitaries as the Chhiñi espiritu (Quechua, “Ghost Bat”), and has a reputation for unexpectedly turning up and striking without warning all along the border (both within Brazilian and Incan airspace). Brazilian soldiers and marines often refer to the Quiriquiris operating in the Amazon theater as Anjinhos (“little angels”), especially in combat search and rescue missions, where the aircraft often loiter overhead for long periods striking as needed with their laser precision fire pods and other weapons, unseen thanks to their mimetic skins.

Circa 2303, Quiriquiri strength in Amazonia includes no fewer than six FAB squadrons, three Marine squadrons, and approximately ten Army squadrons within the 21st Air Cavalry Division or supporting special operations units. Total aircraft strength in operational units amounts to nearly 300 aircraft, including all services.

A less sophisticated, and less expensive, export version, the Quiriquiri-E (omitting the mimetic coating and relying on a more conventional cockpit design, and sometimes downgrading the 40-01 point defense laser to a low-powered LIDAR) is also available. Both the basic Quiriquiri and the Quiriquiri-E have been exported successfully to regions where its capabilities are suitable, being fielded in small numbers by nations as diverse as Armenia, Indochina, and Iran. Twelve aircraft, outfitted with newly developed French countermeasure and ECM pods are on order with the government of Tanstaafl, with delivery expected in mid-2303.

The Quiriquiri-E has also enjoyed a degree of success as a remote area search and rescue aircraft, especially in colonial settings. In this role, the Quiriquiri-E most commonly carries drop tanks and dispensers for parachute-delivered survival/medical equipment kits and marker beacons.

Combat History and Current Doctrine

The first thirty-eight Quiriquiris were delivered to the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) in 2295, being issued to three re-roled or newly raised Reconnaissance and Attack Squadrons (Esquadrão de Reconhecimento o Ataque) of the Amazon-based 3rd Air Force. Delivery to the Brazilian Army’s 21st Air Cavalry Division followed at the end of 2295, and the Marine Corps’ 50th Jungle Brigade in 2296. The design has most recently been adopted by the Army’s Comando Especiais do Amazonia, with a squadron of twelve aircraft being organic to the Command’s two Special Forces Brigades, primarily in service as dedicated forward air controllers and tight-beam communications relays.

The FAB aircraft were very shortly in action after a four-month train-up of aircrews and non-combat familiarization, including use in training rotations at the Amazon Combat Training Center at Santarém. The first operational flights took place during the night of 23/24 June 2295, consisting of border surveillance along the former Colombian border and the Line of Demarcation to the “occupied territories” ceded by Brazil to the Inca Republic at the end of the 3^rd Rio Plata War. Day missions began 48 hours later, on 26 June, though early problems with the mimetic coating made day missions infrequent until corrections were implemented in 2296.

The first combat action credited to a Quiriquiri occurred during a daylight mission on 3 July 2295, when Aircraft Tail Number FA 2-0093, piloted by Capitão –Av. Tomas Carvalho and 1^o Tenente –Av. Luciane Velho, assigned to the 9th Reconnaissance and Attack Squadron, 14th Fighter Wing, “bounced” a group of fourteen Inca insurgents retreating back towards the Line of Demarcation after contact with a Brazilian infantry patrol. The aircraft was unarmed, as was customary during daylight reconnaissance missions at the time, so Captain Carvalho directed a precision guided munition artillery strike on the insurgents, and remained on station monitoring the insurgent group until an airmobile quick reaction force arrived to mop up survivors. Interrogation of prisoners indicated that the Inca troops had no idea there was a Quiriquiri in the area.

The first shots fired in anger by a Quiriquiri occurred a month later, when Aircraft Tail Number FA-2-0079, piloted by Cap-Av. João Mendes and Cap-Av. Edison Barata, assigned to 2nd Reconnaissance and Attack Squadron (also of the 14th Fighter Wing) engaged another insurgent patrol along the former Colombian border with assorted ordnance, killing several. This engagement was also the first time the Quiriquiri’s anti-missile system is credited with destroying an enemy surface to air missile.

By and large these sorts of engagements, rarely drawing the notice of the Brazilian national media, and rarely resulting in more than a handful of enemy insurgents killed, wounded or captured on the one hard, or more than a single aircraft lost in action on the other, characterize the Quiriquiri’s war in the Amazon. The one role in which the aircraft has garnered some fame is as a close air support platform working with Brazilian Air Force PARA-SAR combat search and rescue teams. Though such missions are usually “black” and involve cross-border incursions to recover personnel from earlier cross-border incursions, all of which constitute international incidents, the details of a number of the more sensationally successful or disastrous operations have leaked out and formed the basis of highly successful books, films, etc.

Doctrine and Tactics

Employment of the Quiriquiri depends in large part on the service using the aircraft. In the modern Brazilian military, the distinguishing line between attack aircraft assigned to Army aviation and the Brazilian Air Force tends to be less about airframes and more about battlespace, with the EB responsible for close air support and battlefield air interdiction, while the FAB is responsible for deeper interdiction, strategic strikes and the like (as well as air superiority missions, etc.). This doctrine holds up well in conflict with Argentina, but in the operating environment in Amazonia, striking 100km deep into the enemy rear is usually considered unacceptably provocative, except when answering some especially galling action by Inca military or paramilitary raiders.

That said, the FAB tends to use the Quiriquiri in a more autonomous role than the EB or CFNB. Air Force Quiriquiris are often tasked with pure reconnaissance and surveillance missions along the border, or across it. Attack missions are also common, but are often all-Quiriquiri affairs, especially conducted into the Occupied Territories (either actual cross-border penetrations by the aircraft, or launching of stand-off weapons into Inca territory). The exception to this being when Quiriquiri are required for combat search and rescue operations, in which case their use is tightly coordinated with that of S-180 Arcanjo CSAR aircraft, other strike aircraft, etc. The other common use for FAB Quiriquiri is as an orbiting forward air controller platform to relay and direct strikes by higher performance aircraft and precision guided munitions against known enemy positions. The excellent stealth characteristics of the Quiriquiri, coupled with the dubious nature of the Inca air defense network, can make this tasking extremely punishing for Inca forces caught underneath a loitering Quiriquiri.

The CFNB also tends to use the Quiriquiri as a stand-alone system frequently, though it more often flies CAS or BAI missions than deep strike or deep reconnaissance missions. In the case of the CFNB this is because the Quiriquiri squadrons are permanently assigned to the Amazon, while any other aviation assets available are deployed from elsewhere on a rotating basis. Brazilian Marine Quiriquiri pilots tend to be somewhat suspicious of “outsider” aircrews and, with the commander of marine aviation assets in Amazonia typically being a seasoned Quiriquiri squadron commander there is a certain tendency to rely on the Quiriquiri squadrons for high priority missions and push other airframes into peripheral roles.

Army tactics are somewhat different, with Quiriquiris and Caracara attack aircraft being mixed at the squadron-level in the 21st Air Cavalry Division. These units often rely on hunter-killer tactics with Quiriquiri’s relying on their stealth characteristics to locate enemy forces, and then calling in Caracaras from orbiting positions nearby. Army units have also been known to utilize “lost sheep” tactics to lure out Inca troops and SAM teams in areas of known or suspected enemy activity, using a lone cargo x-wing (suitably equipped with anti-missile defenses) as bait while a number of Quiriquiri fly overwatch unseen thanks to their stealthing.

Statistics

Nation: Brazil

Type: Light Ground Attack/Surveillance Aircraft

Crew: Pilot and Weapons System Operator

Weight (Empty): 3000kg

Weight (Max VSTOL Take Off): 6000kg

Armor: All Faces: 2

Armament: 1 MD-7DMA 40-01 point defense laser (belly and dorsal emitter points), powered from an FDLMS battery unit recharged by the aircraft power plants, plus four 400kg wing hard points and three 200kg belly hard points

Evasion: 16

Sensor Range (Ground): 50km (+3)

Sensor Range (Air): 200km (+0)

Signature: -5 (visual/acoustic detection), -2 (electronic detection)

Max Speed: 470kph

Cruising Speed: 400kph

Combat Movement: 900m

Endurance: 6 hours (+3 hours with two drop tanks)

Price: Not commercially available

Quiriquiri-E statistics

Signature of the Quiriquiri-E is 2, although in limited visibility conditions one might consider it –5, reflecting the low acoustic signature. (Also note that some users of the Quiriquiri-E in the search and rescue or patrol role fit the aircraft with additional reflective material to enhance its signature further.) Sensor characteristics can vary substantially, depending on purchaser’s specifications. Some Quiriquiri-E retain the mid-air refueling capability, while others do not, again reflecting purchaser requirements.

Ordnance

MD-7DMA 40-01 Point Defense Laser

An aircraft version of the standard Brazilian MD-7 laser point defense system (itself an adaptation of the Modelo 7 laser rifle), the MD-7DMA is a fairly unremarkable 40-01 pulse laser powered from a 100 shot power cell recharged from the aircraft’s power plant as it is depleted. The MD-7DMA can be used to attack targets on the ground, though this runs contrary to Brazilian doctrine because of the risk to the aircraft in using the short-range laser in such a manner. The MD-7DMA can be utilized either in a passive mode, where it slews to and responds to potential missiles automatically identified by the Quiriquiri’s 360^o passive visual and thermal camera arrays (or the aircraft’s air search radar, if it is active), or in active mode, when the MD-7DMA goes into an air-search LIDAR mode and automatically pulses to attack mode as it encounters a missile-type target. In either mode, the aircrew can slew the laser to identified targets or suspected threat directions as required.

Type: 40-01 laser anti-missile aircraft armament, Country: Brazil, Weight: n/a

Action: Single Shot, Pulse Energy: 0.4 megajoules, Muzzle Velocity: C, Magazine: Integral 400mj FDLMS cell recharged from aircraft powerplant, ROF: 5, Aimed Fire Range: 1000 meters, DP Value: 1.1, Price: n/a

Cobra-Flecha Laser Anti-Personnel Attack Pod

“Cobra” is the designation of a family of aircraft munitions and weapons systems developed by the Brazilian military primarily as a result of the undeclared low-intensity conflict along the Inca border. The Cobra-Flecha is a conformal belly-mounted pod designed for the Quiriquiri featuring an 80-01 rapid fire pulse laser in a fully rotating, stabilized ball turret. In use, the Cobra-Flecha is usually slaved to the Quiriquiri’s sensor ball, allowing immediate engagement of any target acquired. The Cobra-Flecha is fairly unusual as an aircraft weapon insofar as it is a precise “sniping” weapon, often used by orbiting Quiriquiri to surgically eliminate key enemy personnel like leaders or surface to air missile teams, or even in directed assassination missions against specific individuals. The Cobra-Flecha pod is equipped with an internal FDLMS power cell containing adequate power for 1000 discharges of the laser. Existing Quiriquiri lack power connections to recharge this power cell with the aircraft power plants, as is done with the integral 40-01 point defense laser, but there is some discussion of upgrading the aircraft to allow this capability on at least one of the belly hardpoints. Quiriquiri on attack missions sometimes carry up to two Cobra-Flecha pods, with both slaved to the nose sensor ball.

Type: 80-01 laser anti-personnel aircraft armament, Country: Brazil, Weight: 175kg

Action: Single Shot, Pulse Energy: 0.8 megajoules, Muzzle Velocity: C, Magazine: Integral 800mj FDLMS cell (1000 pulses), ROF: 5, Aimed Fire Range: 2000 meters

DP Value: 1.5, Price:

Cobra-Trovão Stand-Off Antipersonnel Attack Munition

The Cobra-Trovão (Cobra-Thunder) Stand-Off Antipersonnel Attack Munition is an anti-personnel smart cluster bomb designed to be launched from outside light shoulder-fired SAM range. Each Cobra-Trovão consists of a guided glide-bomb dispenser unit containing 24 smart submunitions that can either be pre-programmed by the launching aircraft to engage specific targets within a 400x1500 meter footprint, or to acquire personnel, vehicle or structure targets within that same footprint autonomously. These submunitions are based on standard Brazilian designs and differ in the guidance package being optimized to acquire and engage personnel targets. The submunitions are also hardened and otherwise designed to penetrate through jungle canopy, though in this mode they must be set to engage pre-programmed targets rather than independently acquiring them (and accuracy can suffer when coming down through trees). The jungle-canopy attack mode is most typically used in conjunction with remote sensors like the Aranha UGV or at the direction of reconnaissance teams.

Type: Aerial Cluster Bomb Unit, Nation: Brazil, CBU Weight: 200 kg, Range (bomb): 20 kilometers from low-altitude release, 50km from high altitude release, Homing Value (bomb): 16, Submunition Weight: 5kg, Range (submunitions): 400 x 1500m footprint
Guidance: Automatic (autonomous attack mode), Homing Value (smart submunitions): 14, Attack Angle: Overhead, DP Value: EP=10 tamped, Fragmentation radius = 20 meters, Bomb Price: ?

Cobra-Fumígena Stand Off Thermobaric Attack Munition

The Cobra-Fumígena (Cobra-Incendiary Effect) is a variant of the standard Cobra-Thunder CBU that replaces the usual explosive bomblets with thermobaric bomblets. The weapon can also be used to clear landing zones in areas of moderate vegatation (old growth rain forest requires larger weapons, usually, but in the common post-agricultural maquis, Cobra-Fumígena work well). The thermobaric version is identical to the standard, except:

DPV: Concussion Zone 20 meters (DPV 15),

Cobra-Ovo Personnel Delivery System

Another modification of the standard Cobra-Trovão CBU, the Cobra-Ovo is designed to deliver one person, with up to 80kg of equipment, at the same range parameters as the Cobra-Trovão, allowing up to 50km offset from the launch point. The Cobra-Ovo is equipped with a very low powered LIDAR unit and a receiver antenna for commercial or military satellite navigation information, allowing the passenger a limited ability to steer the unit to a selected landing point (or this can be done automatically, as necessary). There is no onboard communications, but a stub antenna in the fuselage can be linked to standard Brazilian short-range personal communications gear, allowing a unit deploying together to communicate in mid flight at close (> 5km) ranges. On arrival, the Cobra-Ovo deploys a parasail for soft landing. The unit is equipped with a variable-timer self-destruct mechanism initiated by the passenger after exiting. Brazilian special operations doctrine often calls for airstrikes to be called in on landing zones after teams have exited the area to coincide with the timed destruction of the delivery units to confuse identification of wreckage. This tactic is well known enough that Inca units often move rapidly to investigate targets of airstrikes (especially ones they cannot identify as friendly positions or units) and Quirquiri and other strike aircraft often loiter in the area of real strikes to attack investigating Inca units.

Corvo II Air-Launched Anti-Tank Missile

The Míssil Anticarro Modelo 109 “Corvo II” is a Brazilian adaptation of the American Striker ATGM (designated the Corvo in Brazilian service) adapted for launch from aerial platforms. Modifications include an extension of the range to allow stand-off from missile and directed energy SHORAD systems, as well as a version of the “terminal sprint” feature used on the latest American models of the missile. The missile also includes a more sophisticated seeker head and onboard computer, allowing multiple attack modes from autonomous fire-and-forget to laser homing based on onboard or remote target designation. The seeker head also allows for “search and destroy” fire missions, wherein the missile is fired blind and activates its onboard active and passive sensors at a set geographic point or time delay. This feature was incorporated with an eye towards massing fires against Argentinean mechanized forces along Brazil’s southern border, but in the Amazon it is often used to allow Quiriquiris to remain hidden behind intervening terrain features and the like and fire on enemy forces detected by other aircraft, ground personnel, reconnaissance satellites, etc.

Besides the standard shaped charge anti-tank warhead, the MD-109F Míssil Anticarro e Fumígena is also available, equipped with the same thermobaric warhead as the American Demo-Striker. When used on the Quiriquiri, the missiles are available in shrouded dual and quad launchers equipped with mimetic coating to maximize stealth. Versions of the missile can be mixed in the same launchers. The thermobaric version of the weapon is usually preferred for use in Amazonia, but the shaped-charge version sometimes finds employment against suitable targets.

MD-109 Corvo II

Type: Air Launched ATGM, Nation: Brazil, Launcher Weight: 30 kg (dual missile pylon), 50kg (quad missile pylon), Missile Weight: 50 kg, Range: 20,000 meters, Guidance: Selectable for automatic, automatic following gunner lock-on, or laser homing beam-riding, Homing Value: 17, Attack Angle: Overhead, Damage: As tamped explosive, EP = 35 (Burst radius = 10m), Launcher and Missile Price: Not commercially available

MD-109I Corvo II Thermobaric

Type: Air Launched Thermobaric Missile, Nation: Brazil, Launcher Weight: See MD-109 above, Missile Weight: 30 kg, Range: 20,000 meters, Guidance: Selectable for automatic, automatic following gunner lock-on, or laser homing beam-riding, Homing Value: 17, Attack Angle: Selectable, Damage: Concussion Zone 30 meters (DPV 45), Launcher and Missile Price: Not commercially available.

Modelo 701 Series Guided Aircraft Rockets

The MD-701 family of Guided Rockets are typical 24^th century light aircraft armament, useful for attacking a range of targets. The main shortcoming of the MD-701s (and comparable designs) is their short range, which requires the attacking aircraft to close within the enemy light SAM umbrella to effectively attack. This limits their utility on high-intensity battlefields, but the MD-701 series and similar weapons remain useful in operations where dense air defense networks are not deployed. Rockets are identical to those used by Brazilian ACC-19M1 hovertanks equipped with the appropriate MEWS pods.

The MD-701 family of rockets are generally fired from twenty-tube pods. Rockets may be mixed within pods, with ordnance type selectable by the aircrew as desired. The usual range of HE, HEAT, WASP, Thermobaric, Smoke, and Flechette rounds are available.

Type: Aircraft Guided Rocket Pod, Nation: Brazil, Pod Weight: 160kg, Pod Size: 20 rockets, Aimed Fire Range: 6000 meters, Guidance: Automatic Following Gunner Lock On, Homing Value: 8, Rate of Fire: 20, Attack Angle: Direct, Damage: Varies by ordnance type: High Explosive: As explosion, EP = 10, Burst Radius = 20m, High Explosive Anti-Tank: As tamped explosion, EP = 8, Burst Radius = 10m, Flechette: Burst Radius 50/100m, DPV = 0.6/0.3, Incendiary Smoke: Initial Concealment and Burst Radius 30m (incendiary fragments, DPV 0.3 for 1d6 turns, no blunt trauma), extends 60m downwind in one turn, Thermobaric: Concussion Zone 20 meters (DPV 15), WASP: As explosion, EP = 3 (as tamped explosive) for contact hits. Primary Fragmentation Burst Radius = 60m, Pod Price, Loaded: ~ Lv3500

Modelo 708 25mm Binary Automatic Cannon Pod

A fairly standard gun pod designed for use with the Quiriquiri and other Brazilian aircraft, the MD-708 fires standard Brazilian binary 25mm ammunition. APDS ammunition is not used in the pod, due to the hazard posed to aircraft by sabot petals, but a somewhat less effective solid armor piercing incendiary ammunition is available for light anti-armor work. More common, however, is standard Brazilian high explosive, incendiary (HEI) and high explosive, proximity fuzed (HEPX) ammunition. The MD-708 pod is provided with 250 rounds of ammunition. It is frequently used in the Amazon theater, though it is less suitable for use on high-intensity battlefields, where its use requires an aircraft close to within light SAM range of enemy targets.

Type: 25mm Binary Cannon Pod, Nation: Brazil, Ammunition: 25mm Binary (not compatible with Type 12 25mm cannon and similar weapons), various rounds available, including APDS HEI, HEPX, and others, Muzzle Velocity: 1100 mps, ROF: 5, Aimed Fire Range: 1000m, Area Fire Burst: 20 rounds (AFV = 2), Area Fire Range: 1000m
DP Value: Varies by ammunition type, API Ammunition: 7, HEI: 6 plus 5m burst radius, HEPX: 10m burst radius (if point detonation selected, then as HEI)

31 July 2004