SKIPRAY BLASTBOAT

Blastboats are assault gunships that were used by the Empire. They are larger and far more powerful than starfighters but are small enough to be carried aboard capital ships. Th most prominent line of blasboat is the Sienar Fleet Systems GAT series, which includes the 12h, the 12i, and the 12j models.

The 12h was released shortly before the destruction of the first Death Star, while the 12j upgrade was released only weeks after the death of Emperor Palpatine. It's most significant additions were larger ammunition bays for the proton-torpedo and concussion-missle launchers, increasing the capacity to twelve torpedoes and eighteen missiles respectively.

When the Empire chose not to purchase the GAT-12h Skipray in large quanities, Sienar Fleet systems began to sell the ships on the open market, so many can be found in the corporate, mercenary, pirate, and smuggler fleets. Talon Karrde's smuggling fleet on MYrkr included two Skipray Blastboats, although both ships were destroyed after Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade crashed them in the heart of Myrkr's dense forests.

The ships are only twenty-five meters long yet have an incredible weapon array, including three capital ship medium ion cannons, a proton-torpedo launcher, two laser cannons, and a concussion-missle launcher. The ion cannons give the Skipray a reasonable chance of disabling larger combat ships. The hull plating is so heavy that most starfighter lasers would have a tough time penetrating the armor, making the ship impervious to all but the most powerful fighter weapons.

The Skipray's ventral ans dorsal stabalizer fins assist the ship's atmospheric flight and rotate 180 degrees to a horizontal landing configuration. Blastboats are more manueuverable in an atmospheric thani in a cauum, and have a top atmospheric speed of over 1,200 kilometers per hour; they are as fast as the Aliiance's X-wing fighters in space. Skiprays are equipped with hyperdrives and a nav computer that can store four sets of astrogation coordinates, allowing them to operate independently of larger base ships.

The Skipray normally carries a crew of four: the pilot. the copilot and sensor officer, and two gunnery officers. In an emergency, the vessel can be flown by a single person. Blastboats are used for system patrol duty, point defense, or fire support for larger capital ships. They are normally deployed in pairs so that the ships can cover each other. Imperial commanders knew that they counld send these ships into the middle of a battle and expect them to come back.