F-8 Shrike

F-8 Shrike
File:TBC
Type:	Multi-role strike aircraft
Introduced:	1559 AN
Used by:	Raspur Pact  Shireroth
Status:	In Service (1669 AN)
Number built:	2,100
Designed:	pre-1559 AN
Manufacturer:	EHTE (Shireroth)
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Cost:	Historically variable

A venerable multi-role strike aircraft. This probably needs an article.

Overview

Although the airframe design is 110 years old (first production model entering service with the Shirerithian military circa XI.1559 AN) the Shirerithian habit of replacing parts as they wore out - effectively creating a new aircraft over time - combined with the relative technological stagnation of human societies on Micras had the effect of far extending the service life of the Shrike beyond that which might be reasonably assumed. The aircraft was intended to be phased out of service and replaced by the F-10 Carnifex and GAV(P)-5 Nereid under modernisation plans which were put into abeyance by the advent of the White Plague and the Modanese Emigration in the late 1660's. As such the aircraft remains in widespread use with the Imperial Shirerithian Air Forces until such time as the political leadership in Shirekeep effects a definitive reorganisation of the armed forces.

Operational history

Shireroth

Number in Shirerithian service as of 1669: 1,788.

Sxiro-Jingdaoese confrontation

For an aircraft of its age the Shrike acquitted itself well during the War of Lost Brothers - most notably Operation Medusa, the suppression of air and missile assets in Western Jingdao by the combined air forces of Shireroth and Natopia. The Shrikes' agile but sturdy airframes were well suited to violently twisting low-level approach runs, whilst the modular adaptability of the old planes' fire control hardware allowed them to equip the latest Natopian precision-guided bombs with relatively few modifications, blessing the Shrikes with some success in the stand-off toss bombing of Jingdaoese airfields - a role for which they were not strictly designed. Notably the Shrike contingent of Operation Medusa suffered only half the losses of the supposedly more advanced N-1s providing top cover escort despite the Shrikes being in closer proximity to Jingdaoese fighters and ground fire - a testament to their robust construction, the rugged simplicity of their flight controls and the dependability of their low-tech cannon armament in close-range dogfights.

Hoenn

The F-8, along with many other surplus items of Shirerithian weaponry accumulated during the Sxiro-Jingdaoese Confrontation were made available to the Hoennese Realm under the terms of the Sxiro-Hoennese Treaty of Friendship[1].

Comparable aircraft

• Buzzard C-61
• Raven IV Model