XMAV-202 Ramiel

The XMAV-202 is a experimental Lance Fighter serving as a test bed for matter-antimatter gamma ray photon propulsion. Through the collapse to ultrahigh densities of proton–antiproton pairs in the center of a relativistic high current, these pairs can become the upper gigaelectron volt laser level for the transition into a coherent gamma ray beam by proton–antiproton annihilation, with the magnetic field of the collapsed pinch discharge absorbing the recoil momentum of the beam and transmitting it by the Moessbauer effect to the spacecraft. This can provide extreme thrust at an exhaust velocity of c with little waste heat, enabling the XMAV-202 to achieve a wet acceleration of nearly 54 gees with a delta-V of 2.15% of lightspeed at very low mass ratio. Current plans involve the start of mass production in late 2021 under the designation MAV-202A, with the craft supplementing the MAV-172 rather than replacing it due to the very high fuel costs, though recent developments in metric-based antimatter production promise to drop future fueling costs dramatically. Future research plans involve miniaturizing non-orientable wormholes for transport aboard warships, allowing them to manufacture antimatter on the fly without the need for storage.

The XMAV-202 is mostly conventional with respect to combat features, with star pyramid hyperdiamond armor to mitigate particle beam strikes, and a spinal UREB accelerator in conjunction with phased array ECM. It's low mass ratio allows it to be quite heavily armored for a vessel of it's size - which is necessary, as any shot that penetrates the central antimatter storage would obliterate it instantly. Technologically speaking it marks a recent shift in Entangled Order research towards military applications, partly the result of recent greater awareness of Qhevak, as well as the growth of several hostile military powers in the Gamma Quadrant.