Background

Federation

Mass produced in the Federation for defense against the rising threat of Hypersonic Ballistic weapons. With the concept of M.A.D falling apart, treaties limiting the creation of Ballistic Interceptors were ignored. The Federation in response upped its defenses with the improved THAAD-ER with faster acceleration, improved flight performance, and longer ranges to meet the rising advances in Hypersonic technologies.

Wikipedia THAAD-ER

"Lockheed is pushing for funding for the development of an extended-range (ER) version of the THAAD to counter maturing threats posed by hypersonic glide vehicles that adversaries may deploy, namely the Chinese WU-14, to penetrate the gap between low- and high-altitude missile defenses. The company performed static fire trials of a modified THAAD booster in 2006 and continued to fund the project until 2008. The current 14.5 in (37 cm)-diameter single-stage booster design would be expanded to a 21 in (53 cm) first stage for greater range with a second "kick stage" to close the distance to the target and provide improved velocity at burnout and more lateral movement during an engagement. Although the kill vehicle would not need redesign, the ground-based launcher would have only five missiles instead of eight. As of early 2015, THAAD-ER is only an industry concept, but Lockheed believes that the Missile Defense Agency will show interest because of the weapons under development by potential adversaries. If funding for the THAAD-ER begins in 2018, a system could be produced by 2022 to provide an interim capability against a rudimentary hypersonic threat. The Pentagon is researching whether other technologies like directed energy weapons and railguns are better solutions for missile defense; these are expected to become available in the mid to late 2020s."

Controls

Movement

-Pitch up moves forward
-Pitch down reverse

Weapons

-VTOL Up elevates missiles
-FireWeapons launches missiles