UPDATE:
I changed the assembly of the whole air frame and moved the front landing gear back a little bit.

HISTORY:
After having two prototypes stolen by Echelon, the Xenans had to develop yet another new star fighter to combat them. The demand was reinforced by the other members of the ISC's Inner Ring. Even Queen Evalyn herself did not allow the engineers of the State Aerospace Administration to stop working until a successful design was finalized. She went so far as to assign soldiers to keep the weapons development compound on lock-down, forcing the engineers to work continuously for three days without food or sleep. It was harsh, but they knew that the security of their home planet as well as that of their allies depended on out-performing the terrorists of Echelon. When the XSAA completed the new fighter, the SF-6 Drazen as it was called, it was unlike any Xenan SF series fighter produced before it. The fuselage length was shorter than that of its predecessors and its height had a convergent-divergent transition. The SF-6 was also equipped with a new set of kinetron machine guns that have never been used before. The Xenan people were not confident in this design because it was new and untested, but that all changed after the next encounter with Echelon. A squadron of Xenan fighters was sent to destroy an Echelon carrier, they were lead by a single SF-6 prototype. To everyone's surprise, the pilot flying the SF-6 was able to destroy the Echelon carrier and its escorts on his own. The SF-6 out-maneuvered all the carrier's escort fighters, including the bootlegged SF-4s and SF-5s. Its new machine guns were powerful enough to penetrate through the carrier's armor and tear it to shreds. Not a single Echelon soldier survived the attack. After that battle it became clear that the SF-6 Drazen could out-match any opponent provided it was being flown by the right pilot. Today the SF-6 Drazen is considered to be Xena's first ever "hyperfighter" and its first pilot will live on as the legendary Xenan who single-handedly destroyed an enemy capital vessel (the pilot did have a squadron to back him up, but he technically destroyed the ship on his own while his teammates covered him).

ARMAMENT:
14x short ranged unguided air-to-ground rockets
4x medium ranged radar guided fire-and-forget air-to-ground inferno missiles
2x medium ranged radar guided air-to-air guardian missiles
2x long ranged radar guided fire-and-forget air-to-air interceptor missiles
Dual 50 cal. KVA-2 MKII machine guns

OPERATION INSTRUCTIONS AND ADVICE:
Action group 1 engages the main thrust engines.

Action group 2 engages the gyroscope.

Action group 3 engages the VTOL engine.

Action group 4 engages the VTOL RCNs.

Action group 5 illuminates the exterior lights.

Action group 6 jettisons all munitions.

Action group 7 deploys the arrest hook.

Action group 8 primes all munitions.

Do not pitch down too hard and too fast while launching any missiles or rockets, otherwise they might collide with the craft mid-flight and destroy it.

To use the VTOL, first engage action groups 2, 3, and 4. Next, throttle up until the craft starts levitating upward. Once a suitable altitude has been reached, rotate the VTOL nozzles backward (VTOL slider up) to push the craft forward. Then drop the throttle all the way down, deactivate action groups 2, 3, and 4, and activate action group 1. This step must be done relatively quick. While action group 1 is engaged, throttle back up again to start flying forward.

The RCNs (AG4) can be activated at any time, they can help maneuver the craft even when not in VTOL mode. This would be useful while flying in regions with low air density.

This fighter is very fast and very agile, so the controls are touchy. It is recommended that you keep the throttle between 10-25% for standard cruising, between 30-50% for dog fighting, and above 50% for high-speed cruising (the mach number will depend on altitude). Also be careful as to handle the pitch and roll input controls gingerly.