The Barghosa Aerospace Utility Aerospacecraft Model 238 (U-238 or “Loki”) is an airframe that sucks well at everything. While inferior to purpose-built attack, transport, electronic warfare and even cargo vehicles, the fact that the U-238 can be quickly and easily re-fit to perform any one or more of these roles in a matter of minutes has made it the standard transport and heavy utility aerospacecraft.

The base stowable unibody frame contains default avionics, rocket motors and propellant tanks, twin nuclear-powered air breathing turbines and an integrated RCS/VTOL system. Renowned for its ruggedness and high availability, the U-238’s negative reputation comes from the maintenance issues with many of the modular mission systems, notably the AWACS, SAR, and particle beam gunship modules. The newsworthy twitchiness of early module loadouts earned the U-238 its nickname – Loki.

One of the reasons for the Loki’s popularity is its ability to function equally well in space and atmosphere. While vacuum maneuvering capability is limited, the ship can make it to orbit and back with a single on-board load of rocket fuel. The rocket motors provide thrust in vacuum and high atmosphere, while the nuclear generators can run the turbines indefinitely at lower altitudes.

Note : The U-238s carried by the Hemera and the Sabrosa are the same model. The Sabrosa Lokis have an ablative armor coating, a red paint job, and slightly different module loadouts.

Terran equivalent : A much bigger UH-1 Iroquois, or a slightly smaller C-130 Hercules, if the C-130 could be switched to AC-130, EC-130, HC-130 or KC-130 in fifteen minutes or less.

Development Notes: Much like the Daedalus, the Loki exterior was modeled by Chris Bodine from a rough design by dmh. The “stowed” configuration seen in Dead City Radio and the vehicle flight deck, as well as the weapons modules of the “gunship” variant, were added by dmh.