SF-10 seaOtter
The seaOtter is a far cry from the most advanced subfighter in the UEO. In fact, its performance has been in great debate since it went into production in 2028. The seOtter was the UEO's response to the sub aquatic population explosion of the mid '20s. With the vast increase in commerce and trade under the sea, there was a hightened need for law enforcement. The SF-5 Stinger had filled this role of local and military enforcement since late 2022 with great distinction, but the early production models were quickly falling into disrepair by 2027. The UEO navy and various Confederation law enforcement bureaus commissioned UnderSea Industries to develop and produce a replacement craft that could perform in the roles of law enforcement, scout, and light fighter deployment.
Unfortunately, the craft fell short of the original performance specifications for all intended models. It's propulsion system was scaled back twice during development and its weapons payload exceeded the Stinger's by only 25% of the intended 40% increase. In addition, it was discovered during early sea trials that its laminar flow propulsion configuration was surprisingly inefficient and its swing-motion-tail was replaced by a swing-directional-tail. This reduced the seaOtter's planned manueverability and range by almost 20%. Despite these exceptional short-commings, the seaOtter was put into full production and over 1500 military and law enforcement models were built and production of a SubTrainer variant was commissioned in 2031.
UnderSea put a stripped-down low-performance civilian variant on the market in 2033 to make up its losses when the UEO refused to pay the originally agreed price for the sub-par fighters. These began to number into the thousands by 2036, and were considered a huge hit. The downside of this production was that souped-up blackmarket versions began falling into the hands of would-be pirates and were used for easy gunning of various cargo transports. This led to heavy regulation of seaOtter purchases by the UEO, only furthering the discontent of colonists towards UEO authority in the deep.
Known Variants
YSF-10 - UEO Navy Prototype
YSE-10 - Law Enforcement Prototype
YUS-20 - Civilian Prototype
SF-10A - First Production UEO Navy SubFighter Scout
SF-10B - Second Production UEO Navy SubFighter Scout
SF-10C - Third Production UEO Navy SubFighter Scout
ST-4A - First Production UEO Navy SubTrainer
ST-4B - Second Production UEO Navy SubTrainer
ST-4C - Third Production UEO Navy SubTrainer
SLE-10A - First Production ConLEV (Confederation Law Enforcement Vehicle)
SLE-10B - Second Production ConLEV
CUS-20 - UnderSea Civilian seaOtter
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