A robust, ubiquitous multirole aircraft, originally intended to be a high-performance frontline day fighter. While easy to fly, exceptionally agile, and reasonably survivable thanks to its compact size, this Republic offering requires support from dedicated platforms to perform at its full potential. The first production fighter to exhibit relaxed static stability, many Viper drivers continue to boast they can fly up their own rear end — much to the chagrin of their peers, who quip their heads are already there.

Though difficult to fly, the revolutionary Siren offers extreme performance in a small, lightweight, and cost-effective package — traits which have grown in relevance as combat aircraft continue to grow outside the budgets of smaller nations. Popularized thanks to the Union’s extremely generous foreign aid program, it is still a precision engineered machine, and its robustness leaves much to be desired in the rough-and-tumble environments of its customers.

Harkening back to an era before area rule and modern supersonic research, the distinct silhouette of the Union’s Olm grants it legendary speed and acceleration — a hallmark of its primary mission as a point-defense interceptor. Though long since replaced in its home territory, modernized licensed variants continue to see service in unaffiliated powers as capable light strike fighters.

A Joint Union-Republic development, intended to be a low-cost counter to a theoretical Confederate amphibious invasion crossing the isthmi between Union and Confederate territory. Although such a threat has yet to pass, the Salamander remains a mainstay in the Republic's COIN and CAS operations, where more expensive fare would be overkill — all despite the increasing prevalence of portable SAMs and advanced air defense networks.

A carrier-based, multirole strike fighter built as a long-overdue successor to the Python fighter-bomber. Serving a myriad of air forces worldwide, including the Kingdom’s Royal Navy and the Imperial Armée de L’air, the D variant is an upgraded version of the two-seat Salamander B, intended for operation off of the Kingdom’s CATOBAR carriers. Current upgrade packages set to extend the fighter’s service life are primarily concerned with airframe refurbishments, due to the Future Air Defender program set to replace both it and its Naja contemporary.

A joint development between several nations headed up by a Kingdom requirement for a high performance multirole strike fighter. Produced in multiple variants for its clientele, chronic delays and a controversial procurement cycle has led it to be charitably referred to as an “overfunded waste” by the media — even while its successful employment against peer adversaries and extensive pilot testimony suggests otherwise. The Kingdom’s variant is set to include 2.5D thrust vectoring nozzles and improved strike capability as part of the upcoming ASP-II upgrade.

Envisioned as a swift heavy bomber for the grim purpose of strategic radiological weapons delivery, the Cold War-era Boa sees continued use as a conventional strategic bomber, anti-shipping, and tanker platform, even as the tech disparity between it and modern platforms grows daily. Upkeep efforts have become increasingly difficult, due to the cannibalization of existing airframes and the shuttering of production facilities, and Kingdom Parliament remains in heated debate over viable replacements.

Originally slated to be an interceptor, delays in production nearly led to the Python to be supplanted by a licensed Eagle derivative, had it not been discovered to be a competent surface attack and aerial reconnaissance platform. Unforeseen delivery problems with adapting Eagles to local engines led to Python’s late procurement coming just in time for the Island War. A symbol of Kingdom pride, demilitarized Pythons continue to fly at airshows, even as surviving examples have grown increasingly geriatric.

With a novel tailless delta-canard planform and thrust vectoring nozzles, development of what was to be a potent Confederate interceptor was outsourced to Amaranthus to offset costs, and gain access to Republic technology. The Republic’s sudden withdrawal from the Monarchy — and the resultant Confederate invasion — proved sufficient distraction for Amaranthus to quietly buy out the development team, and engineer a superior design for their own use. Supplementing Amaranthus’s legacy fighter fleet, the Vishnu is set to replace a myriad of older platforms in the maritime security and anti-piracy role — or liquidating threats to Amaranthus commerce.

One of the few joint developments between the Amaranthus conglomerate and a sovereign state, the Shiva originated from a Union commission to replace its aging Olm fleet. Its characteristic large engine nacelles are fitted with both thrust vectoring panels and thrust reversers, a carryover from design requirements necessitating short-field takeoff and landing. Both the Union and Amaranthus operate the type as an air superiority fighter, though the aircraft is also capable of ground attack with dumb and precision ordnance.

Surplus Waterdog bombers were discreetly sold to Amaranthus as part of a Republic bid to curry favor with the corporate state. Rechristened as the Brahma, the acquisition of this large, supersonic attack craft vastly expanded Amaranthus’s aerial security capabilities, and despite its age the type remains competitive as an interdictor, tactical reconnaissance, and tanker aircraft.

Originally a thoroughbred fighter, the humble Aquila was designed around the mantra “Not an ounce to bomb a mouse.” Nevertheless, the Strike Aquila variant has chewed through more armor, rotary-wing, and other low-altitude adversaries than any other Republic fixed-wing combat craft, despite existing as an “extended stopgap” following the retirement of the Republic’s Waterdog fleet. Projected to outlast even the Phoenix in service thanks to steady upgrades and a robust initial design, some say the plane’s only weakness is that there isn’t more of them — especially as airframe fatigue and a cutback on Phoenix orders have strained Republic air defense capability.

The winner of the Republic’s Next Generation Fighter program, the Phoenix was originally intended to replace the venerable Aquila, but exorbitant cost overruns and a production scaleback to just over 222 airframes for the initial production run underlined the formidable task of developing a “100% improvement” over its predecessor. Regardless of these shortfalls, the Phoenix is considered to be one of, if not the most capable aircraft in serial production to date — even in spite of its checkered history of pilot hypoxia and underpowered engines.

One of the few long-range, high altitude strategic bomber designs capable of striking targets across the globe, the Thunderbird’s design stems from an ancient time when bombers were expected to lug radical weapons over long distances without refueling. Surprisingly scalable and remarkably relevant as a standoff weapons platform to this day, the Thunderbird is expected to receive a further J-variant as part of a fleetwide refurbishment program.

After the Vishnu and Shiva, Amaranthus Aerospace broke into indigenous designs, with a particular fixation on novel and experimental layouts. The pinnacle of the company’s efforts thus far is the Jian, marrying a powerful set of engines and a vast weapons load into a single airframe. The iconic forward prongs are a holdover from the failed “MANTIS” modular combat aircraft program, now housing powerful electronically steered radar arrays instead of a docking mechanism. Remarkably stable and robust, along with possessing superior situational awareness and signal return fidelity on par with dedicated AEW aircraft, the only shortfall that the Jian possesses is inferior turning performance compared to its peers, although this is something of a moot point given that there are little other competitors for sheer weapons storage.

Although rumors of Republic black programs have always persisted as far back as the first Laurentian war, none have been as prominent as the supposed “F-91” program, which to this day remains the only unexplained aerial phenomena not conclusively dismissed as a mere trick of the eye or declassified by the government. Fittingly, details are scarce, and the few conspiracy theorists still digging for details disagree on the aircraft’s specifics or its intended mission.

The original Artemis program was an offshoot of the Helios project, which, alongside the related Apollo program, attempted to marry a high-performance airframe with an experimental thermonuclear jet engine. However, the destruction of the original prototype resulted in the project’s temporary shelving. The Artemis program was allowed to continue once public controversy died down, albeit divorced from the thermonuclear turbine until sufficient miniaturization could be achieved. While no longer capable of employing certain exotic features, the resulting aircraft nevertheless remains a potent strike craft and interceptor.

After the Jian, Amaranthus Aerospace was not content to sit on its laurels, and was quick to follow up with a potential successor to the entirety of Amaranthus’s Aerial Security’s fleet in the form of the radical Acala. Set to replace the earlier Brahma interdictor and Vishnu strike fighter pending a new avionics package, the type is expected to form the core of Amaranthus’s projected fleet for the next thirty years alongside the Jian and Garuda.

One of very few known supersonic VTOL aircraft brought from table to prototype, the Garuda is a stepping stone to future Amaranthus Aerospace VTOL projects. The unusual shape of its air intakes and outlet nozzles form the core of an integrated vectored thruster bank, allowing the fighter to maintain control even at low speeds. Still in the combat testing phase, the Garuda is rapidly gaining popularity within Amaranthus’s Aerial Security Division, by virtue of being a supersonic combat craft that operates where its contemporaries cannot.

The venerable Janus was a modular aerodynamics, avionics, and propulsion testbed, seeing a variety of configurations within its short tenure in service. The X-95 configuration represents the final iteration in the Janus’s testing line, swapping out a thrust-vectoring turbofan for an experimental [DATA EXPUNGED], vastly improving combustion efficiency and throttle response. While proving far more capable than contemporary powerplants, no apparent effort has been made to produce the [DATA EXPUNGED] en masse and the Janus prototype remains the sole example of this “novel engine.”