Cobra Mk VExploration

The Cobra Mk V is not a dedicated explorer, but its nine optional internals and small pad make it a surprisingly capable one. Strip the weapons, fit a class-5 scoop, a Guardian FSD booster and lightweight cores, and it becomes a self-sufficient survey ship that lands at the planetary outposts the medium and large explorers can never reach.

Its case is carrying capacity at the small-pad end of the field. Where a Diamondback Explorer jumps further on fewer internals, the Mk V trades that range for room: a real SRV bay, an AFMU or two, scanner, comforts and spare fuel, all carried at once. It will not match a Mandalay or a Phantom on raw distance, but for short-to-medium expeditions where you want to land anywhere and stay self-sufficient, it earns its place.

Four things make the Mk V a workable small-pad explorer:

• Nine optional internals. Far more room than the small explorers it competes with — scoop, SRV bay, AFMU, scanner and comforts all fit at once, with slots to spare.
• Small-pad access. It lands at any planetary outpost, opening surface targets and resupply points the medium and large explorers are locked out of.
• Class-5 scoop. The top optional takes a class-5 fuel scoop — quick refuelling for a small hull, keeping downtime at scoopable stars short.
• Cobra speed. 412 m/s boost makes planetary approaches, gravity dives and SRV deployment fast and forgiving compared with a ponderous capital explorer.

A nine-optional, small-pad explorer that carries a full survey kit and lands anywhere for under 20M Cr, held to 72 by a heavy 150 t hull and class-4 FSD capping engineered range near ~50 LY.

The 72/100 headline is a verdict against the exploration role's priority-ordered factors. Each factor carries a weight (its share of 100); this hull earns part of each based on how it performs against the whole field. The points sum to the rating.

Both tables rate ships for exploration specifically. The role column is the maximum engineered jump range in light-years — the headline number for deep-space travel.

Same class — small-pad explorers

Among small-pad explorers the Mk V sits mid-pack: the Diamondback Explorer beats it decisively on range, and the lighter Scouts edge it on distance per credit. The Mk V wins when you want to carry more — a proper SRV bay and AFMU redundancy — rather than jump the furthest.

Other classes — the longer-legged rivals

Step up to a medium and you gain range and internal volume but lose the small pad — and with it the planetary outposts that are the Mk V's signature. For long-haul deep-space work the mediums win comfortably; for outpost-anchored survey work the Cobra keeps a niche the bigger hulls cannot fill.

At ~1.48M Cr the hull is cheap, with no rank or permit gates. A full exploration fit — A-rated FSD, class-5 scoop, Guardian booster, SRV bay and scanner — lands the all-in cost well under 20M Cr, a fraction of any dedicated capital explorer.

The Mk V's other economy is re-roling: the same engineered cores that carry an expedition also fly a combat or hauling fit, so an explorer-fit Cobra doubles as your general small ship between trips.

A self-sufficient survey fit that fills all nine optionals. Initial is buy-only — strip the guns, A-rate the FSD and fit a class-5 scoop first; A-Rated is the expedition baseline; Engineered strips mass from the cores for maximum range while keeping the full survey kit aboard. Cores run D-rated (FSD excepted) to claw range out of a heavy small hull.

Buy the hull (~1.48M Cr) and strip the weapons. Buy-only, the Mk V flies on stock E-rated cores — 4E Frame Shift Drive, 4E power plant and thrusters, 3E life support and sensors, 4E power distributor — behind the Lightweight Alloy bulkhead that ships with the hull, with a single 0I Heat Sink Launcher up top and the stock 4C Fuel Tank.

The one optional worth fitting on day one is a class-5 fuel scoop (5E for now) — refuelling matters from the first jump. Everything else waits.

Leave the rest of the optionals empty: no SRV bay, AFMUs, bi-weave landing shield, spare fuel tank or surface scanner yet, and utilities 2–3 stay open. They all arrive in the A-rated pass, once range and refuelling are paid for.

From the buy-only baseline, A-rate the drive and fill the optionals for the expedition standard. Priority for a small-pad explorer:

• 1FSD → 4A — Jump range is everything; A-rate the class-4 drive first. ~1M Cr
• 2Fuel Scoop → 5A — The top optional scoop keeps refuelling fast. ~2M Cr
• 3Guardian FSD Booster (4H) — The largest flat range bonus available. material cost
• 4D-rate the cores — Power plant, thrusters, life support, power distributor and sensors to D shed mass on a heavy small hull. cheap
• 5Single SRV bay (2G) + two AFMUs (4E, 3E) — One SRV bay drops into a size-2 slot for surface access; the AFMUs give field-repair redundancy and leave the size-4 slot free. ~2M Cr
• 63C bi-weave landing shield — A light shield to absorb hard surface set-downs — no shield booster, mass is the enemy.
• 7Detailed Surface Scanner (1I) — Maps planets for major cartographic payouts. ~250k Cr

The standard exploration engineering pattern on a small hull. Felicity Farseer (maxed) carries the FSD's Increased Range; Professor Palin or Mel Brandon tune the thrusters. Pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application.

Recommended order

• 1FSD Increased Range to G5 with Mass Manager — the foundation of the Mk V's ~50 LY range.
• 2Lightweight life support and sensors to shed mass from the heavy small hull — this matters more here than on most explorers.
• 3Low-Emissions plant to keep heat down while scooping.
• 4Clean Drive Tuning thrusters for efficient, cool travel.

Approximate progression across the three states (figures are representative, not exact rolls):

Engineered, the Mk V jumps ~50 LY while carrying a full survey kit and landing anywhere — respectable for a small hull, though short of the dedicated explorers. Lightweight Alloy bulkheads rolled to Lightweight Armour (G5), a Stripped Down power distributor, a single SRV bay and no shield booster all shave mass for range. It stays heavy and range-limited — the trade for capacity and outpost access — but for self-sufficient short-to-medium expeditions, it does the job well.

• FSD and class-5 scoop first; then fill the optionals with the SRV bay, AFMU and scanner the smaller explorers can't carry.
• The hull is heavy for its class — lightweight life support and sensors claw back real range here, so don't skip them.
• Lean on the small pad: plan resupply and surface targets around outposts the medium explorers can't reach.
• It also has combat and multipurpose manuals — the same engineered cores re-role the ship when you're back in the bubble.