Cobra Mk VTrading

The Cobra Mk V is the modern heir to the legendary Cobra line, and as a trader it does what small hulls rarely can: fill nine optional internals with cargo racks for around 110 tonnes while still docking at any small pad. It is cheap (~1.48M Cr), needs no rank or permit, and is fast enough to boost a laden hold clear of an interdiction rather than lose it.

But measured as a trader, 110 tonnes is small. Even the cheap medium transporters carry two to four times as much, and the dedicated freighters seven or eight times more. What the Mk V offers is the largest small-pad hold in the game on a fast, forgiving hull — ideal for outpost-only runs, high-value or rare-goods loops, and early profit while you fund a real freighter. As a dedicated bulk hauler it's outclassed, and the rating reflects that.

Three things make the Mk V a trader worth the slot:

• Nine optionals, ~110 t of cargo. A 5·4·4·4·3·3·3·2·1 internal stack fills to roughly 110 tonnes — the largest hold of any small-pad hull, and more than the Cobra Mk III and Mk IV.
• Small-pad reach. It docks at every outpost and surface port — the markets that lock out medium and large freighters — so it works routes the big haulers can't touch.
• Speed and a low rebuy. 412 m/s boost (~485 engineered) and a ~1.48M Cr hull with no rank gate let it run from interdiction and shrug off a loss.

The largest small-pad hold in the game on a cheap, fast, rank-free hull earns the score; a ~110 t hold that is a fraction of any real freighter, plus thin defences and short laden range, cap it at 52.

The 52/100 headline is a verdict against the trading 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.

Every table rates ships for trading specifically, split by landing-pad class. The Max cargo column is maximum cargo tonnage behind a shield; the rating is the same 1–100 suitability verdict used across the site.

Same class — small trading ships

5 small-pad trading hulls carry a rating, led by Cobra Mk IV (52). Every same-pad rival lands where this one does — the direct field to shop.

Other classes — the bulk freighters

The large-pad trading field (10 rated), led by Panther Clipper Mk II (98) — bigger pads and bankrolls. They out-muscle this hull on the numbers, but sit a pad class away.

Other classes — the medium haulers

The medium-pad trading field (9 rated), led by Type-8 Transporter (76) — cheaper hulls and tighter pads. They undercut this hull on the numbers, but sit a pad class away.

At ~1.48M Cr the hull is cheap, with no rank or permit gate. A trade fit — cargo racks, a light bi-weave, A-rated drives — costs little in credits; most of the outlay is the FSD and thruster engineering that stretch laden range and boost speed.

Its low rebuy means a lost cargo run stings far less than it would in a freighter worth twenty times as much — part of why the Mk V is a sensible hull to learn trade routes and interdiction escapes in before committing to an expensive medium or large hauler.

A small-pad cargo fit: cargo first, a light bi-weave to survive an interdiction, and A-rated drives to run. Initial is buy-only; A-rated is the trade baseline (~102 t protected); Engineered stretches laden jump range and boost speed so a full hold still gets clear.

Buy the hull (~1.48M Cr) on stock Lightweight Alloy bulkheads and fill every optional internal with the largest cargo rack it takes — a class-5, three class-4s, three class-3s, a class-2 and a class-1 for roughly 110 tonnes buy-only.

Leave the hardpoints empty — a trader carries no guns — and run the stock FSD and thrusters until credits allow the A-rate. Even unshielded and unengineered it turns a profit on short outpost loops.

Skip the shield for now if you want the full 110 tonnes; the moment you can afford it, drop a bi-weave into a class-3 slot so an interdiction can't strip an unshielded hold.

A-rating priority for a small-pad hauler:

• 1FSD → 4A — The single biggest trade gain; a laden hold needs every light-year of jump range. ~1.2M Cr
• 2Thrusters → 4A — Boost speed is the trader's defence — out-run the interdiction. ~900k Cr
• 3Shield Generator → 3C bi-weave — A light, fast-regen shield in one class-3 slot keeps the size-4 slots for cargo. ~300k Cr
• 4Power Plant → 4A — Runs the shield, drives and utilities with cool, light margin. ~700k Cr
• 5Ancillaries → D-rate — Life support, sensors and the distributor drop to D to save mass for jump range. ~200k Cr
• 6Utilities → two shield boosters + heat sink + point defence — A thin trade shield doubles with two boosters; point defence swats missiles off the run. ~400k Cr

Engineer for laden jump range and escape speed first, then the light shield — a trader's engineering is about carrying more, further, and getting clear.

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

The engineering that matters for a trader is range and speed. G5 Increased Range plus Mass Manager on the FSD and Lightweight ancillaries roughly double laden jump range from stock, while Dirty Drives push boost toward ~485 m/s for the getaway. The bi-weave and two Heavy-Duty boosters lift a thin shield to something that survives the opening salvo of an interdiction — enough to submit, high-wake and run.

• Cargo first — a single class-3 bi-weave protects the hold while every other slot stays cargo.
• Keep the FSD and thrusters A-rated — range and boost speed are what a laden trader lives on.
• Use the small pad deliberately: run the outpost and surface-port markets that lock out the freighters.
• It's cheap and forgiving — a low-risk hull to learn trade routes and interdiction escapes in before scaling up.