Federal GunshipAX Combat

The Federal Gunship comes to anti-Xeno work the way it comes to everything: by being a wall. Seven hardpoints (one large, four medium, two small) carry more individual AX mounts than any other popular medium — two small Guardian Gauss cannons, medium AX multi-cannons and Guardian shard cannons across the rest — and the oversized class-7 power distributor feeds those power-hungry weapons without ever browning out. Three military slots and a 630 armour base let it pack the Guardian Module Reinforcement that turns Thargoid lightning into a nuisance instead of a death sentence.

What it lacks is mobility. The Gunship is slow and turns badly, and AX rewards the opposite — tracking an Interceptor's exposed hearts with fixed Gauss, then dodging the lightning and missile swarm. The Gunship anchors instead: it plants in front of the Thargoid, soaks the punishment behind hardened modules, and grinds it down with sustained fire. It is a tank, not a duellist. For pilots who would rather out-last an Interceptor than out-fly it, it's a tough, forgiving AX platform — just never a graceful one.

Four things make the Gunship a credible Xeno hunter:

• Seven AX mounts. Two small Guardian Gauss plus medium AX multi-cannons and shard cannons — the widest mix of AX weapons on a popular medium.
• Class-7 power distributor. Oversized for the hull, it sustains the brutal weapon-capacitor drain of Gauss and shard fire that throttles smaller ships.
• Three military slots over a deep hull. Room for Guardian Module Reinforcement, the single best defence against Thargoid lightning — few mediums harden their modules better.
• It can carry a fighter. Deep optionals fit an SLF hangar, adding a remote gun and a decoy to split Thargoid attention.

Seven mounts and three Guardian-reinforced military slots over a 630-armour hull make it the medium AX tank, but 171 m/s and barge-like handling cap it at 82.

The 82/100 headline is a verdict against the anti-Xeno 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 anti-Xeno combat specifically. The role column is the hardpoint loadout — the basis for an AX weapon suite. Evasion, module hardening and heat management matter as much as raw mounts.

Same class — medium AX fighters

The Gunship is the tank of the medium AX field: more mounts and harder modules than the kraits, but slower and clumsier than every ship above it. The agile mediums — Chieftain, Challenger, Phantom — dodge the lightning and track hearts the Gunship can't. Its case is hardened survival and weapon variety, not the evasion that AX rewards most; hence it sits mid-pack.

Other classes — the heavier AX options

The Type-10 Defender is the Gunship's philosophy on a large hull — more mounts, more tank, even less grace. The large AX ships out-tank and out-gun the Gunship outright, but they need a large pad and (for two of them) a deep rank grind. The Gunship is the medium-pad, no-Imperial-rank version of the same stand-and-grind idea: docks anywhere, costs a fraction, and reaches a fight sooner.

At ~36M Cr the hull is mid-priced, but it carries a Federal rank gate — Chief Petty Officer — that the kraits and Alliance hulls don't. A full AX fit with Guardian/AX weapons, Guardian module and hull reinforcement and a shield brings the all-in figure to around 110M Cr, much of it locked behind Guardian-tech unlocks rather than credits.

The low rebuy — about 4.1M Cr engineered — is a quiet advantage: AX fights end in death often, and the Gunship is cheap to re-buy compared with the large hulls. It's a forgiving ship to learn the discipline in, provided you accept its weight.

A hardened AX tank fit: a wide AX weapon mix fed by the class-7 distributor, Guardian module reinforcement in the three military slots, and caustic/heat kit in the utilities. Initial is buy-only (AX & Guardian weapons need unlocks, so the hull starts bare); A-Rated adds the Guardian/AX kit; Engineered hardens mobility, heat and shield.

Earn Chief Petty Officer, buy the hull, and unlock Guardian and AX weapons at the relevant sites — AX weapons cannot be bought outright.

Buy-only, the hull starts on stock Lightweight Alloy bulkheads over its default core internals — 6E power plant and thrusters, 5E FSD, life support and sensors, the 7E power distributor and a 4C fuel tank. Base armour is just 630.

Every hardpoint, utility, military slot and optional bay is left empty at this stage. The Enhanced AX multi-cannons, Guardian shard and Gauss cannons, Guardian module and hull reinforcement, the bi-weave shield and the caustic/heat kit all wait on Guardian/AX unlocks. The Military Grade Composite bulkheads are a straight cash purchase rather than an unlock — but they, like the A-rating, come in the upgrade pass, not off the shelf here.

AX-fitting priority:

• 1Power Distributor → 7A — The class-7 unit must feed Gauss and shard drain; A-rate it first. ~5M Cr
• 2AX / Guardian weapons — Enhanced AX multi-cannons (3C large + 2E medium), 2A Guardian shard cannons, and 1D Guardian Gauss in the small mounts. material unlocks
• 3Bulkheads & Guardian reinforcement — Swap to Military Grade Composite bulkheads (a cash buy, no unlock) to lift base armour, then add two 4D Guardian Module Reinforcement plus a 4D Guardian Hull Reinforcement in the military slots and a 5D Guardian Hull Reinforcement in the optionals — the anti-lightning hardening. ~32M Cr + unlocks
• 4Core internals & shield → A — Power Plant → 6A, Thrusters → 6A, FSD → 5A and a 6C bi-weave shield over the hull; D-rate life support and sensors for mass. ~8M Cr
• 5Caustic + heat utilities — Xeno scanner, caustic sink, heat sinks, shield booster and decon limpet. ~2M Cr

AX engineering hardens mobility, heat and survival; AX/Guardian weapons have limited engineering. Felicity Farseer (maxed) carries the FSD; pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application.

Recommended order

• 1Charge-Enhanced distributor and Overcharged plant to feed power-hungry Gauss and shard cannons.
• 2Dirty thrusters to claw back what little agility the heavy hull allows.
• 3Thermal-resistant bi-weave shield and shield booster against Thargoid thermal damage.
• 4Note: AX/Guardian weapons and Guardian reinforcement come from unlocks, not blueprints.

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

The bulkhead is the single biggest survival jump: Lightweight Alloy's 630 base armour climbs to ~2,100 effective once Military Grade Composite goes on alongside the A-rated Guardian hull reinforcement. Engineered and Guardian-armed, the Gunship is a hardened AX anchor — a Heavy-Duty roll on the Military Grade Composite drives effective armour into the thousands, three Guardian-reinforced military slots resist lightning, and seven mounts pour out sustained AX fire. It never becomes nimble — that's the deal — so it kills by grinding from a hardened position rather than by dodging and bursting.

• Fill all three military slots with Guardian Module Reinforcement — it is the Gunship's signature defence against Thargoid lightning.
• A-rate the class-7 distributor first; Gauss and shard cannons stutter on anything less.
• Don't try to dodge like a Chieftain — anchor, harden, and grind the Interceptor down.
• Manage heat hard and carry caustic kit; the slow hull spends a long time in the danger close range.