In need of a fast, maneuverable dogfighter for countering ambushes and eliminating stragglers who pass through their outer defenses, the Collective Navy commissioned the DFX as their standard dogfighter. The DFX is the mainline craft of the Collective fighter corps, and receives high praise from rai pilots.
As the rai do not use missiles, their fighters focus more on close range dogfighting, relying on interceptors to defend them from distant threats while focusing on the enemies within their midst. The DFX comes armed with three particle cannons mounted on swivels, allowing the guns to fire in a 45° cone. A targeting system is slaved to a separate set of controls that the pilot operates with their other hand, allowing them to control the fighter’s maneuvering and the aiming of the weapons independently. This makes the DFX an extremely effective dogfighter, allowing it to target enemy craft off-axis and giving it a huge advantage over other fighters in a furball.
Though it lacks heavy armor to maintain its maneuverability, the DFX is protected by the unique rai conversion fields, which use an array of ultra low temperature and microwave ray emitters to change the physical state of incoming fire, reducing plasma to a spray of liquid, or vaporizing bullets into clouds of gas.
Extremely fast, the DFX has a top acceleration of 764 G’s, far ahead of the fighters of less advanced races. This allows it to quickly bypass missile range, and engage the enemy up close, where it has the advantage. A series of impulse thrusters lining the fuselage give the DFX incredible maneuverability, allowing it to turn on a dime and easily outfly slower craft.
An essential part of a Collective fleet’s defensive line, these fighters work in conjunction with interceptors to prevent missile and fighter threats from reaching their charges, and are one of the most effective dogfighters in service today.