Greetings Citizens, The Gladius is the United Empire of Earth’s current front-line light fighter, serving against the Vanduul onboard Bengal carriers and elsewhere.
Classified UEE Blueprint: Gladius Rear Built by Aegis Dynamics, the Gladius is an older design which has been updated over the years to keep up with modern technology. In military circles, the Gladius is beloved for its performance and its simplicity. A fast, light fighter with a laser-focus on dogfighting, the Gladius is an ideal interceptor or escort ship. Fewer moving parts than the Hornet means new pilots can adapt to the ship more quickly and ground crews can keep them flying more easily.
Now, the Gladius is available for civilians! With some Gladius squadrons converting to the wider deployment of the F7A Hornet and the introduction of the F8 Lightning to elite units, the Navy has begun to auction older Gladii to planetary governments and qualified mercenaries.
Classified UEE Blueprint: Gladius Cockpit Classified UEE Blueprint: Gladius Cockpit The spacecraft available to civilians are retired military models, with the same specifications and upgrade potential. Classified weapons technologies have been removed from the spaceframes, but they can be outfitted with a variety of civilian-grade weapons. The decommissioning process has also made room for civilian standard upgrades such as jump drives.
Known specifications Here are the currently known specifications from the classified blueprint:
LENGTH 20m BEAM 16m HEIGHT 4m NULL-CARGO MASS 9700 Kg CARGO CAPACITY 0 freight units MAX CREW 1 person MAX POWER PLANT 4 FACTORY POWER PLANT Aegis K-5b Starwalk MAX ENGINE (PRIMARY THRUSTER) 2x TR2 FACTORY ENGINE TBA MANEUVERING THRUSTERS 8xTR1 FACTORY MANEUVERING THRUSTERS Hydra Propulsion M1-16 MAX SHIELD 3 SHIELD Ascension Astro Soloshield CLASS-1 2x S1 (wings) – 2x Behring – M3A Laser Cannon CLASS-2 1x S1 (nose) – 1x Gallenson Tactical Systems Scorpion GT-215 Gatling CLASS-3 2× 4x S1 (Pylon) – Thermyte Lightfire Apollo 1 Dumbfire Note: Initial intelligence on the statistics of the Gladius were incorrect! The specifications above have been updated.
Pick yours up fast; the sale ends Friday, July 18th! Please note: this is a concept sale, the Gladius is not yet available in your Hangar. As soon as the in-game model is finished, it will be added to the Hangar and then Arena Commander! Your purchase goes to support Star Citizen’s development and it does not promise a special advantage in the finished game; any ship available through the RSI website will also be earnable in the finished game.
What is the Gladius? The Gladius was built by the team at Foundry 42, designed to take part in Squadron 42’s epic single-player campaign. In Star Citizen’s persistent universe, the Gladius will be a fast, light fighter capable of dogfighting with the best of them. The Gladius exists solely thanks to our backers: funding to add the Gladius to the game was made available to the team with the $42 million stretch goal!
Why sell the Gladius? The short answer is that it’s because we want to dogfight with it! We showed the Gladius on an episode of Around the Verse and the reaction seemed to be very positive. With our current focus on dogfighting and the Gladius being fast-tracked for development to meet Squadron 42’s needs, it seemed like a win-win situation to offer it to backers who would prefer a more military experience as Arena Commander expands!
The broader answer is that sales like this help keep Star Citizen’s development going strong! The team currently employs over 260 people around the world building the Best Damn Space Sim Ever; continuing to expand the game means offering ships like the Gladius to those who are interested in further supporting the project.