Arakawa SuRi-38 (FT)

Design
The SuRi-38 is a four-engine vertol, equipped with four proprietary Miyafuji Model 11 GoHo Cyclojets that propel the aircraft up to 361 km/h with a range of around 3,000 km. The cockpit is entirely enclosed, relying on GlassWall technology to provide the two pilots with an all-round semi-holographic view of their surroundings.

Various cargo modules can be attached to the SuRi-38 via the Modular Pod System, with the aircraft capable of lifting up to 4,000 kg. These modular pods include passenger transport pods, cargo containers, vehicle flatbeds, medical care units, VIP passenger pods, and many other variants, which can be easily swapped out as required. The SuRi-38 can also carry underslung oversized loads using the same electromagnetic winches that keep the Modular Pods secured to the craft.

History
Developed in the late 190s and early 210s, the SuRi-38 was Arakawa's attempt to break into the general purpose utility transport VTOL market, which had previously been dominated by Kawazaki and Kanazawa. At the time, there was a general trend within the Empire towards aerospacecraft, with aerospacecraft or adapted aerospacecraft accounting for almost all utility VTOLs. This drove costs up for buyers who did not require or were not even certified for extra-atmospheric operations, such as regional suppliers or local police departments. Arakawa Aircraft Engineering thus decided to design a pure vertol, a decision which was much-derided in corporate circles as a costly mistake.

Nonetheless, when the SuRi-38 hit the market in 210, it quickly broke major sales records for aircraft across the Empire. The lack of spacefaring capability ensured that the aircraft was much cheaper than its competitors, and was also an attractive option for groups that did not previously require VTOL craft or were unable to purchase such craft due to not being certified for orbital operations. At the same time, the modularity of the design meant that it could fill a wide array of roles and made it highly attractive to a large variety of buyers. The SuRi-38 attained its niche in the Imperial vertol market, dominating the market for decades to come and representing the most successful vertol that the Empire would produce up to the modern day.

In 215, the Imperial Army decided to adopt the SuRi-38 as a general-purpose utility aircraft, for use in cases where aerospacecraft VTOLs were not required or were too costly to put at risk. The SuRi-38 was adopted as the A-15 General Purpose Utility Vertol. This endorsement by the Imperial Army greatly boosted the prestige of the SuRi-38, particularly among the law enforcement community.

Following the Empire's rapprochement with the Federation in the late 220s, Arakawa attempted to sell the SuRi-38 to the Federation market. However, they faced stiff competition from the Federation's megacorporations, which quickly produced vertols with similar modular systems as the SuRi-38, such as the APEX V-26 Ganesha and the Matanza-Armatek Aerospace Gorgon. In 232, the Union's MarSur Aerospace Company also created a SuRi-38 knockoff, the AdT-17.

Specifications
General characteristics


 * Crew: 2
 * Length: 19.76 m
 * Propulsion: 4 × Arakawa Aircraft Engineering Miyafuji Model 11 GoHo Cyclojets
 * Max atmospheric speed: 361 km/h
 * Range: 3,000 km
 * Capacity: 4,000 kg
 * Modular Pod System