Keelback

Template:Quote The Keelback is a medium ship produced by Lakon Spaceways. Designed as a combat-oriented variant of the Type-6 Transporter, the Keelback boasts enhanced combat capabilities, increased Armour Hardness, and the ability to equip a Fighter Hangar for Ship-Launched Fighters. To support more weapons, it can also mount a larger Power Plant. These improvements reduce the ship's internal compartments and maximum cargo capacity, but allow it to better defend itself against pirate attacks. The Keelback also possesses two additional rotating thrusters that tremendously increase its rolling speed, allowing better maneuverability in combat and smuggling situations. For pilots with a limited budget seeking a versatile cargo ship that can withstand the occasional skirmish, the Keelback is a solid choice.

Overview

The Keelback is advertised as a well-armed trader able to haul large cargoes without the need of an escort, similar to the Type-10 Defender. Like the Type-10, the Keelback sacrifices cargo space to improve combat effectiveness, though not nearly to the same degree. In comparison to the Type-6 Transporter, the Keelback has 16t less potential cargo space, a rather large amount in the early game. Combined with its higher cost and lower jump range, the Keelback is a lesser trader than the cheaper Type-6, but it remains more than capable and is still the second best ship at the role in its price range.

In combat, the Keelback retains the two Class 1 hardpoints of the Type-6 and now has two additional Class 2 hardpoints as well. Compared to ships of its price range, such as the Asp Scout and Diamondback Explorer, the Keelback has the lowest damage output of the range. It can easily be outgunned by most ships in its price tier and only has marginally better shielding and armour. However, the Keelback makes up for this with its ability to mount a Fighter Hangar. With the combined firepower of its hardpoints and a Ship-Launched Fighter, the Keelback can easily outperform all ships in its price range in terms of damage output, but this does mean sacrificing a significant amount of cargo space for both the Fighter Hangar and the Shield Generator. Poor maneuverability and speed make the Keelback ineffective at Supercruise interdicting. All in all, the Keelback can make for a good Pirate or Bounty Hunter for a commander looking to utilise fighters and has a decent amount of space for plundered loot.

As an explorer, the Keelback has less jump range than the Type-6 due to its greater mass. Combined with more limited compartment space, the Keelback is a slightly less capable ship in the role than the Type-6.

The Keelback has one role it shines in: mining. With its two medium hardpoints, large cargo space, fighter bay for protection and smaller size the Keelback is one of the best ships available for the job and is by far the cheapest ship that is extremely effective in the role. Due to its small size, many rich pilots can still make good use of the ship for its impressive mining potential. Because fighter hangars make for great protection for a miner, it may even be more appealing than ships such as the Asp Explorer or Federal Dropship. For players with Odyssey, however, the Cobra Mk V provides a higher mining speed, similar cargo capacity, better thermal characteristics, significantly better maneuverability, and the ability to dock at small landing pads, all for a lower price point, only giving up the ability to equip a vessel hangar.

Overall the Keelback is an adequate multipurpose ship, equally capable of exploration, combat, and trading, but mining is where it capitalizes on its abilities. Compared to similar ships such as the Asp Scout, the Keelback generally does a much better job, but has a much lower jump range.

File:Convergence keelback.png

Keelback hardpoints convergence

Two Class 2 hardpoints are located on top of the ship, very close to the cockpit, and two Class 1 hardpoints are located on the bottom of the ship and further back. One of three utility mounts is located on the nose of the ship directly above the frontal landing gear piece, and two more on top and at the back. The interior is almost identical to that of the Type-6, but it has a second pilot seat situated behind the primary seat, making it compatible with Multicrew. The ship also has unique rotating engine pods on either side, but these do not affect the performance of its thrusters,

Purchase Locations

System	Station	Date Seen	Discount
Shinrarta Dezhra	Jameson Memorial	Always available	10% discount
Brestla	i Sola Prospect	Always available	20% surcharge
KP Tauri	Spedding Orbital	Jul. 12, 2019	15% discount
G 35-15	Cugnot Terminal	Jul. 12, 2019	15% discount
Metzili	Ings Hub	Jul. 12, 2019	15% discount
Ix	Scully-Power Station	Jul. 12, 2019	15% discount
Luyten's Star	Ashby City	Jul. 12, 2019
Lushertha	Cook Ring	Jul. 12, 2019
Cegreeth	Volta Orbital	Jul. 12, 2019
Nu Horologii	Danjon Landing	Jul. 12, 2019
Mizar	Judson Station	Jul. 12, 2019
STF 1774	Hill Hub	Jul. 12, 2019

Outfitting

Main article: Outfitting

All ships are highly customisable through the Outfitting menu of Station Services. Listed below is the default load-out for the Keelback.

Category	Default System	Default Rating	Default Class	Max Class
Small Hardpoint	Pulse Laser	F	1	1
	Pulse Laser	F	1	1
Medium Hardpoint	Empty	--	--	2
	Empty	--	--	2
Utility Mount	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
Bulkheads	Lightweight Alloys	I	1	8
Reactor Bay	Power Plant	E	4	4
Thrusters Mounting	Thrusters	E	4	4
Frame Shift Drive Housing	Frame Shift Drive	E	4	4
Environment Control	Life Support	E	1	1
Power Coupling	Power Distributor	E	3	3
Sensor Suite	Sensors	E	2	2
Fuel Store	Fuel Tank [16x]	C	4	4
Internal Compartments	Cargo Rack [16x]	E	4	5
	Cargo Rack [16x]	E	4	5
	Cargo Rack [4x]	E	2	4
	Shield Generator	E	3	3
	Cargo Rack [2x]	E	1	2
	Empty	--	--	2
	Supercruise Assist	E	1	1
	(PAS)	I	1	1

• (L) = Loaned Module
• [x#] = Capacity
• (PAS) = Reserved solely for the Planetary Approach Suite or Advanced Planetary Approach Suite

Notes

• The Keelback was added in the 1.5 Ships update on December 15, 2015.
• At the time the Keelback was announced, before the specifications were revealed, it was speculated that the ship could be a renamed Panther Clipper. David Braben revealed that it was a variant of the Type-6 Transporter with better weapon hardpoints.

Videos

• File:ELITE DANGEROUS - SHIP COMMERCIAL - KEELBACK
• File:Elite Dangerous 1.5 Ships - Keelback
• File:The Keelback Elite Dangerous

Gallery

• The cockpit
  The cockpit
• Lakon Keelback Blueprint
  Lakon Keelback Blueprint
• Keelback Hangar
  Keelback Hangar
• Keelback cockpit
  Keelback cockpit
• Keelback in High Tech Station
  Keelback in High Tech Station