Kestrel Mk II

The Kestrel is a purpose-built combat fighter engineered for speed, agility and lethal efficiency. Its compact frame and high-thrust maneuverability make it exceptionally effective in close-combat, interception, and rapid strike operations. The ship's sharper handling and turn of speed is also complemented with its ability to handle supercharged FSDs. In the hands of a skilled fighter pilot the Kestrel will prove itself to be unmatched.

— In-Game Description

The Kestrel Mk II is a small combat ship produced by Core Dynamics. Designed with maximum agility in mind, the Kestrel is the most maneuverable ship to date. Early access for ARX began on 24 February 2026. It became available to Odyssey owners for credits on 25 June 2026.

Overview

The Kestrel Mk II is an extremely agile fighter developed by Core Dynamics for the Federal Navy, intended to replace the aging fleet of Vultures, and counter Gutamaya's new Corsairs.

The Mk II is a reimagining of the original Kestrel Airfighter of Frontier: Elite II. The Kestrel was derived from an atmospheric fighter and featured high marks for acceleration. It was often used as a fast courier or, in large numbers, a planetary attack craft.

Kestrel Mk II hardpoints convergence

The Kestrel Mk II features a generous array of weapon hardpoints: two Class 1 hardpoints are located on both sides and slightly in front of the cockpit, one Class 3 hardpoint behind the cockpit on top of the fuselage, as well as two Class 3 hardpoints underneath the front wings. The ship also features four Utility Mounts.

Core Dynamics chose to sacrifice the Kestrel’s internal space and raw armor protection, in pursuit of maximum speed and maneuverability. The wing-mounted reaction thrusters share design similarities with that of sentry skimmers, such as the S4 Sentry or the S9 Goliath, although the Kestrel's thrusters do not deflect nearly as much as those of the drones.

The ship features a size 5 Power Plant and a size 5 Power Distributor. A polymer weave hull structure enables full use of Supercruise Overcharge technology, and is equipped with a Size 4 Frame Shift Drive bay. Size 1 Life Support and Size 2 Sensors round up the Core Internal selection.

The Kestrel, due to its stripped-down nature, features a rather limited selection of optional internals. Featuring eight internal compartments, of which there are: one Size 5, two Size 4, one Size 3, three Size 2 compartments, and one Size 1 compartment. It should be noted that one of the Size 4 compartments is restricted for military modules only.

The Kestrel Mk II also continues the trend of ships featuring unique modules. The Kestrel coincidentally features two modules exclusive to it: the Mk II Maneuvering Thrusters, and the Plasma Shock Accelerator Mk II.

The Kestrel Mk II received the green light for full production and distribution on 25 June 3312.

Capabilities

Combat

The new drives give the Kestrel Mk II incredible maneuverability, allowing it to simply run circles around larger vessels like the Anaconda or the Imperial Cutter, and even if the bigger ship does manage to land a hit, the Kestrel packs surprisingly durable shields. The Plasma Shock Accelerator Mk II functions much like the standard Shock Cannon, although it is fully automatic, and has a much larger ammunition reserve. It excels at short range, although its forgiving spread pattern allows for reasonably effective mid-range fire. It must be noted that the Plasma Shock Accelerator Mk II cannot be engineered at the time of writing this article.

Many players have noted that the ship is too maneuverable, making target acquisition very difficult, especially while boosting.

Other

The Kestrel Mk II is a pure-bred combat ship, and is wholly unsuitable for other roles, such as trading or mining, and its undersized FSD bay limits is capability as an explorer.

Its only secondary role is as a racing vessel, where its maneuverability and speed shine that much brighter, similarly to the Viper Mk III.

Purchase Locations

System	Station	Date	Notes
Shinrarta Dezhra	Jameson Memorial	Always available	10% discount, Founders Permit needed

Outfitting

All ships are highly customizable through the Outfitting menu of Station Services. Listed below is the default loadout for the Kestrel Mk II.

Category	Default System	Default Rating	Default Class	Max Class
Small Hardpoint	Pulse Laser	F	1	1
	Pulse Laser	F	1	1
Large Hardpoint	Empty	--	3	3
	Empty	--	3	3
	Empty	--	3	3
Utility Mount	Empty	--	--	--
	Empty	--	--	--
	Empty	--	--	--
	Empty	--	--	--
Bulkheads	Lightweight Alloys	I	C	1
Reactor Bay	Power Plant	E	5	5
Thrusters Mounting	Thrusters	E	5	5
Frame Shift Drive Housing	Frame Shift Drive (SCO)	E	4	4
Environment Control	Life Support	E	1	1
Power Coupling	Power Distributor	E	5	5
Sensor Suite	Sensors	E	2	2
Fuel Store	Fuel Tank [x16]	C	4	4
Internal Compartments	Shield Generator	E	5	5
	Empty [Restricted]	--	--	4
	Cargo Rack [x8]	E	--	4
	Empty	--	--	3
	Cargo Rack [x4]	E	--	2
	Empty	--	--	2
	Advanced Docking Computer	E	2	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

Development

The Kestrel Mk II was first teased on the Elite Dangerous account on the site X (x.com) on 14 February 2026. unveiled during the Developer Log on 16 February 2026.

Videos

• File:Elite Dangerous - Developer Log - 16 February 2026
• File:Elite Dangerous- Kestrel Mk. II - Available Now
• File:Elite Dangerous - Kestrel MkII- comparison to FDL, Cobra MkV. Performance tests. MkII modules review
• File:Elite Dangerous - more Kestrel's MkII combat builds and tests
• File:Kestrel Mk II Review – Medium-Ship Firepower in a Small Frame - Elite Dangerous
• File:Kestrel Successful - Core claims Federal Navy interest (Elite Dangerous)
• File:Kestrel Mk II Cinematic Presentation - Elite Dangerous Odyssey -

Gallery

• 
  Kestrel Mk II at a Gas Giant
• 
  Kestrel Mk II with weapons
• 
  Kestrel Mk II Features
• 
  Kestrel Mk II above planet
• 
  Kestrel Mk II bow and hardpoints
• 
  Kestrel Mk II at an icy body
• 
  Kestrel Mk II Ventral

References

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