Kestrel Mk II: Difference between revisions

| insurance          =713,691

| armourhardness      =55

| heatcapacity        =276

| maxtopspeed        =313

| maxboostspeed      =418

| maxjumprange        =30.49

| maxcargocapacity    =70

|fighterhangar=No}}

The '''Kestrel Mk II''' is a small combat [[Ships|ship]] produced by [[Core Dynamics]]. Designed with maximum agility in mind, the Kestrel is the most maneuverable ship to date.<ref name=":1">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNYo_yRsSws Kestrel Mk II Review – Medium-Ship Firepower in a Small Frame | Elite Dangerous] - Mile 13 Gaming - YouTube - 22 Feb 2026</ref> Early access for [[ARX]] began on 24 February 2026.<ref name=":0">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf2wuh_09eo Elite Dangerous | Developer Log - 16 February 2026] - YouTube</ref><ref>[https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/elite-dangerous-kestrel-mk-ii-update-out-now.645581/ Elite Dangerous | Kestrel Mk II Update Out Now!] - 24 Feb 2026 - Frontier Forums</ref> It became available to [[Elite Dangerous: Odyssey|Odyssey]] owners for [[credits]] on 25 June 2026.<ref name=":2">[https://www.elitedangerous.com/news/galnet/kestrel-fighter-enters-full-production Kestrel Fighter Enters Full Production] - 25 June 2026 - Elite Dangerous</ref>

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

The Kestrel Mk II features a generous array of weapon [[Hardpoint|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 [[Frame Shift Drive (SCO)|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.<ref name=":2" />

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.

The Kestrel Mk II is a pure-bred combat ship, and is wholly unsuitable for other roles, such as [[Trader|trading]] or [[Miner|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]].

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

| F

| 1

| 1

| F

| 1

| 1

| rowspan="3" |[[Hardpoint|Large Hardpoint]]

| 3

| 3

| 3

| 3

| 3

| 3

| I

| C

| 1

| E

| 5

| 5

| E

| 5

| 5

| E

| 4

| 4

| E

| 1

| 1

| E

| 5

| 5

| E

| 2

| 2

| C

| 4

| 4

| rowspan="10" |[[Internal Compartment|Internal Compartments]]

| E

| 5

| 5

|''Empty [Restricted]''

| 4

| 3

| 2

| 2

| E

| 2

| 2

| E

| 1

| 1

| I

| 1

| 1