Viper Mk III

Template:Quote The Viper Mk III is a light fighter craft designed for agile ship-to-ship combat. Its minimal design combined with excellent modularity make it a popular choice for security units and bounty hunters. At a relatively low cost of just over 140,000 credits, it is also a great combat ship for entry-level Commanders.

The Viper has a delta-shaped hull which tapers to form two prongs at the front. The cockpit is situated just behind the bow, slightly raised. This gives the pilot an excellent view without exposing the canopy to potential damage.

The Viper lands on two small rear struts and one large front strut which doubles as a boarding ramp to the cockpit.

The Viper, like all modern ships, is powered by a nuclear fusion reactor. It is propelled by two primary fusion/plasma engines which provide forward thrust and are capable of reverse thrust. Smaller thrusters act as stabilizers and provide force for pitch, roll, and yaw manoeuvres.

Heat is dissipated through radiators at the rear of the ship. The Viper is also capable of using heat sink launchers to expel heat.

The Viper has two small hardpoints located on either side of the cockpit and two medium hardpoints located beneath it. This provides a range of options for weapons loadouts.

Tactical Considerations

The Viper Mk III made its first appearance in Standard Beta 1. It is a vessel used by Station security forces and law enforcement, and is currently one of the fastest ships available to purchase. It is primarily intended for combat; compared to the multi-role Cobra Mk. III, it has the same weapons capacity, slightly stronger shields per shield class, slightly weaker hull, marginally slower turn rate, much faster strafe speed, faster speed under normal thrust and slower speed under boost.

Its main drawbacks are that its heat dissipation, power generation and hyperspace capacity do not equal that of the Cobra, which limits the value of having the same hardpoint capacity; mounting the ship's full weapon weight makes it very short-ranged, and an energy-heavy armament causes it to either overheat or use all available power very quickly. Fuel is also an issue as the ship comes with capacity of only four tons.

In addition to its official police/security role, the Viper's speed, range, and combat capability make it ideal for bounty hunters, small-load couriers, mercenaries or smugglers, while its small cargo capacity makes it a very poor choice for traders, and a survivable but inadequately profitable platform for pirates.

With proper fitting, the Viper is an excellent fighter capable of standing its ground against more expensive ships.

Purchase Locations

System	Station	Date Seen
44 B Ophiuchi	Feustel Gateway (10% discount)	2015-06-12
Achenar (Permit)	Baker Terminal	2015-04-25
Agarla	Wilson Port	2015-07-07
Alioth	Irkutsk	1.06
Amahu	Kondratyev Orbital	1.06r
Asellus Primus	Beagle 2 Landing	?
Asgaa	Wheeler Horizons	2015-04-20
Aulin	Aulin Enterprise	?
Biliri	Fan City	2015-08-23
Calor	Julian Hub	Release 1.03
Cerktondhs	Bluford Gateway	2015-01-01
Chamunda	Gidzenko Ring	2015-01-09
Contii	Sucharitkul Vision	2015-07-25
Chona	Smoot Terminal	2015-08-17
Cubeo	Medupe City	2015-08-17
Eravate	Cleve Hub	2015-06-21
Faust 68	Slipher Hub	2015-06-04
GD 219	McKee Ring	2015-04-29
Gliese 563.1	Matteucci Ring	2015-07-23
Kats	Truman Hub	2015-08-20
Keliuona	Wenzel City	2015-08-19
Kumata	Vishweswarayya Enterprise	2015-01-01
Leesti	George Lucas	2015-04-03
LHS 3262	Louis de Lacaille Prospect	2015-07-07
LHS 3505	Olivas City	Release 1.03
LP 102-320	Shepard Hub	?
LP 445-22	Trevithick Horizons	2015-06-23
LP 908-11	So-Yeon City	2015-03-16
LTT 1598	Qushji Gateway	Gamma 2.02
LTT 15574	Haxel Port	2015-08-04
Macabi	Read Orbital	2014-12-30
Nang Ta-Khian	Hay Point	?
Opila	Temple Dock	2015-04-03
Ovid	Bradfield Orbital	?
Panoi	Garan Hub	2014-12-30
Q1 Eridani	Windt Terminal	2014-03-18
Rakapila	Stone Enterprise	?
Rho Cancri	Dekker Base	?
Sol	Li Qing Jao	2015-01-07
Sorbago	Hencke Orbital	2014-12-30
Styx	Wingrove Platform	?
Thosiao	Foster Orbital	2015-05-11
Tote	Whitelaw Enterprise	Gamma 1.03
Turir	Brooks Terminal	2014-12-29
Uszaa	Guest Installation	2015-04-03
Uszaa	Clauss Dock	2015-04-16
v1688 Aguilae	Thomson Terminal	9/4/2015
Wolf 1301	Saunders's Dive	3/12/2015
XI Ursae Majoris	Durrance Dock	27/4/2015
Yakabugai	Serebrov Station	1/4/2015
Zhao Jin	Wilson Ring	Aug 18, 2015
Zhu Rong	Stuart Ring	?

Outfitting

Main article: Outfitting

All ships are highly customizable through the Outfitting menu of Station Services. Listed below is the default load-out for the Viper Mk III.

Category	Default System	Default Rating	Default Class	Max Class
Small Hardpoint	Empty	--	--	1
	Empty	--	--	1
Medium Hardpoint	Pulse Laser (L)	F	1	2
	Pulse Laser (L)	F	1	2
Utility Mount	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
Bulkheads	Lightweight Alloys	I	1	8
Reactor Bay	Power Plant	E	3	3
Thrusters Mounting	Thrusters	E	3	3
Frame Shift Drive Housing	Frame Shift Drive	E	3	3
Environment Control	Life Support	E	2	2
Power Coupling	Power Distributor	E	3	3
Sensor Suite	Sensors	E	3	3
Fuel Store	Fuel Tank [x4]	C	2	2
Internal Compartments	Cargo Rack [x4]	E	2	3
	Shield Generator	E	3	3
	Empty	--	--	2
	BDS	E	1	1

• (L) = Loaned
• [x#] = Capacity

Gallery

• File:DockedViper.jpg
• File:Viper03.jpg
• File:Viper07.jpg
• File:Viper08.jpg
• File:Viper02.jpg
• File:Police 05.jpg
• File:Viper10.jpg
• File:Metal asteroids.jpg
• File:Type6WithViperOnItsTail.jpg
• File:TrioOfVipers.jpg
• Stock Viper exterior
  Stock Viper exterior
• File:359320 2015-04-16 00006.png
• File:Viper deep space 01.jpg