Panther Clipper LX
 | Important Note:
This ship is not yet present in Elite: Dangerous and information about it is limited. Information below will be updated as it is revealed, and large portions are currently conjecture based off of the vessel's appearance in the previous Elite games. |
The Panther LX or Panther Clipper is a "heavy cargo clipper".[1]
In previous iterations of the design, the craft was one of the largest vessels in the spaceways in terms of trading, significantly larger than the Anaconda, and alleged to buy entire planets out of cargo. In this regard it can be seen as the next step upwards for a commodity-trader from the Lakon Type-9, carrying significantly more cargo and able to mount one or two fighters in its cargo bay.
Being as it was one of the largest vessels in the space lanes and carried more cargo than any other freighter, it was also regarded as one of the slowest and most lumbering vessels yet capable of turret mounting planetary bombardment class weaponry that could destroy most enemies in a single well-placed shot. Panther pilots would blatantly ignore smaller pirate vessels as their shots bounced uselessly off of the ship's mighty shields.
The modern inception varies drastically in concept artwork from the original, the Panther wasn't an atmospheric vehicle and thus aerodynamics was not an issue, this bulky 'flying brick' design was one of its key features and spoke more to its gargantuan size and use in non-atmospheric environments than its new implementation is rumored to be. In fact, the new version seems to be significantly smaller, and more akin to an Anaconda; it is unknown if there is a backstory justification for this drastic shift from design.
The Panther has not been implemented to date.