Paveway

The following information has not been confirmed by Volition and is therefore not canon for the FreeSpace universe.

Description

Blue Planet Tech Room Description

The Stormrider GES-6 Paveway is a standard-issue anti-subsystem missile. With a range of almost 4 kilometers, it can be fired safely outside of the reach enemy point-defense fire. Manufacture of Paveway missiles has increased by 400% since the beginning of the war, as they are the weapons of choice in eliminating the biggest threat GTVA warships possess - beam weapons.

Performance

Statistics

The Paveway

Range	3750 m
Reload time	1.2 s
Velocity	150 ms-1
Base Damage	1000
Armor Damage	0.01x	10
Shield Damage	0.0x	0
Subsystem Damage	2.0x	2000
Shockwave Radius	30 / 60 m
Type:	Aspect Seeking
View Cone:	N/A
Minimum Lock Time:	3.8
Turn Rate (360 degrees):	3.5 s

Notes

Veteran Comments

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While the Archer is really more useful for destroying beam cannons, this weapon is absolutely essential in certain missions (most notably Pawns on a Board of Bone) where you have to destroy subsystems. The only thing that is needed to use this is maneuver yourself to get a clear shot at your target subsystem and fire off one or two of these.

Also, you can't put an Archer on, say, a UEF Kentauroi. Speaking of which, the Kentauroi can fit six Paveway missiles in it's first missile bank. Using these and Scalpel SDGs can really turn the tide of battle. The GTA Navy is incredibly reliant on it's large, easy to hit beam emitters for anti-capital work. This is especially apparent in the GTCv Chimera and GTCv Bellerophon, due to their mimicry of Shivan tactics.

On a more technical note, the Paveway has one thing going for it that makes it an infinitely more useful weapon than its supposed Alliance counterpart, the GTM Stiletto II: it has no Bomb flag, meaning that, once it is fired, there is virtually nothing that can stop it from hitting its target. With a subsystem damage rating that is more than double that of the Stiletto II, a single Paveway is more than enough to disable heavily defended subsystems that even a volley of dual Stiletto IIs are unable to incapacitate.

Another important thing to note: the Paveway travels very slowly (slower than most interceptors), so even a straight shot will take a while to reach its target. If the target is moving and/or obscure, it's very possible to miss. Also, because missiles/torpedoes don't inherit your velocity when you launch them, if you're traveling more than a few meters-per-second in reverse when launching a Paveway, it probably will continually travel backwards, never reaching its target. This, combined with the Trebuchet's much better range, make the Trebuchet an actual competitor to the Paveway.

A major update as of the 2016 iteration: The Paveway is now a two-stage missile. The first stage has a stealth coating that does not allow interception, however the second stage (a lighter missile with a yellow trail, and traveling at 300 m/s) can now be intercepted.