GTB Zeus

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The GTB Zeus is a post-Great War-era Terran-designed strike bomber by the Research & Development division of Galactic Terran Intelligence. It improves upon the GTB Athena in that it can mount the GTM Tsunami; in this regard, it is also the first Terran strike bomber capable of mounting warheads. The trade-off is a slight reduction in speed, armor and shield strength.

During the timeline of the main FreeSpace 2 singleplayer campaign, the Zeus is better known for its widespread use by the Neo-Terran Front.

Description:

The GTB Zeus

FS1 Tech Room Description

Another product of GTI R&D, the Zeus strike bomber is a worthy successor to the Athena. Its balanced design and increased reactor capacity give it remarkable speed for a bomber, yet still remains capable of carrying the powerful Tsunami bombs. These features will make the Zeus a versatile and effective weapon against capital ships.

FS2 Tech Room Description

The GTB Zeus is the fastest of all currently active GTVA bombers. It replaced the fleet's old Athena bombers as they were mothballed during the years following the Great War. Though slightly slower than the Athena, the Zeus's heavier armor and armament give it a much better battlezone survivability rate. Many of the Zeus wings in the GTVA fleet defected to the NTF during the initial stages of the rebellion.

Developer Notes

Excellent for hit-and-run bombing. Can carry Tsunamis. Good afterburner supply.

Name origin

In Greek mythology, Zeus is the king of the gods, controlling sky and thunder. He is also the ruler of Mount Olympus. He is the son of Cronus and Rea, and is married to Hera. Zeus is known for his many offspring, including: (this is only a list of names connected to FreeSpace)

• Athena
• Apollo
• Artemis
• Hermes
• Perseus
• Ares (alleged)

Zeus is also said to have had a relationship with Ganymede.

Performance:

Statistics

Type	Stealth Bomber/Strike Bomber (FS1/FS2)
Manufacturer	Dynamic Metamer
Maneuverability	Poor/Average
Yaw, Pitch, Roll	55.0 - 75.0 s
Max Velocity	110.0 ms-1
Max Afterburner Velocity	High/Medium ms-1
Armor	200
Hitpoints	450
Shields	20
Length	{{{10}}} m

Armaments

• Gun Mounts

FreeSpace 1			FreeSpace 2
Bank	Guns	Standard Loadout	Standard Loadout
1st	2	Avenger	Prometheus R
2nd	2	Flail	Prometheus R
Compatible Primaries			Compatible Primaries
ML-16 Laser, Disruptor, Avenger, Flail, Prometheus, Leech Cannon, S-Breaker			Subach HL-7, Akheton SDG, Prometheus R, Prometheus S, Morning Star, Circe, Lamprey, Maxim

• Missile Banks

FreeSpace 1			FreeSpace 2
Bank	Capacity	Standard Loadout	Standard Loadout
1st	40	Phoenix V	Trebuchet
2nd	40	Stiletto	Stiletto II
3rd	40	Synaptic	Piranha
Compatible Secondaries			Compatible Secondaries
D-Missile, Fury, Hornet, Interceptor, Phoenix V, Synaptic, Stiletto, Tsunami, EM Pulse, Cluster Bomb			EMP Adv., Tempest, Harpoon, Trebuchet, Piranha, Stiletto II, Infyrno, Cyclops

Modding Resources

The GTB Zeus in FS2_Open 3.6.12

Retail:

$POF File: bomber09.pof

Textures: bomber09-01(a/b/c), thruster01

MediaVP 3.6.10:

$POF File: bomber04.pof

Textures: ZeusHTL, ZeusHTL-debris, glass, Tercoc01

History
Proposed by: ??? on ???
First WIP Post: ??? on ???
First In-Game Model: ??? on ???
Completed In-Game Model: ??? on ???
Final Corrections: ??? on ???

Veteran Comments

Please read the Veteran Comments policy before editing this section.

The Zeus just can't hack it. The decrease in speed, shields, and maneuverability, and the increase in its thickness and hence target profile are all apparently minor, but they all magnify each other. In the end, it turns out that the Zeus is significantly less survivable than the Athena. If you really need bombs for the target and don't need too much muscle, you're going to be safer AND put more weight on target in a Medusa or Artemis. If you're busting subsystems, the Athena has all the moxie needed for that role already. And if you're an Athena veteran and used to flying it as if it were a fighter, don't get a Zeus. (The Artemis, however, is acceptable.)

For such a high tech looking ship, you get surprisingly less than what you would expect. The ONLY situation I might find this thing good in is where you need to disable or disarm something cruiser or corvette-sized and need enough missile banks to do that and fend off hordes of fighters.

The Zeus offers good maneuverability, relatively high speed and four primary weapons which make it ideal against fighters if you do not need a large amount of bombs. Its warhead capacity is the lowest of all Second Great War-era craft, but as compensation, aiming with its laser guns is easy and the ability to take Tempests and Harpoons make it even more effective. Against flak fire, it does not hold out for long. The Zeus is a tactical bomber, which can defend itself until it releases all its Trebuchets or Stilettos, eliminating turrets on hostile warships and pave the way for heavier bombers to deliver their heavy bombs.

As for compatibility, the Zeus is a good choice as well: The Prometheus S and the UD-8 can be chosen as well as anti-fighter warheads, Trebuchets, Stilettos and Infyrnos.

As the developers noted, it has a good afterburner supply. Press that 'Tab' or whatever and you will be flying at high speed for a while. However, the max afterburner velocity isn't that good (okay for a bomber), but it works when you're speeding up just before you launch your bomb, and want to have enough energy to pull away from the impact. It also recharges a bit slowly.

The key to understanding the Zeus is to realise its role: the Athena is a superior dogfighter to its replacement, but both are really intended as fast strike bombers rather than dogfighters and the Zeus significantly improves on the Athena as a bomber. In a real sense, it is the forerunner to the GTB Artemis and the GVB Bakha. However, by FS2, these newer ships are clearly preferable.

One expects fighters or bombers capable of a certain speed to have a comparable rate of turn. The Zeus seems to have the speed of a light bomber or heavy fighter, but holds onto the awful turning radius of its heavier brethren. This means that, unless you want to drop speed, you must release your bombs or cut off a strafing run earlier than you might otherwise have to. Its wide turning radius also plays into the Zeus's other problems with survivability.

The Zeus is easily the worst FS2 bomber in terms of bomb capacity, and It's also the slowest strike bomber, but it maneuvers far better than any other strike bomber, almost as well as the the Myrmidon, and has much better positioned gunmounts than the Artemis.

The problem with the Zeus is it feels weak. The Zeus can be killed by double Harpoons/Interceptors, which makes it the weakest of any bomber. It's not a good idea to try and ward off fighters with such a weak bomber. It's like flying in an interceptor class with half of the speed and rate of turn and double the target profile.

It may be worth noting that the Zeus is capable of braking to a complete stop and accelerating to full speed on normal thrusters very quickly—much more quickly than most other Terran and Vasudan small ships, in fact.