Rincewind wrote:Theemile wrote: I think "Sting Ship" is just a generic moniker in the Honorverse for any sort of craft with the primary air to ground or air to air function. We've seen F-111 sized air-breathing multi-Mach trainers, Exo-atmosopheric escorts, and hovering, airbreathing escorts and ground to air craft. It wouldn't surprise me if there were many different specialist models around the Honorverse, each with different capabilities. As our militaries have found, one size rarely fits all.
With the RMA, however, I would expect there only to be a couple of models, as the RMA can afford better hardware than most and, like every military, would prefer it to be as Multi-role as possible.
Actually in the Honorverse Companion section on the Royal Manticoran Army it does refer to atmospheric craft & trans-atmospheric craft separately & the latter are referred to as sting ships.
The section is as follows:
The Royal Army is primarily a mechanized force, consisting of regular, armoured and assault infantry units; armoured units; engineering units; heavy ground defence units; and aerial units, including both atmospheric and trans-atmospheric fighters (sting ships).
However every time we see an Air Limo being escorted - it is by Sting Ships. And then the person transfers to a pinnance to get to orbit. I'm fairly certain the (sting ships) is operating on both atmosopheric and trans-atmosopheric fighters.