Fast Cutter

Written by skairunner

A fast cutter, patrol cutter, or customs craft is a kind of small, light military spacecraft that is used by governments all across the Sol System to manage stations, maintain presence, and conduct search and rescue operations. They are easily the most numerous kind of warcraft as they are useful in all sorts of situations in peacetime and are also cheap.
Even moderately trafficked ports have at least one fast cutter on station, if only to "wave the flag" and reassure travellers that they are being watched over. Stations with more traffic, and particularly those used to import and export may have more. This is where the customs aspect is relevant, as having the ability to board and inspect cargocraft is invaluable for making sure regulations are being followed.

Loadouts

Armaments vary widely depending on organizational doctrine, but fast cutters usually have a handful of light weapons that are more commonly used to threaten than fire. The Jovian Orbital Guard is notable for fielding larger cutters than the average. Their cutters often carry heavier weaponry that is said to be useful against pirates.
Some critics note that this would allow these craft to be pressed into service as auxiliaries in wartime and is an example of Jupiter toeing the line on the armament moratorium. Given that the Orbital Guard mainly uses space superiority fighters when engaging pirates, the heavily armed cutters couldn't possibly have any other purpose than evading the moratorium.

---

Anti-ship

Almost all fast cutters carry at least one anti-ship weapon, useful to disable engines and defang any enemy anti-ship weapons. Focused energy is popular due to the lack of logistical burden, pinpoint accuracy and effectiveness against lightly armoured targets, such as the typical pirate or civilian craft. The Orbital Guard prefers coilguns that launch metal slugs, but does not eschew energy weaponry entirely.

Anti-personnel

Anti-personnel weapons are those that have the express purpose of wounding or killing the crew of the target spacecraft. They are usually in the form of small missiles with warheads that contain fragmentation charges.
They are frowned upon as being needlessly brutal. Homefleet and Orbital Guard cutters can be equipped with them, but the actual use of these weapons is rare.

Standoff

Standoff weaponry, particularly missiles and guided torpedos, are less common on fast cutters. The limited internal space of a typical guard craft and the low likelihood of the system ever being useful causes most cost-conscious organizations' craft to opt out of carrying missiles.
The smallest cutter currently employed by the Orbital Guard, the Ornare-class corvette, carries four anti-ship missile tubes that can only be reloaded at port.

Other systems

In theory, a cutter can be equipped with any kind of system the owners fancy. Towing rigs, flexible pipes that allow safely embarking and disembarking from striken craft, firefighting equipment, expanded sensors, and expanded medical facilities are all common choices. Of course, space and mass come at steep premiums on fast cutters, and commissioners of these craft heavily weigh the advantages and costs of each additional system.

Missions

Fast cutters are tasked with port enforcement operations. They can escort spacecraft in or out of controlled space if needed, and help impose order in busy space through two methods: either a reminder that violence is an option or actively imposing violence on lawbreakers. Enforcement usually takes the form of boarding operations and arrests rather than live fire, but it is not unheard of.
Search and rescue (SAR) is also a key mission of fast cutters. Their light chassis, high powered engines and long endurance combine to be a perfect vehicle to get to stranded spacefarers and rescue them in a timely manner. Many fast cutters also boast a sensor suite that is more suitable for SAR, tuned towards picking out the faint but distinct signal of distress beacons from the background noise, and the training for boarding operations has cross-application to boarding-and-rescue as well.
Finally, fast cutters can be employed to maintain infrastructure related to safe spacefaring. Navigational buoys, observation drones, emergency caches, and deep-space SWAN relays managed by governments provide vital functions for life in space. As a capable and efficient long-range platform, fast cutters are usually tapped to place and service them.

---

See Also

Crystal Technology
Spacecraft Kallisti Aerospace ( Sunderer SF-1 · Sunbreaker SF-2 ) · Jupiter Stella ( Aerie O-1 · Cyklopes SSF-9 ) · Heretic GA-7 · Dragonfly Carrier · Airdocks Telepresence Interlace ( Super Wide Access Network ) · Remote Personality Cache/Display Other Bosonic Clock · Gateway Portals · Gravity Plates · Personal Computer Materials Astrallite · Aurorite · Oortite

Complement / Crew

20-100

Cargo & Passenger Capacity

Minimal