Peaceful exploration has been a core value of the Andromeda Initiative since its very inception, and in her eagerness to avoid repeating the mistakes of past colonization efforts, Jien Garson took significant measures to enshrine this philosophy into the Initiative’s operations. One of the most important was her insistence that the Initiative would remain functionally demilitarized and lack any warships that could impose its will upon existing indigenous populations in this new galaxy. The great arks that carried the Initiative to Heleus were left wholly unarmed, while proposals to purchase and refit several Edmonton-class cruisers with ODSY drives to serve as escorts across dark space were dismissed out of hand. Garson even went so far as to deny efforts to obtain capital ship-grade mass accelerators that could be carried in storage on the journey and installed onboard Initiative vessels should the situation demand it. Yet even she recognized that over a hundred thousand colonists could not venture out into the unknown without some means of defending themselves, and that the Initiative would have need for a fast, combat-capable craft to serve as escort and scout once they finally arrived. Considering these facts, and seeking to mollify more hawkish elements pushing for additional resources to be allocated to defense, Garson commissioned a new fighter to fulfill such a role.

The A/F-64 Naginata was the result. Designed primarily for long-range reconnaissance, air/space interdiction and escort for prospective Initiative convoys, the Naginata is an agile, capable space superiority fighter that takes significant design influences from the F-61 Trident’s SX-3 variant in mainstay service with the Systems Alliance Navy at the time of the Initiative’s departure. Sharing a similar spaceframe with the older vessel, including a lean forward-facing profile, narrow wings that jut out far in front of either side of the cockpit, two vectored-thrust engines at the rear and four ventral thrusters for VOTL operation, the Naginata boasts the redundant systems and advanced technologies that are the staple of Initiative designs. Of note is the cutting-edge sensor array that enables the fighter to detect other vessels even in conditions older systems might struggle with, such as mineral-rich asteroid fields or the background radiation of large gas giants. The Naginata’s impressive speed and manoeuvrability are further enhanced by refinements to its Element Zero drive core, providing greater power and a superior thrust-to-mass ratio than the Trident, while the cockpit’s placement closer to the fighter’s central axis of rotation minimizes the g-forces experienced by the pilot in sharp manoeuvres and reduces strain upon the inertial dampening system.

As with the Trident, the Naginata’s primary armament consists of a pair of forward-facing rapid-fire mass accelerator cannons effective at bringing down small enemy craft, one affixed on the bow of each wing. Unwilling or unable to obtain more sophisticated munitions like Javelin disruptor torpedoes, the Initiative instead employs the older but still reliable Quarrel guided missiles for use against hard targets. The fighter’s ventral hull mounts enough hardpoints to carry eight Quarrels at any one time, while each individual warhead can be reprogrammed for either air-to-air or air-to-ground duties by the Naginata’s fire control VI on the fly as the situation warrants, expanding its range of mission profiles to include direct assaults against enemy warships and close air support for APEX fireteams. Like most Milky Way fighter designs, survival for the Naginata depends on avoiding damage rather than enduring it. Though it does possess decent armour and shielding for its size, it cannot weather sustained fire, and must instead rely on its superior agility to stay intact.

The possibility of a full-scale conflict with a hostile alien species was always a worst-case scenario for Initiative planners, and the existential threat posed by the kett has sparked a heated debate about the need to militarize to survive in Heleus. Nevertheless, the Naginata has more than proven its value, easily outclassing more primitive craft like the kett’s Cicada-class fighters. During the Battle of Meridian, Naginata pilots reaped a significant cull of the clumsy kett vessels while experiencing only minor losses in return, with over a dozen achieving “ace in a day” status during the engagement. The main weakness of the design is its limited numbers. Only a few token squadrons were constructed and brought to Heleus onboard the Nexus and arks, and they are increasingly spread thin protecting Initiative operations across the length and breadth of the sector. This is further compounded by the unwillingness of the senior leadership to allocate additional resources to build replacement fighters and train new pilots. Nevertheless, the Angaran Resistance has displayed an interest to obtaining Naginatas for their own use, while early experiments integrating angaran technology with the design have shown promise, and may lead to even more capable iterations in the future.