Can anyone ID this ship?

[Wraith_3]

I was looking at an old issue of Cinescape from 1997/98 and I came across this picture (an episode with Lorien, forget the title) and I don't recognize the two fighters indicated with black arrows. At first I thought they were Thunderbolts seen from an odd angle, but they appear to have two long trailing tails. Any ideas?

New item by Jason Daily

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[Looney]

Might be similar to the ones we saw in the GROPOS battle footage.

 

[Wraith_3]

Might be similar to the ones we saw in the GROPOS battle footage.

I think you're right! I looked it up and it looks like a possible match. It also says it can operate in space.

 

[Springer]

Yes, they're the gunships seen in GROPOS, and that's the attack fleet coming to take over B5 in Severed Dreams. Like the Hyperion cruisers those gunships disappeared in the battle!

 

[Looney]

You know the weirdest part of this entire interaction is I somehow instantly knew the silouette. I surprised myself.

 

[Kyehlar]

Still looks like a Thunderbolt to me. The fact that the airfoils are out may just be a CGI mistake.

SA-32A Mitchell-Hyundyne Starfury

Starfury has other uses. Please see Starfury (disambiguation) for other meanings. The SA-32A Mitchell-Hyundyne Starfury "Thunderbolt", or Starfury Mk3 is an Earthforce aerospace superiority fighter craft manufactured by Mitchell-Hyundyne. The Thunderbolt was first deployed in 2260, the same year...

babylon5.fandom.com

 

[Looney]

I don't think so. Look upper right. That one definitely looks like the ship in GROPOS.

 

[Kyehlar]

Boy do I feel like an idiot. I just now saw the arrows... *facepalm*
Yeah... they're the EarthForce Gunships...

Earthforce Gunship

The Earthforce Gunship was a medium to heavy assault craft used by Earthforce that has seen action in both Operation Sudden Death and the Battle For B5 Independence. A small and nimble attack craft, the Gunship, while capable of operating in space it is best suited to manoeuvring within a...

babylon5.fandom.com

 

[Wraith_3]

You know the weirdest part of this entire interaction is I somehow instantly knew the silouette. I surprised myself.

That's why I was confused because I know all the fighters that were on the show, so I couldn't figure out what it was.

 

[Marsden]

Right, don't forget, they were supposed to walk right in and take over, they wanted the extra troops, but their plan didn't work like they wanted, eh?

I wonder if the defending fighters got them before they got close, they don't seem like a space superiority type vessel, I mean it's vulnerable unless well protected.

 

[Springer]

I've just re-watched the battle again on my iTunes version of the episode, looking for the gunships in the background of the battle. We see them exit the jump gate, and on approach to B5 on the left of the screen, possibly flanking the breaching pod. I don't think we see them again in the battle (it's really hard to tell as ships are moving so fast they are blurred) except for a possible sighting near the end when the Alexander is closing in on the final enemy Omega class destroyer and something that looks like it might be a ship with two engines flies past at the top right. Or it could just be weapons fire.

I wonder if the gunships were there to defend the breaching pod while it approached and attached to the station, after all it would have been pretty vulnerable. In the shot of the breaching pod attaching to the hull, we do see two ships fly past but I think they are star furies.

Maybe the Blu-ray will have a crisper view of the battle, I'll pay more attention to it when I get to that episode.