The Shadow of Israphel class fighter carrier is an experimental type of aircraft designed to bring the striking power of a fighter battalion to the front lines, areas which normally could not be reached by fighters due to their distance from static ground stations. It is designed to be capable of traveling long distances without refueling. It holds a complement of 40 Skeleton class fighters which shoot arrows from their forward launcher and 15 Creeper class bombers that drop TNT charges from their aft chamber. It has a crew of over 300, mostly fighter pilots. Although designed for long range it is also meant to be minimalistic due to the cost and maintenance requirements of its balloons thus it doesn't have much more amenities as other, smaller types of aircraft and occasionally needs time to restock food and water. Fortunately, given the abundance of edible animals this is only a minor downtime.
Although the fighter craft on the ship are well armed, the ship itself is equipped with only a few types of weaponry which are effective only in short range. Given the large size of the carrier and the massive balloons used to keep it afloat, landing the ship is no small feat and has required new methods and techniques be devised to get the ship up and down. The fighter carrier also introduces a new type of power reactor, one which uses the unique properties of lava to give a consistent flow of power. There are two reactor cores on the ship. One is always generating power for ship usage or charging the backup batteries. The other is either providing energy to the propulsion system, inflating/deflating balloons, or providing more power. In times of need both can be diverted to energy, to propulsion, or other needs.
Even the richest of nations would require billions of dollars of money to fund and operate these craft. Yet Yusaria, with the assistance of most nations of the Christus Kingdom, have agreed to construct one ship, the Shadow of Israphel and see how it operates. If found satisfactory there is enough support to construct two more with 20-year commissions: Xephos and Honeydew.
