The Smuggler is well named, and often used for moving illicit cargo or breaking blockades. Surprisingly fast for her ship class the Smuggler is also well armed. Three Ripper guns allow her to quickly dispatch fighter patrols that may try and stop her, and ion cannons and short burst quad auto cannons make short work of escorts. Long range sensors allow her to pick her battles, and the Smuggler is likely to rely on her speed to outrun and avoid larger capital ships.
Smugglers are found in fair numbers in pirate fleets. The Smuggler is a versatile escort that can pose a threat to fighter squadrons or single escorts. Smugglers don't normally hold up well against capital ships, but they are fast with a good evasion ability for their ship class.
Lore:
The original origin of the Smuggler design is unknown, however the current version is produced by half a dozen different manufacturers on the Core Worlds. The Smuggler is an odd mix between combat craft and civilian vessel. While it won't win a gunfight with a military ship, or move as much cargo as a dedicated hauler, there is apparently a large market for pilots that would like to do a little of both.
The foundation of the Smuggler is built around its engine system and cargo space. Unlike other ships of a similar size the Smuggler is built to handle with extreme weight for her size, expecting large amounts of cargo to be stashed within. Because of this designers gave up on focusing on straight up speed. Instead, the decision was made to focus on agility, allowing the ship to avoid incoming fire while looking for a good place to hide or to make it to a nav beacon to jump out of a system.
The rear fuselage has a semi circular design, allowing the craft to make quick lateral movements at a moments notice. The weakness of the design is that the full engine power can never be focused in a single direction. This does give a fully loaded Smuggler which is overdriving its engines the agility of a fighter craft, making them exceptionally hard to hit and able to maneuver through very small spaces. A smuggler can still outrun a larger capital ships that might carry boarding marines.
The lack of incredible speed and only a modest shield system meant that the design needed to account for the many smaller and faster fighter craft and escort the Smuggler might encounter. The weapons systems needed to be designed to take out smaller escorts and fighters quickly, as these are the craft that could give it the most trouble if it tried to run. The main armament of the Smuggler is a trio of Ripper Cannons. Ripper technology is not as sophisticated as lasers, but it excels at dealing high amounts of accurate damage at very close range. Almost useless against capital ships, the Ripper Cannons can make quick work of enemy fighters.
The Ripper Cannons are backed up by a Quad Light Autocannon Turret. Light Autocannons specialize at taking out smaller escort craft, and do give the Smuggler at least one weapon option to hurt larger prey. Autocannon turrets are often unreliable and subject to jamming, so often can only be used in short bursts. Still, the sudden amount of focused firepower can often surprise and disable an enemy escort. With sparse and judicious use of the autocannon turrets a Smuggler can stretch its limited ammo capacity for some time without needing to resupply.
The final weapon system on a Smuggler is a pair of Ion Guns. Ion technology drains shields and can disrupt engine systems. This weapon is often used offensively, to drop the shields of a civilian ship before boarding it. It can really excel, however, in the primary role of taking out smaller craft, as it can not only quickly drain the feeble shield output of smaller ships, but it also disrupts their computers and engines reducing their ability to dodge, making the other two weapon systems even more effective.
While only effective at short range and for short engagements, the overall weapon loadout of the Smuggler works perfectly for most pilots. It deals high burst damage against smaller targets that can't be outrun. The weapons are not designed for fighting against larger ships, but against larger enemies the Smuggler's speed and agility let it escape from most encounters.
Finally, the Smuggler packs one final trick up her proverbial sleeve. Most Smugglers come equipped with a small supply of sensor drone probes. Along with superior radar technology that already gives the Smuggler a larger detection range than most ships, the sensor drones allow a Smuggler to get a really clear picture of their surroundings. Whether used as sentry drones to cover a flank, or used offensively to spy on shipping lanes, the Smuggler with its sensor probes will typically give its crew a great deal of information of what threats they are facing, letting them plan the best mode of attack or escape.
All this does not come without some cost, however. The Smuggler is notorious for the amount of fuel it consumes, and this is made even worse when it is hauling cargo. Pilots find that they often are forced to return to a station or trading hub to store up on ammunition and fuel in between cargo runs. Also, because of the large engine drive train and ample cargo space, most Smugglers run on a very small crew. This has the effect of reducing the overall survivability of the ship as in a tough firefight critical personnel might become injured.
Overall, despite its downsides and hybrid nature, the Smuggler has endured as a smaller civilian hauler, a scout, and an anti-fighter specialist. There is no doubt that there will continue to be high demand for this ship across the galaxy.
Variation:
Where there is access to a sophisticated civilian docking yard, you will find as many variations of the Smuggler as there are pilots and weapon systems to go with them. The Smuggler is a highly customizable craft. The only pieces of the design that are difficult to remove or modify is the unique engine system and the central shield coil.
On the Core Worlds, therefore, it is fair to say that probably no two Smugglers a pilot encounters will be quite the same. Out on the fringes of space, like the Frontier, where there is little access to advanced weaponry or shipyards, the majority of the Smugglers found will meet the "stock" design parameters.
Steel Shadows:
The Smuggler is one of the first units available to purchase. The Smuggler has three equipment slots and two crew slots allowing you to make further small customizations to fit your playstyle.