Defender

The Banu Defender is a small two-seat combat ship utilized by Banu to protect their precious cargo in their Merchantman. It features a strong shield but a weaker hull compared to ships of the same class. The Defender also features reverse-engineered Xi'an thruster technology.

Design
The Defender is, as the name implies, a defensive ship; it isn't designed to be aggressive, but to protect the pilot's interests. It boasts a very powerful shield, but its hull is relatively fragile.

The Defender utilizes the Banu's different style of piloting and co-piloting, where the co-pilot can control the main armament of the ship alongside the pilot in the the dual cockpit system of the Defender. If desired, the co-pilot could focus on engineering or other ship matters to free up the pilot's attention.

Development
The Defender was originally known as Banu Minuteman.