Bengal

The Bengal is a fleet carrier spacecraft manufactured by Roberts Space Industries (RSI) for the United Empire of Earth Navy (UEEN). Bengal-class carriers carry multiple squadrons of fighters, bombers and support craft, and typically form the nucleus of a UEEN battle fleet or task force group. Their massive armaments and extremely heavy shielding make it nearly impossible for any individual craft to threaten them. It is 990 meters in length.

Features
Carrier: This naval supercarrier transports and maintains an entire fleet of battle-ready fighters, including squadrons of Anvil F7A Hornets, F8A Lightnings, and Gladiators. Alongside the fighters are dedicated divisions of bombers, dropships, and utility craft for specialist missions and support.

Flying Fortress: Onboard, the Bengal supports a maximum crew of 476, with habitation for all. The crew is protected by a wealth of ballistic, laser, and missile turrets, including a main turret with a Behring ‘Ship Buster’ railgun for engaging enemy carriers and king ships.

Ship profile
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Development
The initial concept of Bengal is designed by Ryan Church (Freelance Conceptist) in 2013, and then handed off to a crew of artists (including Sergio Rosas) at CGBot. Throughout the coming years, it was only ever displayed in certain promotion videos or development updates. In one particular case, an episode of Around The Verse was used to display development progress on the ship, showing several interior shots such as ship hangars and flight decks. Throughout time, it has been worked on mostly behind the scenes. The ship was featured in several Squadron 42 teasers or trailers, confirming that it would need to be developed for an appearance in that game.

Design brief
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 * 1 x Behring Turret with 4 x 130m “Ship Buster” Railguns
 * 18 x ASD Ship to Ship Turrets with dual Ion cannons
 * 40 x MaxOx AA Turrets with dual Heavy Duty Laser Cannons
 * 16 x K&W Rolling Space Frame (with 21 missiles each)
 * 4 x Talon ‘Sweeper’ Mine Dispensers (aft) (Ammunition Types: HE, EMP, Web, Nuclear, Anti-Matter)
 * 14 x Phalanx point defense Laser Gatling
 * 36.4” Icarus Armor Plating
 * 14 x Phoenix-class Shield Generators
 * 6 x HT-2000 Burst Shield Generators (back-up non-sustainable shields) (2 fore, 2 mid, 2 aft)

Trivia

 * Traditionally, Bengal-class carriers are named after big cats.
 * Bengal is the first capital ship shown in Star Citizen back in the original Kickstarter campaign.
 * Seven artists are on board for its construction and development since the time of R&D.
 * An Idris can be fit in the hangar of the Bengal practically, but can't fly it in.
 * The main turret of the Bengal is slightly smaller than the Idris.
 * The interior is around three or four times the size of a Battlefield 4 map.
 * The Bengal was teased on May 1, 2021 on the Star Citizen Twitter with an image of a Bengal cat inside a backpack carrier. The ship then appeared during the 2951 Invictus Launch Week as part of the UEE navy fleet flying around the Stanton system.
 * In internal playtesting, players got frustrated traversing the ship. Elevators and a subdeck monorail were added as a solution. It runs from one side of the flight deck to the other. It can be used to transport cargo and personnel.
 * The Bengal carrier is sometimes nicknamed as the Bagel carrier by the community.