Cobra Mk.3 (Oolite)

Cobra Mk.III
Size (W×H×L)	130m×30m×65m
Cargo capacity	20 TC
Cargo bay extension	15 TC
Maximum speed	0.35 LM
Manoeuvrability	Roll: 2.0 Pitch: 1.0
Energy banks	4
Energy recharge rate	Good (4.0)
Gun mounts	Fore, Aft Port, Starboard
Missile slots	4
Shield boosters available	Yes
Military shields available	Yes
Hyperspace capable	Yes
OXP or standard	Standard
Available to player	Yes
Base price	150000 Cr

Overview

The Cobra Mk.III first rolled off the production line at Cowell & MgRath's vast factory shipyard in Lave in 3100. The successor to the already successful Cobra Mk.I, it went on to be the mainstay of small trading operations. Priced competitively, the Cobra Mk.III continues the success of the Cobra series of ships. Cowell & MgRath later capitalised on the popularity of this ship by releasing a more expensive sister model Cobra Courier for their more demanding customers. Even later, they produced a very high-tech model, the SuperCobra, allowing Mk.III owners a familiar upgrade path, but also causing some worried talk at the GalCop headquarters...

Notable features

The Cobra Mk.III is one of those multi-role ships you see everywhere. There isn't a space station where you can't find half a dozen Cobras parked. It is a ship that is 'good enough' in every aspect - not universe shattering, merely good enough. This has made the ship poke into virtually every market segment apart from midget fighters and trading behemoths. Every class of spaceborne being has some Cobra Mk.IIIs in its number from pirates to traders to government officials.

Controversy

Paynou, Prossett and Salem, the original designers of the Cobra Mk.I, filed for bankruptcy following bad publicity after the failure of successive Cobra Mk.II prototypes. They were bought out by Cowell & MgRath, who redesigned the structural and internal layout from the ground up whilst retaining much of the external design features. The Cobra Mk.III is substantially a Mk.II hull with the internal structural engineering and design flaws corrected. When this became public knowledge, Cowell & Mgrath were accused of covering up the fact that the Mk.III was really just the Mk.II in all but name, and the Lave authorities investigated the company, threatening to revoke its ship manufacturing license. The investigators discovered no foul play and, more importantly, no evidence of any design issues with the new ship, and the company recovered from the bad publicity magnificently (as shown by the popularity of the Cobra Mk.III).

Pimp my Cobra

To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the release of the Cobra Mark III, Cowell MgRath in concert with What Spaceship? magazine engineered a competition. The competitors were given a standard Cobra Mark III and were allowed to freely modify its engines, interior space and design, exterior design and equipment. The response was so great and the standard of entries so high, that Cowell MgRath sold manufacturing rights of these 'pimped Cobras' to their modders to allow them to continue making their ships. This had a two-fold benefit for the financially-sparse company, first it increased the popularity of the Cobra Mk. III and second, the modders paid a fee to Cowell MgRath for each modified Cobra they sold.

A number of these Cobra variants are:

• The 'Chopped Cobra' by Aegidian Industries
• The Cobra III NjX by Seldar Shipyards
• The Teretrurus MK.I Purple Haze/Shieldtail by O.C.C.
• The 'Dark Wheel' Cobra Mk. III by Ramon Security Ltd.
• The Cobra AC (another Dark Wheel Cobra) by Dertien - part of his Noshader Z GrOovy extra ships package
• The Cobra Clipper SAR by Murgh Shipyards
• The Cobra Commodore by Far Arm Shipyards
• The Cobra Rapier by Wolfwood Interstellar Technologies

Custom paintjobs

• 

  Griff's Cobra Mk3

• 

  Classic Cobra Mk3

• 

  Classic Cobra Mk3 (Alternate)

• 

  Classic Cobra Mk3 Pirate

• 

  ADCK's Solid Gold Cobra Mk3

• 

  Deepspace Cobra Mk3

• 

  Neolite Cobra Mk3

• 

  Sung's Cobra Mk III

• 

  And now for something different: RXSoftware's Cobra

• 

  Iron Ass Cobra Mk.III

Jannah Berihn's Cobra blueprints

Jannah Berihn (rabidvixen on our wiki) produced these back before 2007. Given the date and their placement on an Elite/Frontier website, one presumes that the dimensions are those of the Cobra Mk.3 found in Classic Elite/Jane's Galactic Shipset.oxp (ie 130x20x65 measurements in feet, not in metres).

Lower deck plan with living quarters, upper deck plan with bridge, section.

• Jannah Berihn's diagrams of the Cobra (link)

Other blueprints

User:Selezen also produced a set of blueprints (now lost amongst the dust of the aeons), as did George Hooper (see link): George Hooper's diagram of the Cobra

See also

• Cobra Mark III (Rough Guide)
• Cobra disambiguation page for all Cobras in all versions of Elite
• SuperCobra the original 2006 übership

• Has anyone noticed how outsized the Cobra Mk3 is? (2008)

• Decal - how to change the decals on your ship.