A Death Glider is a two-man attack fighter vessel designed for combat in both space and atmosphere. They are the most prolific ship of the Goa'uld fleet.
Summary
A death glider in space.
The Death Glider is the primary fighter spacecraft used by the Goa'uld. They are capable of both atmospheric and space combat. They are primarily armed with two staff cannons and piloted by two Jaffa.
Death Gliders have been known to be used by the Goa'uld for a very long time, perhaps centuries or millennium. When the SGC went back in time to 2995 B.C., there were no death gliders seen, but Ra's personal ship was there, which did house death gliders on Abydos in 1994. (SG1: "Stargate", "Moebius")
Death gliders were often used by the Goa'uld when fighting a battle and expecting medium or heavy resistence on planets, such as where Tau'ri have been spotted. They are also launched from Ha'taks when rival ships do battle with each other in space.
Features
Death gliders are outfitted with broadcast speakers to allow the pilots to terrorize the populations beneath verbally, as well as with their weapons. They are outfitted with removable staff cannons, two to three times larger than standard staff weapons, and utilize the same form of energy, though with a much greater discharge. (SGA: "The Intruder", "Redemption")
A Death Glider's propulsion is achieved not through direct thrust, but, as Samantha Carter explained, "takes inertia out of the equation." There is also an antigravity system for hovering. There is no capability for faster than light travel. Gliders are capable of landing on smooth terrains, but are primarily designed to facilitate terror and obedience from those beneath. They are, however, more than suited to function as a fighter screen, and engaging in ship to ship combat with other fighters. (SG1: "Tangent")
There are sensors, specifically mentioned by Death Gliders of Anubis, but it is unknown of the exact devices. Communication among and between death gliders is through a small electronic device placed on the pilot or co-pilot's cheek. It acts as a radio between crafts. (SG1: "The Serpent's Lair", "Revelations")
A squadron of death gliders.
Since Teal'c's rebellion against the System Lords, a recall device was installed in Death Gliders. This recall device would bring a ship on a course at maximum sublight thrust to the home planet of the System Lord in question. Given a certain distance and that Death Gliders are dependant on a base of operations for support, this journey may take many centuries. This recall device activated onboard the X-301, which took it beyond Earth's solar system. A Death Glider is piloted by two Jaffa normally, one as a pilot, and the other as gunner. It has been shown to operate with only one, but presumably it's combat effectiveness is impaired. The controls of the Death Glider, for the pilot, is a large red sphere, similar to the central device on a DHD. Direct thoughts and spoken words seem to control the craft as long as the pilot touches this device. (SG1: "Into the Fire")
O'Neill vs. a death glider.
The weaponry of a death glider is a pair of staff cannons, a more powerful version of a staff weapon, but using the same basic technology. They can be removed and used as infantry weaponry, however they are particularly bulky. The cannons are situated perhaps four meters apart on the craft, and only fire in a straight line. Because of this, Death Gliders are ill-suited for anything other than strafing runs on targets. (SG1: "The Fifth Man")
Although not intended as part of its design, the death glider has been successfully flown under water. (SG1: "Descent")
Variants
udajeet
- Main article: udajeet
The udajeet was an open cockpit death glider which was used by Ra on Abydos to quell the uprising incited by the Tau'ri. (Stargate: "Movie")
Needle Threader
- Main article: Needle Threader
A Needle Threader is a specialized death glider constructed by the Goa'uld that can travel through the Stargate in a similar maner to Ancient puddle jumpers but unlike them provides no automatic navigation through stargates, and was discontinued after it proved too difficult to master.
Ring Transportation Death Glider
- Main article: Transport Glider
This variant was seen in Apophis' forces. It was more massive than the standard death glider, and it's only known design feature was that it possessed its own set of ring transporters. It is also shown to be capable of carrying several people (Klorel and several other Goa'uld). (SG1: "Children of the Gods")
Movie canon
In the novelization of the film by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, the vehicles are called udajeets. In the film itself, they are equipped with open cockpits and can only be used within an atmosphere.
References and notes
See also
External links
- GateWorld's article on Death glider in The Stargate Omnipedia
- Death glider on Wikipedia
Template:Stub
| Attack ships | Al'kesh · Anubis' mothership · Apophis' mothership · Cheops class warship · Death Glider · Ha'tak · Needle Threader |
| Transport ships | Archaic Tel'tak · Tel'tak · Transport Glider · Troopship |