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303 program

 

Background Info

The X-301 was a fighter reverse-engineered from captured Goa'uld death gliders. Apophis had booby-trapped the gliders, though, and the prototype X-301 was lost in space during a test flight.

The X-302 (later the F-302) was the second generation of spaceflight-capable fighter planes, built entirely on with Earth technology.

The X-303 (later the BC-303) was the spaceflight-capable battle cruiser designed to carry the 302s into battle.

The prototype was the Prometheus. As of early eighth season, it remains the only active BC-303.

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301

X-301 Interceptor

Combination of death glider and jet fighter. (Tangent)

Designed as a platform from which to launch an attack on invading Goa'uld vessels. Equipped with stealth capability, and armed with two Aim 128A air-to-air missiles, each loaded with a naquadah-enhanced warhead and a shield modulator, which would in theory allow the missiles to break through a Goa'uld force shield. The detonation would be enormous. (Tangent)

Following testing, the ship was to be assigned to orbital defense under the command of the SGC. Unfortunately, the death gliders were programmed by Apophis to return to Chulak. The pilot would inevitably die en route. Jack and Teal'c nearly died in space as a result, but were rescued just in time. (Tangent)

Unknown if the plane was rescued as well, or if it's still floating in space. Also unknown if more are being built. (Tangent)

Later episodes made it clear that instead, the program shifted its attention to the next generation, the X-302.

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302

X-302

Unlike the X-301, the X-302 was entirely human-built, although many of its systems were reverse-engineered from Goa'uld tech. It has four different sets of engines: air-breathing jets, modified aerospikes for high altitude, a rocket booster, and a hyperspace window generator. (Redemption, part 1)

Engines were designed for a craft with an inertial dampening system that effectively reduced its overall mass. (Redemption, part 2)

Potentially the first human-built spacecraft capable of interstellar travel. It went on its first test flight weeks too early, in an attempt to contact the Asgard to get help fending off Anubis's attack. The hyperspace generator failed to work properly, generating an unstable window. (Redemption, part 1)

605-3 error:

If the X-302 can't get a lock on its destination once the hyperspace window is opened, it auto-aborts. Built-in safety procedure. (Redemption, part 1)

Apparently remained in production after the prototype was destroyed. (Disclosure)

In the meeting with the ambassadors to disclose the SGC's program and progress, while explaining the X-302, Major Davis confirmed that " the United States Air Force is currently flying a fighter-interceptor that is capable of both aerial combat and space flight." (Disclosure)

As of at least the beginning of seventh season, was apparently in production as a working fighter plane, and had been renamed the F-302, even though the hyperspace generator was still fairly unreliable. (Fallen)

A short, controlled burst of the hyperspace generator can get the F-302 within a Goa'uld ship's shields (or at least within Anubis's flagship's shields). (Fallen)

F-302

Formerly the X-302 -- became an active fighter (rather than experimental) as of at least Homecoming.

" A space-worthy fighter-interceptor aircraft reverse-engineered from Goa'uld technology." (Fragile Balance)

Colson Aviation, working with Sam (at least -- unknown if there were more SGC personnel involved with the company), helped develop the multi-engine control  (MEC)  systems for the F-302. That's what allows it to leave the atmosphere and return. (Covenant)

The BC-303 carries a complement of eight F-302s (possibly more). (Fragile Balance)

The first crop of pilots being trained for it consisted of 10 men and 2 women, known as the 1st SFW, aka the Snakeskinners. See 1st SFW for composition and mission details. (Fragile Balance)

Jack had flown the F-302 more than anyone else as of Fragile Balance (he was effectively the only first-seat test pilot during the X-302 phase, and was the first-seat pilot on the F-302's first mission, against Anubis). (Fragile Balance)

Supplied with inertial dampening systems, to reduce the effects of G-forces. (Fragile Balance)

They only compensate 90% when pulling negative Gs. (Fragile Balance)

According to Colson  when he briefly had the stick, " She maneuvers like an FA-22, but feels like a 747" -- because of the inertial dampeners. (Covenant)

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303

X-303

Successor to the X-302.

No idea at first what it was like, other than that it was at least on the drawing board while the X-302 was being produced. Possibly very similar to the X-302, but with a more stable hyperspace-window generator. (Redemption, part 2)

Codename for the project is Prometheus. (Prometheus)

The ship is huge, far larger than the two-man X-301 or X-302, and is big enough to hold multiple landing/docking bays that easily fit death gliders. It looks like a cross between a Navy destroyer and an Asgard ship. (Prometheus)

Pretty much has to have been in the works since before Jonas appeared with the naquadria  -- it's just too big and complex to have been conceived, designed, and constructed in less than a year. (nb: This is purely opinion, not canonical fact.) (Prometheus)

It was being built in the Nevada desert, in a facility hidden several hundred feet under a simple shed (painted in a red and white checkerboard pattern, for some unfathomable reason) surrounded by a chain-link fence -- supposedly the most secure facility on the planet (until it was breached by a camera crew...). (Prometheus)

Part of the protection was its location: on grounds labeled a weapons testing area, with signs promising criminal prosecution to any unauthorized person found within the area's boundaries. (Prometheus)

Before it was finished, it was hijacked by a rogue NID team in deep cover as a camera crew for Julia Donovan, who were working for Colonel Simmons and the Goa'uld inside Adrian Conrad. SG-1 got it back. (Prometheus)

Radar was still incomplete when it was stolen, making it possible to fly through the lower bay without being detected. (Prometheus)

The first ship was finally officially designated Prometheus, and is the first of several X-303s planned. (Memento)

The X-303 is becoming the BC-303 (battle cruiser) as it goes into production. (Enemy Mine)

Physical structure:

Approximately 10 times the size of an al-kesh. (Grace)

Hull and walls/decks are made of trinium alloy. (Prometheus)

Has at least eight decks -- Carter was locked in a storage room (CC4-107) on deck seven, with the sublight control relay above her on deck eight. (Prometheus)

Amended: At least 17 decks -- when Sam was in the elevator going down, she made it to level/floor/deck 17. The bank of buttons in the elevator suggests as many as 27 decks, possibly more (there are 27 visible buttons, with a few visibly marked with floor numbers, starting with 1). (Grace)

Has at least six missile bays, possibly more. (Grace)

Engines and structural integrity fields were modified by the Asgard to their full potential, so the X-303 could be put to use helping the Asgard. (Unnatural Selection)

It was designed to carry a complement of eight X-302 fighters, and is one of several planned. (Disclosure)

Contains a set of transport rings, activated by what appears to be a Goa'uld control panel (a gold-orange panel sitting on the standard battleship-grey walls, and with buttons the same general size as Goa'uld buttons, and that make the same sound Goa'uld buttons do when pushed). The rings function exactly as they do on Goa'uld ships, with an inset in the floor retracting so the rings can pop up, then sliding back out to make the floor solid again after the rings transport people and then return to their storage place below the floor. (Memento)

Includes a brig. (Prometheus Unbound)

On the Prometheus, this is room 5, on EV8.339 -- I have no idea what the latter means, but is presumably a deck-numbering system). (Prometheus Unbound)

Hyperdrive:

Research and development on the hyperdrive alone ran more than $2 billion. (Disclosure)

The hyperdrive is based on naquadria technology, and has problems with stability. (Memento)

If the hyperdrive generator is activated on the ground, with its energy not channeled into creating a hyperspace window, it will explode with huge force -- enough to turn Nevada into a smoking crater. (Prometheus)

The hyperdrive shuts down automatically if the computer detects some instability in the naquadria powering the engines. (Memento)

The hyperdrive is fitted with a buffer (like a surge protector), designed to modulate extreme fluctuations in the energy coming from the naquadria. Without the buffer, there's no way to control the naquadria energy, or to predict how far the ship will travel. There's also no way to be sure the naquadria reactor doesn't go critical. (Memento)

There are no redundancies built into the buffer system -- if it blows, there's no way to repair it without returning to Earth and replacing it (or contacting Earth, and repairing it with a crew sent through the stargate). (Memento)

During the ship's shakedown cruise, it passed through intense gravity waves while in hyperspace, and the buffer failed. (Memento)

An attempt to use the hyperdrive without the buffer for a few brief moments was enough to cause the reactor to go critical it had to be jettisoned. (Memento)

Shields and weapons:

The Asgard sent Thor to Earth (or he came on his own), after SG-1 saved them from the Replicators again, to install new Asgard-designed shields and weapons on the X-303, as a sign of gratitude. (Disclosure)

The ship has at least four missile bays. (Memento)

Flight capabilities:

Capable of achieving orbit in under 30 seconds, but inertial dampeners and artificial gravity would keep the g-forces in check. Using sublight engines, the ship can reach 110,000 miles per second. (Prometheus)

Traveling with sublight engines, not using the hyperdrive, the Prometheus could travel 0.38 lightyears in about four months (so, obviously, about 0.1 lightyear in a month) (Memento)

BC-303

The X-303 is becoming the BC-303 (battle cruiser) as it goes into production. (Enemy Mine)

The first BC-303 in action was the Prometheus -- this was the original X-303 prototype.

The second BC-303 built was the Daedalus, which was a generation ahead of the Prometheus thanks to being able to integrate the alien (Asgard) technology that had been simply tacked on to the Prometheus. (Moebius part 1)

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Daedalus

The Daedalus is the prototype of the second generation of BC-303s.

General info

The prototype of the next generation of BC-303s. Where the Prometheus had alien tech tacked on to the existing technology, the Daedalus had the more advanced alien (Asgard) tech incorporated into its design, making it more efficient. (Moebius part 1)

Shortly after the Replicators in the Milky Way were destroyed and Anubis was taken out of the picture by Oma, the Daedalus was in the final stages of testing. (Moebius part 1)

 

Prometheus

The Prometheus was the prototype X-303, and is first of the BC-303s.

General info

As soon as the Asgard hyperdrive engines were tested and found to be working properly, the Prometheus was fitted out for a trip to the Pegasus galaxy to check on the Atlantis expedition. (Gemini)

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Equipment

Transporter rings

Located on level four, in the " ring room" . (Prometheus Unbound)

Weapons, including P-90s in an armory. (Prometheus Unbound)

Booster thingie to turn a P-90 into a kull-warrior-killer. (Prometheus Unbound)

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Alien modifications

The Asgard sent Thor to Earth (or he came on his own), after SG-1 saved them from the Replicators again, to install new Asgard-designed shields and weapons on the X-303, as a sign of gratitude. (Disclosure)

The Asgard, as a present, added a hyperdrive (presumably more efficient and stable than the existing one) and even beam technology. (Endgame)

The Prometheus was in the hangar for a little while after that as the engineers/mechanical crew made adjustments to the new engines. (Endgame)

The beam technology wasn't tied to Asgard sensors, however -- they never put any of their sensors on the ship. (Endgame)

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Crew

SGC personnel, complete with SGC and team patches (no ID on the team designation yet), and with rank insignia, unlike the usual SG field units. They also wear US Space Command patches and patches showing their primary badge (pilot, etc.) and name. (Memento)

Exact crew size is unknown.

At least three people were stationed on the bridge during the shakedown cruise:

Colonel Ronson, in command (Memento)

Major Gant-- hyperspace officer, maybe? -- also responds to a call for weapons to be armed. (Memento)

Unnamed crewmember (Peter something, wearing a senior-pilot badge): Ronson calls him the weapons officer, and the credits list him as navigator (Memento)

Two (unnamed) others seen working in the background as well. (Memento)

Crewmembers were also walking around the ship.

Commanded by Colonel William Ronson for the shakedown cruise and the return from shakedown (months later, after the ship had been repaired). (Memento, Grace)

Commanded by General George Hammond during the battle over Antarctica. (Lost City, part 2)

Commanded by Colonel Lionel Pendergast after the battle over Antarctica. (New Order, Endgame)

Commanded by Hammond again briefly, on the aborted mission to the Pegasus galaxy. (Prometheus Unbound)

Commanded by Pendergast again during the search for the Trust al-kesh and the foiling of the Goa'uld plans to start a nuclear war on Earth. (Full Alert)

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Shakedown cruise

SG-1 was aboard in case of emergencies, at the request of generals Greer and Hammond. (Memento)

Commanded by Colonel William Ronson. (Memento)

The hyperdrive buffer failed while the Prometheus was passing through intense gravity waves while in hyperspace -- the computer shut down the hyperdrive and dropped the ship back into normal space. (Memento)

An attempt to use the hyperdrive very briefly without the buffer, to reach a nearby world that was believed to have a (possibly buried) stargate resulted in the naquadria reactor going critical, and being jettisoned. (Memento)

The EM shockwave of the exploded reactor penetrated the ship's shields, knocking out the primary computer systems, leaving only gravity and life support on most decks. (Memento)

The shockwave headed the other direction convinced the people on the planet that they'd been attacked, and they returned the gesture with missiles. (Memento)

The Prometheus was forced to land on the moderately hostile world in hopes of finding the stargate.  After a brief to-do, they did. (Memento)

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Return from being stranded during shakedown

The ship carried enough food and water for one person to survive for several months, or even longer with strict rationing. At a total guess, then, the crew probably didn't number more than 30 or so (assuming that Sam's " several months" means 3-6 months, which would be 3-6 days of food for a crew of 30 -- sufficient for the trip with a safety margin built in). (Grace)

There were definitely at least 15 crew members -- that's how many were visibly beamed back in off the alien ship at the end. (Grace)

With the hyperdrive engine still non-functional, the repair crew replaced it with the hyperdrive from an al-kesh (a ship approximately 1/10 the size of the Prometheus) to allow it to make short hyperspace hops all the way home. When the engines began to overheat during each hop, the ship would be dropped out of hyperspace until they returned to normal levels (at least two hours) and a new hop could be started. The only hop length given is 49 light years, which from Sam's reaction was somewhere between average and good, under the circumstances. (Grace)

Col. Ronson replied that " only five more of these pitstops and we're home" , suggesting roughly 250 or so light years to Earth. It seems likely that this was the first hop, but that was never made explicit. (Grace)

Sam, aboard for the return trip, requested a side trip to a small gas cloud, similar to but not exactly like a nebula, during one of the engine's cooldown periods (possibly the very first one). (Grace)

While the ship was traveling there on sublight engines, it was attacked by a very large, unknown alien vessel. The aliens made no attempt to communicate, instead giving chase and attacking, quickly sapping the shields' strength (even after their having been boosted by the Asgard in Unnatural Selection). (Grace)

Missiles sent against the alien ship did no good -- they were destroyed before they could reach their target. (Grace)

When the shields had dropped below 15%, Sam suggested fleeing into the gas cloud using a short hyperspace burst, in hopes the cloud would stymie the alien ship's sensors. (Grace)

While the alien ship continued to hammer the Prometheus, pushing shields down below 10% and causing shipwide damage, Sam went to override the hyperdrive safety features. She was knocked out, and when she came to, the entire crew was gone, apparently in escape pods, and the ship was sitting in the gas cloud. She had to figure out how to get free, with a fairly serious head injury that caused hallucinations. (Grace)

The gas cloud turned out to likely be made of denser materials than most nebulae or gas giants, which prevented the hyperspace emitter from transferring power at an even rate -- making it impossible for a hyperspace window to form and hold steady, trapping the Prometheus within the cloud. (Grace)

The outer hull began giving way, starting to be breached in several places by the cloud's corrosive gases. The ship had about 8 hours before the inner hull was breached. Sam sealed off the affected sections, but it was only a stopgap measure. (Grace)

Sam tried venting several decks' worth of atmosphere to provide enough thrust to move the ship. The ship had started to move, but she had to stop when she saw/hallucinated a little girl in danger of being vented right along with it. (Grace)

With the inner hull in imminent danger of being breached, Sam's hallucinatory (possibly) conversation with Grace, who was blowing soap bubbles, gave her an idea. She decided to dial down the power to the hyperdrive emitter, enough to create a partial shift into hyperspace, making a sort of bubble, taking the ship slightly out of the gas cloud's space/time, enough to negate the cloud's effects on the ship's sublight engines so she could start them up and move the ship. It worked. (Grace)

Sam headed the ship toward the alien ship, which for the first time was seen to be also trapped in the gas cloud, to rescue the rest of the crew (whom she had no particular reason to believe were on the alien ship). She told the alien ship that if it gave up the entire Prometheus crew (no explanation on why she'd gone from assuming the crew had made it safely out earlier in the ep to why she now assumed they'd been captured), she'd help the aliens get out. The aliens returned the crew as requested (no explanation whatsoever of what they were doing on the alien ship, either of how they got there or of how they were treated), and both ships escaped. The aliens flew off, still with no explanations of any sort, and the Prometheus headed for home. (Grace)

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Under Hammond's command

First command

Launched during Anubis's all-out attack on Earth to buy SG-1 some time to complete its mission. Hammond was in command, with Sergeant Davis along as well, and the usual Prometheus crew, barring Ronson (no sign of him). (Lost City, part 2)

The Prometheus took up position directly above SG-1's scout ship while the F-302s fought one on one with Anubis's ships. (Lost City, part 2)

Its fleet of F-302s made a good showing, holding off Anubis's gliders and al-kesh long enough to buy SG-1 the time they needed. (Lost City, part 2)

When the surviving 302s had expended their ordnance, Hammond ordered them to divert to McMurdo Prometheus couldn't take them back aboard in the middle of the battle. (Lost City, part 2)

The ship took damage to the hull during the battle, and its shields were weakened. Hammond refused to break off to recharge the shields, holding position over the scout ship to continue protecting SG-1. (Lost City, part 2)

When the scout ship cleared away from the hole in the ice (with SG-1 safely underground), Hammond broke off and headed directly for Anubis's mothership, despite having just taken a hit from Anubis that caused Prometheus's shields to begin to fail. It continued to take hits from the flagship, but didn't change course. (Lost City, part 2)

The shields failed under the barrage, and all weapons were expended before they reached Anubis's ship the next hit would take them out. Hammond kept them on course, saying that if they went, they were taking Anubis's ship with them. (Lost City, part 2)

When they were close to collision, the stream of gold energy weapons swept past them and began attacking the Goa'uld fleet. Hammond broke off, and they watched the fleet get destroyed in front of their eyes. (Lost City, part 2)

Second command

Hammond took the Prometheus out again, with a crew that included Daniel and Walter (both hand-picked for the mission), to journey to the Pegasus galaxy with the help of the new Asgard hyperdrive to check on the Atlantis mission and offer aid if necessary. (Prometheus Unbound)

While they were still in the Milky Way, they intercepted a distress call and went to investigate. (Prometheus Unbound)

While SG-3 was checking out the al-kesh that was the source of the distress call, an apparent kull warrior invaded the Prometheus and began taking over the ship. Everyone aboard with the exception of Daniel Jackson (who had started skulking about as soon as he spotted the " kull" warrior) was captured and ringed over to the al-kesh. (Prometheus Unbound)

Vala(who had been disguised as the kull warrior) took the Prometheus and headed it toward a meeting she already had set up. Daniel (the only one of the original mission still aboard) wrested control back eventually, but to little avail -- they'd been followed to the planet, and he was attacked by death gliders minutes after landing and walking out onto the surface. (Prometheus Unbound)

The ship took some major hull damage in the firefight, and was unable to complete the mission to Atlantis even after Hammond regained command. It returned home. (Prometheus Unbound)

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Under Colonel Lionel Pendergast's command

Commanded by Colonel Lionel Pendergast, USAF, at least as of after the battle with Anubis's forces over Antarctica. (New Order)

He had the job of holding in space, waiting for the attack by the Goa'uld. When a ship about the right size appeared, he identified himself and his ship, and said that failure to reply would be considered an act of aggression and that the Prometheus would respond with the full force of its weapons. He (and the rest of the bridge crew) was relieved to find out the approaching ship was Teal'c and Thor aboard the Daniel Jackson. (New Order)

With only sublight engines (because its new Asgard-provided hyperdrive engines were being adjusted), the Prometheus was sent out to look for a Trust cell that had taken control of Osiris's cloaked al kesh, left in orbit when she was captured. (Endgame)

Pendergast called Jack when the al kesh's cloak dropped as planned, but added that Daniel had neither disabled the hyperdrive as he was supposed to, nor contacted Pendergast. He wanted permission to fire immediately, before the Trust agents realized the Prometheus was there and attempted to escape using the hyperdrive (which they were bound to succeed in, since the Prometheus was restricted to sublight). He wasn't particularly happy that Jack told him to give Daniel more time. (Endgame)

When the al kesh began firing up its hyperdrive engines, clearly intending to take off, Pendergast contacted Jack again, once again asking permission to fire. He couldn't guarantee that he could disable the ship without destroying it, though, and Jack again told him to hold off. (Endgame)

Pendergast was highly relieved when one of his people noticed that a locator beacon had started up, and had the transporter beam activated in that spot. He was surprised to hear that Teal'c had been beamed over to the Prometheus along with Sam, Daniel, and the stargate, but was very pleased (as was the rest of the bridge crew) that they were all alive and well, and called Jack to report their condition. He made no mention of the al kesh escaping -- presumably at that point the Prometheus was a rescue ship, not an attack ship, and rescuing a team in danger took absolute priority. (Endgame)

Pendergast was temporarily removed from command of the Prometheus when Hammond took the ship and crew for the mission to the Pegasus galaxy. (Prometheus Unbound)

Immediately thereafter, he was back in command. He took the Prometheus out into local space to look for the cloaked al-kesh being used by the Trust, who turned out to have been infested by Goa'uld. (Full Alert)

When Daniel beamed aboard with the Goa'ulded Kinsey and Kinsey replied to their questions with " you have to send me back, idiots, you just made yourselves look worse" (paraphrased, but the gist is there), Pendergast realized that the only reason the Goa'uld would want to return to a primary target in a nuclear war he was engineering was if he had his own way out -- an inside contact. Pendergast sent him to the brig, but Kinsey escaped in the confusion of an al-kesh attack, transporting off the ship. (Full Alert)

When the al-kesh carrying the Goa'ulded Trust agents decloaked and started firing, Pendergast started returning fire as soon as he realized what was happening. The Prometheus destroyed the al-kesh, probably with Kinsey still aboard. (Full Alert)

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