Nyctimene

Nyctimene
A Nyctimene in flight
Role	Airborne early warning and control
National origin	Syara
Status	In active service
Primary user	Commonality Air Force Syaran Commonality Navy
Produced	2000-Present
Number built	15
Developed from	AFEWC-2 AF5000

The Nyctimene is a Syaran Airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft. Based on the Cacertian AFEWC-2 AF5000, the Nyctimene was first produced in 2000, with 15 produced overall and 12 in service.

The Nyctimene serves as an early warning as well as an airborne command and control center, directing both air, land, and sea forces through the use of a long range surveillance radar, with its antenna located in an over-fuselage rotodome. The detection rnage for air targets is 600 kilometers, 400 kilometers for surface ships, and 200 kilometers for ground targets. Targeting systems in conjunction with the Nyctimene's radar and can track up to 150 simultaneous contacts within 250 kilometers, and relay information to friendly air, ground, and sea assets. The 12 Nyctimene currently in service are jointly operated by both the Commonality Air Force and the Syaran Commonality Navy. During combat operations, the Nyctimene provide command and control to Syaran fighter regiments and Ceyx bombers for attacks against hostile naval forces.

The Nyctimene saw extensive service during the Zemplen War. Three Nyctimene were lost during the duration of the conflict; one (Callsign Watchtower) was shot down by a Ruvelkan AFASF-12 Drago during the Ruvelkan Winter Counter-Offensive. Another (callsign Sentinel) was downed by a Ruvelkan surface-to-air missile during Operation Polyandreion. The third (callsign Caretaker) crashed while attempting to land in January 2010; the radar was recovered while the aircraft was written off. Following the conflict three more were produced and upgrades were made to onboard communication systems and enhancements to target detection range and tracking data.