Researched and designed by the European Empire to combat increasingly destructive raids against their convoys, the Rapier Gunship soon became one of the main staples of the military fleet. The Rapier primarily acts as a light escort. The original Rapier suffered from an extremely high crew turnover rate. The lack of artificial gravity coupled with the high speeds that the Rapier operated at meant the crew often suffered from loss of balance and ability to focus. Gravity wells were not thought feasable due to the its relatively small size. However this problem was solved in the Rapier Gunship Mk IV. Two spinning sections of its hull housing gravity wells create gravity for the crew and while this does reduce the speed that the Rapier operates at, its relatively heavy armour and four forward mounted Pulse Cannons means that the Mark IV variant is widely used by human forces throughout the galaxy.
