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The third component in Alpha's traditional military spaceforce was the Manta weapons-carrier, which provided the main offensive 'muscle'. Its disc-like shape was designed to create sufficient lift to supplement the gravity-resist generators, allowing the maximum payload to be carried at atmospheric levels. In some models the generators were dispensed with altogether to enable the ship to carry the giant air-to-surface Buster missiles used in the final offensive against Proxima. Only six of these variants were produced, however, as they were unstable and would have been too vulnerable if the Proximans' ability to retaliate had not been exhausted by that time.
All Alpha spacecraft, military or otherwise, were planned, designed and manufactured by a single government body which was also responsible for their licensing and allocation. Because of Alpha's natural shortage of raw materials the making and distribution of spacecraft were rigidly controlled and commercial concerns needing ships had to be satisfied with the government's allocation.

The ACM 118 owed its existence to the enterprise of a single mining concern which needed heavy-duty atmospheric/space vehicles in excess of its quota. Their engineering division succeeded in devising a design utilising a powerful manned rocket used for manoeuvering asteroids in their mining activities. The aerofoil disc was adapted from sections of redundant storage tanks and the entire craft was constructed from existing materials.

Permission was sought from the government to construct three of these ships at the companies expense using reclaimed materials, but the ministry was so impressed by the ships performance in the flight demonstration that they held further trials for the Defence Authority, which had been looking for a new weapons carrier.

Eventually it was agreed that the government should take over manufacture itself in exchange for an improved allocation of existing craft at favourable terms to the originators, and after various modifications and improvements the new missile-ship went into production.

It proved to be a great success and in fact its performance exceeded the original specifications on which the Authority had been basing its research. Of the three warships in the structure the Manta was the most advanced and has outlived its stablemates by a considerable margin. Even today Mantas comprise about a third of Alpha's surface attack fleet and there are no immediate plans to replace them.

A number were supplied to our own forces during the war in exchange for munitions and equipment and are still serving with our Seventeenth Strike Fleet, notably the famous 'Death's Head' squadron which won acclaim during th final offensive.