As expected, the board did not take well to learning about the new problems with the ship. The turret worked, but the added sluggishness of the craft ment that enemies would be able to get under the bomber, and stay in the blind spot with ease. Tests also showed that the forward guns were also useless except on stationary targets, thanks to the handling issue. The board was very displeased at the vulnerability of a ship with a crew of three, and blamed the design team for failing to produce satisfactory work. However, at this point the project was over budget, and work on prototypes hadn't even started yet. After some debating, deal making, and agreements, it was decided that the K-wing would also take on the role of an atmospheric strike craft, and support ground campaigns by providing fire on both moving targets and fortified strongholds. It would also become a heavy strike craft and gunboat, and be a support platform, capable of bringing in specialized weapons like Ion cannons, tractor beams, electronic warfare pods, and sensor arrays.
Broadening the role of the BTL-S3 to being a multi-task generalist helped unlock funding that was going to be held for those other projects. Step one was to add a way to cover the blind spot on the underside of the craft, and to find a way to target ground units effectively with cannon. Step two was to strengthen the main wing and each hardpoint for heavier and bulkier payloads, and to add all types of plugs and sockets for potential high-tech systems. Step three was to make the engines dual purpose, to work both in the vacuum of space and the atmospheres of other worlds. The engines would need to fight both air resistance and gravity, so adding airbreathing systems would increase effectiveness in atmosphere and extend the operational range significantly.

Koensayer’s team tried their best to make the additions without compromising the original objectives of being a space anti-capital and anti-structure bomber that could stand its own against other modern fighters. For step number one, they selected a ball turret made out of mostly transparisteel for better visuals than most turrets of the day. It was decided to be placed behind the top turret but before the bomb bay, on the bottom of the craft. The landing gear needed to be lengthened for it, for landing on the ball would be bad for the person inside. Its weapons would consist of twin dual laser cannons, set on hardpoints on either side of the ball. These cannons, set in quad configuration, would either fire all at once, for a precise high damage shot, or cycle one at a time, for a continuous stream of laser fire. The individual manning the ball turret would be completely disconnected from the craft, and to save space, would need to wear a vac suit and bring his own oxygen with them when in space. Only a Pylon and powercords connected the turret to the craft.

Step two and three were relatively straight forward, but adding all these new systems, and redundant systems for the important ones, spiked the weight of the craft. Reinforcing the whole structure to withstand both atmospheric reentry and to compensate for air resistance added most of the weight. All in all, the unloaded STL-S4 massed about twice as much as it had before the refit. The engineers slashed the ordnance it carried by over half to make up for some of the weight gain.

When presented to the now swollen board, fighting nearly broke out. Eventually the Admirals and Generals were able to agree on a few things. The ship was overweight, and all non essential systems need to be removed/trimmed. In regards to the underslung quad turret, members of the board that were lobbying for a strike craft wanted the turret moved to the front, so the guns could elevate a

When presented to the now swollen board, fighting nearly broke out. Eventually the Admirals and Generals were able to agree on a few things. The ship was overweight, and all non essential systems need to be removed/trimmed. In regards to the underslung quad turret, members of the board that were lobbying for a strike craft wanted the turret moved to the front. In the front, the guns would be able to aim up and concentrate fire with the existing dual laser turret. Members of the board that were lobbying for a bomber wanted the turret moved to the rear for better overall protection. The board dismissed the spokeswoman, and told her that the Koensayer team better bring back something better than this.
This sent the engineers back to the drawing board. To still fulfill the role of an assault craft, the now-useless fixed front guns were removed, lightening the load, and the ball turret moved to under the nose. Then, they started removing systems. The bomb bay and the ordnance racks were removed, along with the hyperdrive, hyperspace navigational computers, and plans to eventually add back in the astromech were also scrapped. Fuel capacity was also diminished, and the additional shields were cut out. Armor plating around the non-vital areas were removed, and some of the redundant systems were pulled.
Simulations still showed the BTL-S5 to be a slow and ungainly craft, but it was better than before. However, it’s ordnance capacity was only a fourth of what was originally planned, it took 4 crew members to fly, and was as sluggish as a B-wing. Removing the Hyperdrive also made it specifically a carrier based craft, severely limiting the operational capacity of the bomber. It now failed all the requirements that it originally had met.
Of course, the improved version was met with a standing ovation by the board. Testimonies from various engineers in the program said that they were shocked when they heard the news from that board meeting. They had thought that the board would of shut the project down upon seeing the bomber that couldn’t bomb, the assault craft that couldn't dogfight, and the support gunship that couldn’t jump. The board was pleased that everyone had gotten something out of the deal, and regarded it as the beginning of the program, even though they were several years, and many billions of credits, in.
A complaint was that a crippling hit to the bus would leave four trained navy personnel floating in space, while later models of it’s predecessors had the cockpit act as a detachable lifeboat. This was viewed as unacceptable, and they demanded a change. They also wanted to fill the space under the wings, between the engines, where the bomb bay used to be. The spokeswoman mentioned that the empty space there was created because the craft was too heavy for the engines. Designing new engines this late in the project would take a lot of time and money, she argued. Chewing over that, the board decided she was right, and new engines was not a possibility.
“It new engines weren’t on the table, then the only other option was to add more of them.” was the response of a board member during one of the hearings when pressed on some of the design features. Craft commonly have two engines, even though a single larger engine is more efficient in terms of space, power, and weight. Having two smaller engines to provide the thrust of one allows the craft to continue flying in the event that one suffers an engine failure. However, having more than two usually takes up more space and adds more weight than the optimal layout of just two. The famous Incom T65 and T70 X-wing starfighters both suffer from this, but Incom overcame that with the intelligent layout of their starships.
Adding a third engine already added more mass which largely canceled out most of the gain in thrust. The real question was where they were going to put it. An obvious place would be in the empty space under the wing where the bomb bay used to be, but the board had plans with that space. They were going to add another set of wings with more hardpoints to increase the multi-role capacity of the craft. More hardpoints meant more space for ordnance or equipment for the craft. Unlike internal storage, it could hold more exotic shaped packages, and also release the ordnance quicker and faster. The downside was it weighed more, and had more parts that could break. And the ordnance was suspended outside of the craft, farther from the center of balance, and was in danger of damage from ‘external sources’.
Giving the engineering team credit, they did manage to fit all the ‘recommendations’ that the board had for them on the craft. The command module would be able to detach from the rest of the craft at the bus, and have small, limited maneuverability, feeding off power cells from the guns. This prevented the installment of a secondary reactor and large engines on the command module itself. The added wings and hardpoints were straightforward enough, and could also double as the landing gear for the back half of the craft. The third engine’s placement was problematic, and was slapped on top of the main wing as a stopgap measure with initial plans to move it once a better location was found, or room could be made for it.
The board was pleased with their new multi-roll craft, remarking on how deadly the BTL-S7 looked. However, combat simulations were showing problems with the craft reaching it’s combat speed, and the bomber tended to nose down constantly while in atmosphere. The spokeswoman was adamant about refusing the ‘suggestion’ on adding an additional engine to the craft, as a fourth engine would of meant upgrading or adding another reactor, and adding something like that would call for a complete redesign. Eventually, an overcharge for the engines was added, cutting the operational life in half but slightly increasing the thrust of each one. Then a boost system was added to the top engine, allowing for temporary bursts in speed.
Problems plagued the boost system, which was nicknamed SLAM by a board member, as it tended to burn out after just being activated once. This problem persisted, and it was decided that it would just be replaced after every combat mission. The increased thrust was enough for the bomber to outpace the B-wing, but could not keep up with the old Y-wings unless the SLAM system was activated. The lifeboat, if the command module wasnt hit when the ship was crippled, could detach and offer limited maneuvering to the crew, not enough to return to base, but enough to be easily captured by the foes they were previously fighting. This was 8 years after the initial contract was signed with Koensayer Manufacturing, and the project was several billion credits over budget. It would be another two years before the BTL-S8 saw deployment.
Over those years the frankenstein bomber was affectionately dubbed the K-wing by her test pilots, and the name seemed to stick. Simulation testing showed the craft to still be slow, ungainly, and vulnerable if not escorted. The board pressured the testing offices to change some of the variables, and to change the mindset of “proving” where the craft succeeded, rather than where it failed.