Author Topic: Darner Hunter-Killer VTOL  (Read 1160 times)

Wereling

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Darner Hunter-Killer VTOL
« on: 28 September 2018, 13:53:49 »
Darner Hunter-Killer VTOL

Mass: 25 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Motive Type: VTOL
Rules Level: Advanced Rules
Era: All Eras (non-canon)
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-X-F-A
Production Year: 3085
Cost: 934,083 C-Bills
Battle Value: 465

Power Plant: Imstar 135 Fuel Cell Engine
Cruise Speed: 118.8 km/h
Flanking Speed: 183.6 km/h
Armor: Imstar Standard Armor
Armament:
    1 IAW Napoleon Light AC/5
    1 Unknown Targeting Computer
Manufacturer: Imstar Aerospace
    Primary Factory: Marik
Communications System: Irian E.A.R.
Targeting and Tracking System: IMB SYS 1535

Overview:

Built by the Marik-Stewart Commonwealth in the days following the dissolution of the Free Worlds League, the Darner is a VTOL with the sole purpose of bringing down other VTOLs. The commonwealth found that they were unable to keep up with production demands for air defense units. While Imstar Aerospace found that their shipyards and aerospace production damaged by the Jihad, their VTOL production remained largely intact.

Accordingly they introduced the Darner as a solution to the issue. The intent was for a VTOL fast enough to keep up with the fastest enemy VTOLs, with accurate enough firepower to deal with anything that fast. Pulse lasers and missile weaponry were originally explored, ultimately an autocannon was determined to be the weapon of choice for bringing down the enemy.

The Darner proved moderately successful. It saw combat largely in defensive conflicts during the time of the Commonwealth, but was not deemed to be a useful unit for planetary assaults. Lessons learned from the Darner were used to develop the Red Kite in the 3090s.

Capabilities:

The Darner is a high-speed, inexpensive, capable unit built around the combination of the Imperator Automatic Weaponry Light autocannon and a targeting computer. This combination, usually coupled with precision ammunition, allows the Darner to hunt down nearly any other VTOL.

The Darner is fast. It is even faster than the famed Warrior series of combat VTOLs. While its fuel cell engine limits its range, it gives the Darner a top speed of over 180 Kph.

It is also reasonably well armored. ImStar chose not to employ fero-fibrous armor, and instead mounted four tons of conventional armor. This proved to be enough coverage to take a solid hit to any forward or side location. This would serve it well as enemy VTOLs often made Darners a priority target.

Interestingly, the Imperator light autocannon was not the original choice of armament. A Quickscell LB autocannon was originally intended to be the primary weapon when Imstar drew up the plans. However, thelfacility on Kalidasa where the LB autocannon was being produced was taken over by the Republic of the Sphere, who refused any trade deals with the Commonwealth.

Imperator Automatic Weaponry instead proposed the use of their Napoleon Light Autocannon. Imstar determined that the mass was low enough that it was able to incorporate two tons of ammunition, allowing 20 shots of specialty ammunition. The ammo was also provided via contract by Imperator.

The change to the primary armament left the Darner shorter ranged, but allowed for the use of specialty ammunition and the addition of a targeting computer. While the lack of a cluster round means that the Darner cannot operate in flak mode, the targeting computer accuracy makes the light autocannon incredibly accurate. The addition of 20 shots of precision ammunition makes it more so, and maintains the ability ot operate for extended periods of time.

Battle History:

The Darner proved capable at its intended role during the Lyran invasions of the Commonwealth following the Jihad. The Darner was capable of keeping up with even the Hawk Moth II gunship.

This proved fortuitous, as the powerfully armed Hawk Moth II proved to be devastating against slower moving battlemechs. During Lyran raids against Atreus Darners were able to keep harassing Hawk Moths from seriously damaging command formations that they would otherwise have been able to harass.

Deployment:

The Darner was inexpensive to produce and good at its job. The Mark-Stewart commonwealth was almost constantly at work. The assumption the would be that the Darner was a popular VTOL with high production numbers. This was not the case.

There are several reasons for this. The first was the rotor configuration. The Darner used a twin, counter-rotating rotor mount that proved extremely susceptible to environmental damage. The compound bearing configuration often suffered premature wear and needed to be replaced more often that normal on an active combat helicopter.

A second reason was the main weapon. While the Imperator light autocannon was not considered to be too light a weapon against other VTOLs, it was of dubious value against other targets. As military technology became more and more valuable during the Dark Ages, specialized units became less desirable than those units that could perform multiple roles. As Imstar had already developed the Red Kite, they saw little reason to update the Darner to perform multiple roles.

Variants:

As the Dark Age progressed, the targeting computer used on the Darner became harder to find. Field refits were common. These usually involved replacing the targeting computer with some other weaponry, or replacing the autocannon and targeting computer units altogether with a different autocannon.

Coincidentally, one of the most common refits reverted the Darner to its original intended configuration. As LB autocannon became available from other sources, some of them found their way on to Darners with damaged and irreplaceable targeting computers. In these cases only a single ton of ammunition is carried. This configuration has a longer weapons range, but is less accurate at short ranges than a targeting computer equipped VTOL with specialty ammunition.

The most popular modification to the Darner that does not require replacement of the main gun is to substitute the targeting computer with four ten-tube rocket launchers. This allows the Darner to still carry 20 rounds of precision ammunition, and also allows it to perform in a limited gunship role against ground targets.


Code: [Select]
================================================================================
    Equipment           Type                         Rating                   Mass 
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Internal Structure: Standard                      15 points                2.50
    Engine:             Fuel-Cell Engine             135                       5.50
        Cruise MP:  11
        Flank MP:   17
    Heat Sinks:         Single Heat Sink             1                         0.00
    Control Equipment:                                                         1.50
    Lift Equipment:                                                            2.50
    Armor:              Standard Armor               AV -  64                  4.00

                                                          Armor     
                                                          Factor     
                                                   Front     19       
                                              Left/Right   15/15       
                                                    Rear     13       
                                                   Rotor     2         

    ================================================================================
    Equipment                                 Location    Heat     Spaces     Mass 
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Light AC/5                                   FR        1         1         5.00
    Targeting Computer                           BD        -         1         2.00
    @LAC/5 (Precision) (20)                      BD        -         0         2.00

    BattleForce Statistics
    MV      S (+0)  M (+2)  L (+4)  E (+6)   Wt.   Ov   Armor:      2    Points: 5
    11v        1       1       0       0      1     0   Structure:  2

maxcarrion

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Re: Darner Hunter-Killer VTOL
« Reply #1 on: 01 October 2018, 03:50:39 »
Similar to the Serval from a month ago the FCE is definitely an upgrade as it allows a good increase in speed and the TC does make a lot of sense for a counter recon unit.

I'm still not sold on the LAC-5 though, it may be accurate but those little chunks of damage will need a whole bunch of hits to land to punch through armour, even on a locust, whereas an LPL or a Snubbie on an SFE chassis will go crit on almost any location first hit and blow it clean off on the second.

Wereling

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Re: Darner Hunter-Killer VTOL
« Reply #2 on: 01 October 2018, 05:49:41 »
The point of this design is the use of precision ammunition and a targeting computer for dealing with fast moving enemies. Also, I wanted to avoid a fusion engine if possible because of the time period this was being built in.

maxcarrion

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Re: Darner Hunter-Killer VTOL
« Reply #3 on: 01 October 2018, 07:09:22 »
The point of this design is the use of precision ammunition and a targeting computer for dealing with fast moving enemies. Also, I wanted to avoid a fusion engine if possible because of the time period this was being built in.

Yup, got the point of the design, I think an SFE design  would do the job better but if you're restricting it to a FCE then this'll do just fine.

 

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