Janes Information Services, February 3025 Defense Briefing
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SL-84 Recognizer
Mass: 65 tons
Frame: FD 65-14
Power Plant: VOX 325 Fusion
Armor: Searweave
Armament:
3 Martell Medium Laser
Manufacturer: Fairchild Dornier
Primary Factory: Mizar
Communication System: FD 207b
Targeting & Tracking System: Scope 115f
Introduction Year: 2684
Tech Rating/Availability: D/E-F(F*)-X-X
Cost: 4,354,458 C-bills
Overview
Not truly a fighter, in its heyday the SL-84 Recognizer was hailed as the premier platform for performing aerial reconnaissance in support of ground
operations. The Recognizer could swiftly bring its advanced electronics package to bear anywhere on a planet while keeping all but the fastest aerospace
fighters at arm's length.
The fall of the Star League was not kind to this unique craft. By the end of the 3rd Succession War, the Recognizer was considered extinct.
Capabilities
The Recognizer was essentially an aerospace fighter that substituted weaponry for sensors and communications gear. As such, its electronics package
was unparalleled.
1. In addition to the pilot, an Electronic Systems Officer (ESO) sat in the Command Console just behind the main cockpit. Despite the variety of complex
technologies, the ESO could easily monitor all of the fighter's systems alone thanks to the Command Console's advanced computer automation.
2. Satellite-grade detection gear included a High-Res Imager, Infrared Imager, and Look-Down Radar. When used in concert, these systems ensured that
enemy ground forces were detected even when using passive or active camouflage.
3. A Recon Camera may seem like a primitive anachronism, but it performed as a valuable backup if the other systems failed for some reason. In
addition, its simple electronics could not be jammed.
4. A Remote Sensor Dispenser could para-deploy up to 30 sensor pods, thus seeding a huge area with sensor tripwires. The Command Console and the
communication suite worked together to ensure that up to 11 of these sensor pods could be monitored simultaneously at all times.
5. A powerful dropship-grade communication suite worked in conjunction with the Command Console to communicate with satellites, orbiting ships, and
local forces while easily defeating the most powerful jamming systems.
6. The Recognizer's main defense was speed. The massive VOX 325 power plant allowed the Recognizer to easily disengage from most other aerospace
fighters. Meanwhile, conventional fighters could be avoided simply by using the enhanced fuel load to loiter in the stratosphere. Armor was sufficient to
sustain a few PPC hits to each side. Weaponry was light: two medium lasers were mounted aft, and one forward. If threatened a Recognizer would
typically disengage, not fight.
7. Thanks to the fighter's size and high thrust rating it could carry a heavy payload. The Recognizer could (and did) carry conventional bombs, but it was
more common to mount disposable mission-oriented packages instead. These included TAG, external fuel tanks, air-launched Arrow IV missiles, air-
deployed mines, and so on.
Deployment
The SL-84 was considered a priority target during the Succession Wars, and the destruction of Fairchild-Dornier's facilities on Mizar sealed this machine's
fate. Today, no known operational examples remain and only a few battered, stripped-out airframes linger on in war museums. If any functional units still
exist, it is certain that are under lock and key in the design bureaus of the Great Houses.
History
By the 2750's the Star League was evaluating a Block II upgrade of the Recognizer. These enhanced units would have featured XL engines, increased
speed, advanced armor and weapons, and the replacement of some or all of the imaging equipment and comm gear with Beagle Probe and Guardian
ECM systems. Partial records indicate that three Block II prototypes might have been built, but the fall of the Star League meant that nothing further
came of the redesign.
Editorial Update, May 3047:
When this article was first published in 3025 it was not known that the Kingdom of Horizon was in possession of three Recognizers, at least two of which
were fully operational. Rumors suggest that these fighters were recovered sometime in the mid 3010's during a lostech expedition at an undisclosed
location in the Barrens. At that time the "Kingdom" was merely a one-planet Periphery micro-state suffering from an extremely
precarious military-political situation. Understandably, the existence of such valuable technology was considered a top-level state secret.
For years the rarely-seen Recognizers were thought to be no more than local civilian AWACs conversions with the Horizonian designation "Eagle Eye."
That secret might have remained intact until an incident in 3033 during the Reprisal War. During the initial landings, rogue Kuritan forces assaulting
Horizon attempted to intercept a Recognizer that had been monitoring their drop zone. When it was approached by a pair of Shilones, the supposedly
slow and supposedly "civilian" aircraft proved that it was none of those things by breaking away at high supersonic. It then led the Kuritans on a wild
goose chase that lasted for over 30 minutes. The Horizonian pilot was clearly taunting the Kuritans; several times the Recognizer allowed the Shilones to
close the distance, only to speed away again just before they reached maximum weapons range. When the increasingly frustrated Ronin pilots finally
called in a pair of S-3 Sai to assist, the Recognizer disengaged by boosting to low orbit and out of sensor range.
Ultimately, Horizon's Recognizers survived the war. To this day it remains unclear if they are standard SL-84s or the trio of missing Block II prototypes.
The latter possibility seems quite unlikely, but who knows? The Kingdom of Horizon has a knack for keeping a secret until the moment that it causes the
most havoc. Indeed, history is replete with antagonists who found that attacking Horizon directly is not a strategy, it is a trap. - S.O.
Type: Recognizer
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Advanced)
Tonnage: 65
Battle Value: 482
Equipment Mass
Engine 325 Fusion 23.5
Safe Thrust: 7
Max Thrust: 11
Structural Integrity: 0
Heat Sinks: 10 0
Fuel: 560 7.0
Command Console 6
Armor Factor 96 6
Armor
Value
Nose 27
Wings 24/24
Aft 21
Weapons
and Ammo Location Tonnage Heat SRV MRV LRV ERV
Medium Laser NOS 1.0 3 5 0 0 0
Recon Camera NOS 0.5 - - - - -
Infrared Imager NOS 5.0 - - - - -
Look-Down Radar NOS 5.0 - - - - -
High-Resolution Imager NOS 2.5 - - - - -
Remote Sensors/Dispenser FSLG 0.5 - - - - -
Communications Equipment (6 tons) FSLG 6.0 - - - - -
2 Medium Laser AFT 2.0 3 5 0 0 0
