The second-hand market yielded few airframes and the scrap and boneyards little that was immediately useful. Most Militia trade-ins actually came 3rd or 4th-hand at least, but taken in aggregate; this was still the source of the majority of the VTOL Haul from MAPLE KEY and indeed; these contacts would prove useful to other SOG purchase agents and the growing intelligence apparatus developed by Condorcet going forward.
These were the types eventually procured in this manner through the end of FY 3065/66:
A total of 15 Lifesaver medivac VTOLS were eventually secured from various sources. These were an older type found in production only infrequently from various manufactures. The Lifesaver had some capabilities comparable to a flying MASH unit, but they were most valued for their speed and safe handling. Employment of a fusion engine had doomed them to their current fate back during the succession wars, but they could be found in every major realm in some small numbers. The ones SOG picked up were all retired examples found in storage and had to be gathered from all over the inner sphere as sources as diverse as Great House boneyards and high-class ski resorts. All needed some work to return to flight status; namely the replacement of certain critical fusion engine components, but would be a welcome addition to the entire unit; not just the Air Cavalry.
Three Cobra Transports were pulled out of a Museum and Flying Club come to hard times on Atreus. Non-functional at the time; one was later returned to service and the other two delivered to ICOM for reverse-engineering. While not ideal; the type was generally well-regarded and in later 3061, nothing better was yet on the horizon. ICOM would go in to produce the type; first on Bell, beginning in late 3066; before moving the factory to the Canton Worlds in 3078. The New Model Army would eventually use the standard version alongside a few reproductions of the so-called MASH model and the Command Variant, until replaced by Slicks in the late 70s.
32 Ferret Light Scouts were purchased from diverse sources, in small lots and an additional 16 of the armour-variant were procured from various sources between September 3061 and February 3066; with the first deliveries arriving on Keid in January 3062. SOG used the Ferret extensively in the scout-role early on, but the type was not preferred on a modern battlefield and they were first relegated to the role of insertion/extraction for scouts and special forces and later to light infantry transports before the entire inventory was transferred to the training role in 3074, following a gradual fade in numbers of operational airframes and rising need for training assets. In this role the Ferrets excelled and the last of these original MAPLE KEY Ferrets, still marked prominently with the Broad-Arrow-C of Maple Key Import/Exports’ acceptance brand are still in use in 3099 as part of the training establishment. Other Ferrets also fill this role alongside a number still used in other roles by lower-Category units of the SLDFiE.
Additional Karnovs were a high-priority need for the organization and MAPLE KEY succeeded in assembling a total of 47 through various means over the years. SOG would eventually use the Karnov in eight different variants and continued to procure the type until fully replaced and phased into the reserves and Militia in the late 3080s. At one time or another; SOG or the New Model Army employed Every Karnov variant save copies of the Heavy Stealth one-off type, but mainly used them in a fire-support or transport role. After the acquisition of additional King Karnovs; the smaller Karnov was increasingly used to support Air Cav mass-assaults where the capability to put more troops into smaller LZs was highly prized.
Seventeen Marten Light Scout VTOLs were purchased from various Militias, across the old Federated Commonwealth. SOG and later the SLDFiE, used the Marten as a light transport. It was the preferred type to insert reconnaissance units, snipers and Special Operations troops, until better types became available in the 3080s. Today; the Marten is found in all three variants in the 3rd League’s Territorial Army.
A single delivery of six Rippers were eventually cobbled together from the remains of 16 airframes pulled out of various scrapyards. They proved unreliable in service and were quickly scrapped after two were lost in accidents, having only been in service a year.
VTOL Personnel carriers; a type made up of various models built to a common specification were procured from the second-hand market and various militias and these came to total 22 by the end of FY 3065. They proved fast and agile aircraft, but could only carry a maximum of ten passengers in addition to the 4-man crew and the reliability of disparate models, as well as parts compatibility was inconsistent. These were all eventually scrapped or lost to enemy fire, having been used as light transports.
The Sky Eye. SOG and later; the SLDFiE would eventually posses three Sky Eyes at various times. The first; through MAPLE KEY came with a bulk lot of VTOLs and other equipment held by a second-hand dealer on Outreach. She was looking to get out of the business and willing to cut a deal, if the MAPLE KEY team was willing to make an offer on her entire inventory; some 1300 tons, approximately; of mixed military equipment and supplies and Civilian industrial and Business equipment and vehicles. These were trialed in observation roles, but after the first one was lost in an incident, which would have been avoidable in any other platform; the remaining Sky Eye and one later found on Dieron were passed to the New Model Army Training Establishment and used to proctor exercises and serve in an augmentee Search-and-Rescue role on Ardennes. They were sold on the surplus market to a local news concern in 3095.
The Goshawk Gunship would prove to be an important type in service with SOG and later the SLDFiE. The Goshawk was in many ways a “Von Luckner” of the air as the type was uncommon by 3050 having been out of production for 150 years and widely cannibalized for their fusion engines. Despite, these factors; MAPLE KEY scoured Militias, scrapyards and the second-hand market and had managed to procure 17 Goshawks by the end of FY 65/66. This type was known by the BLUE BELL committee and well-thought of, though only a few of SOG’s VTOL crews had experience with the type. In service they proved highly effective and easy to keep up in an atmosphere of modern technology. The capabilities of the Goshawk greatly influenced later 3rd League VTOL designs and the type has enjoyed a long follow-on service in various non-frontline formations in the modern SLDFiE and with 3rd League Member States like the Rim Collection.
The SOAR had proven popular with SOG’s medevac pilots and crews and any fast Medevac service was popular with the front-line mercenaries which might find themselves or their comrades seriously injured at any time, due to the nature of many of their contracts. The eight MAPLE KEY managed to acquire new and used from within the Draconis Combine added enough capacity to finally phase out the remaining Swiftrans in mid 3063. These were in turn later replaced by other models and eventually relegated to civilian service in the 3rd League, following a short service with second-line formations.
Wyvern Gunships were early competitors to the Warrior series, but their reliance on a fusion engine inevitably led to their replacement by their much later, cheaper competitor. The last Wyverns had rolled off the production lines in 3018 as a GM product, one built on Kathil. With the last line closed; the expensive Wyverns, with their highly desirable engines quickly dwindled and the model was rarely found except in the service of Militias in the Confederation, Chaos March and Capellan March. Some of these were willing to part with the last of their Wyverns in exchange for Warrior H-8s and MHI products shunted through several falsified end-user certificates. MAPLE KEY eventually provided twelve Wyverns in flyable condition and another 15 non-flyers as spare parts farms. Over the course of the Jihad; the later SLDFiE acquired several more Wyverns, but their production status militated against a long service life and despite their comparatively heavy armour protection, none survived to be passed to service with the Territorial Army. However, extensive study and experience with the Wyvern led to its revival as an export product in the early 90s from an ICOM subsidiary. Experience with the Wyvern and other models like the Goshawk, Iroquois and Ki-Rin proved invaluable when the workforce was expanded to cover increased production of other types, beginning in 3095.
Eight Peacekeeper VTOLs were acquired from Yan Manufacturing’s NOS inventory due to an order cancellation from an unrevealed customer. While not strictly military aircraft, they nonetheless possessed several features which were deemed attractive to their end-users. In particular the multiple machineguns and SRM system were greatly valued. As SOG moved more towards their trademark double-sized infantry platoons (driven partly from experiences in AirMobile operations), the Peacekeeper proved receptive to modifications to permit it to carry up to 60 fully equipped soldiers, in admittedly cramped and haphazard conditions. While influential on later models developed in-house; the Peacekeeper had many drawbacks which hampered them in service. Notably; they were slow and very large aircraft and this more than anything contributed to the loss of one after another in combat operations. While they enjoyed a certain cachet; they were not replaced by like models, in practice.
The Ki-Rin Gunship is best understood as a tactical precursor to the Yellow Jacket. While technically unrelated to the later aircraft; the Ki-Rin shared many features in common with the “Flying Cannon”. The Ki-Rin is a well-protected, heavily armed machine which in turn lacks sufficient mobility for truly responsive gunship operations or tangling with anything more mobile than a mountainside. Nonetheless; the Ki-Rin, long out of production by 3062 was very popular with its crews. While many had been lost, scrapped or cannibalized; their small and odd-sized fusion engines made the Ki-Rin a low-return proposition for scavenging during the Succession Wars. Most users would rather have the well-protected, flexible rotary wing aircraft, which were noted as being particularly easy to fly and maintain. Also popular was the advanced targeting system which easily co-ordinated the operation of the multivariate weapons at the command of the crew. Most popular among these weapons, of course; was the Donal Type II PPC and many Ki-Rins were cannibalized for this item, rather than their engines. Fourteen examples obtained during the height of MAPLE KEY and prior to the 5th Succession war (AKA; the Word of Blake Jihad) represented the height of the Ki-Rin inventory. These proved durable enough, but they suffered from the same terrible drawback in mobility as the Yellow jacket. Following an unsuccessful attempt to refit the last seven Ki-Rin’s with new, more powerful extra-lite fusion engines; the last of the Ki-Rins were retired in 3086. Too worn and war-wear for further service; two were sacrificed for study and the remainder were mounted as display pieces and gate guards, where their impressive profiles remain to awe observers today. But just a few years later; the type returned to production with Belfast Consolidated in 3090 for export and service with category 3 and mobilization-only formations. In 3096, three of Belfast’s five Ki-Rin lines were converted to produce the Python; a design based in part on the Ki-Rin. The Ki-Rin has been successful as an export item. Despite its many drawbacks; the small fusion engine makes it comparatively affordable and ICOM is careful to point out that the added cost of fusion power pays for itself in fuel savings over just a few years.
An anonymous tip led MAPLE KEY Program Factors to a deep space black transfer station located in the Chaos March and a rendezvous with a shadowy smuggler with a load of hot merchandise to sell quickly. This wound up including Seven Pinto Attack VTOLs along with other 1st League and ComStar signature equipment. It proved to be quite an adventure getting the equipment off the station and the operation ended up being concluded under fire and featured a hot extraction by SOG’s nascent Galactic Marines. The Pintos were later put into service with the Air Cav; making welcome replacements and supplements for their own lost Pintos and other types. Their configuration made them a poor fit for the tactics and operations preferred under DRAGOON/BLUE BELL, but they proved crucial in later developing the tactics and requirement for Assault Helicopters; a role specified by the SLDFiE as a hybrid gunship/troop transport. However; this served to highly the growing dichotomy between the unit’s avowed Air Mobile doctrine and the equipment it had in service; the two frankly did not fit and this, in turn led to increased support for a home-grown VTOL.
A comparatively large number of Pintos in both configurations were acquired through the fortunes of war, prior to the larger number that came over with the bulk of the ComGuards after the falling out of the Coalition in the Sol system at the end of the Jihad. These were retained in service only briefly before being passed to Category 3 and mobilization-only units of the Territorial Army. Recently, a few refurbished examples have appeared among 3rd League Member States and on the surplus market.
The Eight Nightshades acquired from various sources were scattered amongst the scout and gunship squadrons. There they proved abysmal at either job, but popular with their teammates when flying exclusively in an electronic support role. In over 20 years of combat; only two of the MAPLE KEY examples were lost and of the remaining six; three became museum pieces and monuments and the final three were passed to the Militia.
The Iroquois would turn out to be the most influential model acquired for SOG and later used by the New Model Army, from the MAPLE KEY Program. Initially; Lady Dwight’s teams managed to collect an assortment of twenty-two of this model from various sources; mainly assembled from salvaged parts and purchased from Militias. A later collection of twenty-one more Iroquois would eventually be secured after scouring the second-hand market. In both cases; these examples were shipped first to Lockheed-CBM for refit and refurbishment, before being collected on Keid. This thorough-going treatment and the large number acquired from the outset almost certainly contributed greatly to the type’s warm reception from SOG’s Air Cav crews and ground-support teams. The nascent Aero-Dragoon Platoons looked favourably upon the type as well for it’s comfortable accommodations, capacity to move an entire platoon at full bayonet-strength of 60 men and women in one “ship” and the rapid debarkation offered by the Iroquois’ double cantilevered, vertically opening, fast-action troop doors. From these; two entire standard platoons could rapidly de-bus from a grounded or hovering Iroquois and get online in seconds. Naturally; these proved the most troublesome system on the aged, but polished machines, but the widespread familiarity with the type among techs and crews ensured that keeping the arms and bearings of the troop-compartment doors lubricated and free of fouling was a well-known and frequently practiced task.
The Iroquois had a simple pod-and-stick configuration, with a modified main and tail-rotor setup; using instead a NOTAR (NO-Tail-Rotor) turbine assembly at the end of the tail boom. It was mounted on simple and sturdy landing skids, where most modern VTOLs have retractable landing gear. But on the Iroquois; these were more easily fitted with snowshoes and swamp-pads. The downside was that moving a grounded Iroquois required a tractor to wheel it around on it’s simple fixed taxiing wheels; which were a modestly extending pair of four-wheeled mounts attached to the rear strut of each skid. In practice; they provided enough floatation to allow the 15-ton bulk of the Iroquois to be tilted back and wheeled about like a warehouse trolley on almost any kind of soft ground or hard-packed surface. Failing that; you had to spin up the rotors and *fly* it where you wanted it parked. While a bother for most casual users; others found that once you got used to the procedure, it required only a modest investment in additional materiel and most operators tended to find other uses for the tractors outside of shunting their VTOLs around.
The ancient type had been used by the Terran Hegemony Armed Forces and produced by a number of different defence conglomerates at various times, but had left production for good in the mid 30th century and been dwindling in service, supported only by a few spare parts concerns ever since. The Iroquois was lightly armed and armoured with only a machinegun in a waist position on either side and barely enough armour to sustain a medium laser hit to any point. It was of only middling mobility for a VTOL of any era. The Iroquois’ most interesting feature however; and what had doomed it to obscurity, inevitable obsolescence and extinction was its perplexing internal arrangement.
The type was intended as a limited multirole aircraft; able to loft a standard infantry platoon and unusually; a number of other classes of platoon as well. This required only a few minutes re-arrangement of the internal fitting by the waist gunners. The Iroquois was also meant to pinch-hit in a cargo role; in the same timeframe; the infantry bay could be converted to haul six tons of cargo or it could sling-lift the same amount using a simple ventral winch (which should in no way be mistaken for a full-feature lift-hoist). In practice; few users felt the need to re-deploy light mechanized and motorized forces by helicopter and fewer still found six tons of cargo came out the double doors as easy as did an infantry platoon. While it had been retained as a useful platoon-lifter during the Star League-Era; more modern versions of the Cobra spelled the end for the Iroquois in the 1st SLDF. So, the design was passed off to the Houses and was built by them and various Periphery states until the Karnov UR began to become generally available beginning in 2920. Prior to that, however; the Iroquois gave yeoman service for all it’s users for many years. Any operator willing to risk the lives of an entire platoon or more of troops to the Iroquois’ thin armour found the ships reliable and easy to fly and maintain.
In early 3064, however; SOG crews and techs, alongside ICOM Engineers were looking at the Iroquois and seeing the answer to their prayers. This was the beginning of Project: PAVE THUNDER.
But the MAPLE KEY Program did not occur in a vacuum; the beginning of the FedCom civil war on November 16, 3062 disrupted some of Lady Dwight’s arrangements; albeit temporarily. She was quickly able to use her family’s neutral status to facilitate and encourage the deals she had already cut. Militias on both sides of the Civil War were glad for Maple Key Holdings acting as a loophole through arms embargos; facilitating transfers and end-user certificates that would otherwise have been impossible. The FedCom Civil War would have consequences which were to prove far-reaching and these affected SOG; the Lady Dwight and MAPLE KEY. But in late 3062; this was still in the future.
By late December; Operation: MUNIN was very much in the here and now.
MUNIN
While Lady Dwight had been consumed with procuring specialized war materiel for the unit; SOG had been proposed as a candidate for the Cadre for the new SLDF. But this was a position which called for a tryout and The Studies and Observations Group was assigned a mighty labour indeed.
Conceived as a vital follow-up to Task Force: SERPENT, Op: MUNIN was a reconnaissance-in-force into the Clan homeworlds to ascertain their state of readiness, capabilities and intent, if any, to continue the invasion in the aftermath of the great refusal on Strana Mechty.
McKenna would assemble a task force; take it back along the exodus road and answer vital intelligence requirements in regards to the overall political-military-cultural stance predominating in the homeworlds. Key to MUNIN was that it must be powerful enough to do its job, survive and report back, but modest enough so as not to obviously pose anything like a real threat to the Clan way of life. Munin would be for naught if it provoked the very actions SERPENT had been founded to put an end to.
In addition; they were to make contact with the SLDF forces on Strana Mechty and Huntress. To maintain links, if nothing else. And also procure samples of the latest Clan technology, if possible.
Falling back on his own time with the Hell’s Horses; McKenna developed a plan and unique rules of engagement designed to adhere to and work within Clan Cultural norms; this would serve to reinforce the message and intent of Task Force: SERPENT, overall and the Great Refusal; in particular.
Operation: MUNIN would eventually accomplish its mission and return, but it would be a long and hard campaign. To make it work; SOG had to forage off the enemy for everything. McKenna made sure to hit targets that served several of his objectives (impressed from higher and self-assigned) at once. This meant waging battles that afforded a good opportunity for Isorla from various sources.
At 0340 Hours on October 20th, 3064; Task Force: MUNIN was supposed to jump into the Corregidor system; one of those now home to SOG’s disparate forces. Things did not go as planned.
Less than two hours later, Task Force: MUNIN transitions into the nearby Ardennes system; another of the unit’s periphery holdings. They’ve been somewhere…else and they have quite the story to tell. But of chief concern to our subject; MUNIN returned with a great deal of salvage from the Homeworlds and this brought new equipment and experience into the Air Cavalry.