Air Recon Drone (modern)Faction: Anyone but the Homeworld Clans
Era: 3057 and onward
Mass: 4,999kg
Type: Fixed Wing
Chassis Mods:
Omni
Ultra-Light
Technology/Availability/Legality: EEC
Chassis and Controls:
Base Chassis and Control Weight: 8%
Tech Level Modifier: 0.85%
Chassis Modifiers: 0.5
Final Chassis and Control Mods: 3.4%=170kg
Engine and Transmission:
Type: Fusion
Thrust: 7/11
Base Engine and Transmission Weight factor: 0.5
Movement Factor: 40
Engine/Transmission Weight Multiplier: 0.75
Base Engine & Transmission Weight Percentage = Base Engine and Transmission Weight Factor x Movement Factor: 20
Final Engine and Transmission Values: EDB, 750kg
Fuel: Fixed Wing, Small/E 1000 Thrust Points; 130kg
Armour: BAR 3/E; 9pts
3/2/2/2
Structural Integrity: 6
Equipment:
500kg Drone Control System
500kg Sensor Unit
2,796kg Omnipodspace
Quirks: Drone, Internal Bomb Bay
Air Recon Drones, of which the Sian/Ceres FireWasp is the best known are used for reconnaissance purposes and occasionally for other missions. Being able to be launched from the ground, from a mobile, Zero-Length Launcher as found in the Hi-Scout drone-carrier or from any airborne platform makes the Air Recon Drone a flexible capability for any force to have.
Earlier models lacked the extremely useful modular capability which allows different equipment, to be fitted to match the mission, including booster units for the drone and sensor systems and even bombs. In current models, even the Drone and Sensor units can be switched out with limited difficulty (Semi-modular) and replaced with more powerful units or even a cockpit at the cost of a reduction in omnipod space.
Common load-outs for an Air Recon Drone would be a Beagle Probe and TAG system, or a Guardian ECM, a Recon Camera and a Chaff Pod.
Variants:
Original Air Recon Drone; the Scoltek SkyEye.
The SkyEye lacks the Modern versions Omni capability and instead fills the fuselage with a recon camera, remote sensor dispensor and additional Sensor equipment.
Target Drone.
A similar, but smaller unit; these drones are used for training anti-aircraft units in their trade and also by Fighter Weapons Schools across the Inner Sphere and beyond. Target Drone are usually faster and may mount additional lights to make them easier to spot to compensate for their small size.
Quail Drone.
Quail Drones were used by the Terran Alliance and later Hegemony as an adjunct to their Torrent Bomber formations. Sporting additional flight surfaces and a blocky exterior a Quail drone produces a Radar return compatible with a large, fixed-wing aircraft. In theory this would lead enemy airdefences to waste time on Drones and miss some bombers. More recently similar technology has been used by WOB during the Jihad to spam enemy air defences in conjunction with mass assaults of interplanetary Landing Craft.
Hound Dog.
Hound Dog Drones are almost like a hybrid of a tele-operated missile, a cruise missile and the original drones. Filled with explosives they are used as terminally remote-piloted Stand-Off attack missiles.
Note; Anyone got any ideas how I could make a Planet-to-Space Capable recon drone you could fit in a Hi-Scout?