I decided to see if the Savannah Master concept could be applied to a naval craft without the fusion powerplant and this is the result.
Marlin III Light Hydrofoil Scout
Mass: 5 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Motive Type: Naval (Hydrofoil)
Rules Level: Advanced Rules
Era: Succession Wars
Tech Rating/Era Availability: D/X-C-D-A
Production Year: 0
Cost: 78,667 C-Bills
Battle Value: 99
Power Plant: Upton HC45 Fuel Cell Engine
Cruise Speed: 226.8 km/h
Flanking Speed: 345.6 km/h
Armor: Gregson Standard Armor
Armament:
1 ChisComp 32 Small Laser
Manufacturer: Upton-Halsey Maritime Engineering
Primary Factory: Chesterton
Communications System: Halsey ScanFree
Targeting and Tracking System: Halsey NautiTrac
Overview:
The company of Upton-Halsey Maritime Engineering has long been known for its
solid, dependable, and inconspicuous freighters that transport goods across
Chesterton, helping to tie the various small continents together. While their
engineering work has long been overshadowed by the more profitable ranches and
mines, the company has built up a small following off the planet. One of their
lesser-known sidelines was the manufacture of small nautical pleasurecraft. While
normally known for relatively slow freighters and yachts, a small group of
Upton-Halsey engineers have become known in recent years for their high-speed
hydrofoils. Their vessels were regularly winning speed races and the Davion
military became interested in their designs as a small wet-naval scout.
Upton-Halsey was interested in the concept, and in secret a contract was
drawn up for what became the Marlin III.
Capabilities:
The Marlin III was designed around achieving as a high a speed as possible
while keeping the cost as low as possible due to the clandestine nature of the
project. Upton-Halsey made use of their long experience with fuel cell
powerplants to design the Marlin III's to be as powerful as possible and as
compact as possible. The Upton HC45 shows this by being able to propel the
little vessel at speeds of almost 350 kph with the hydrofoils extended. The
hydrofoils of the Marlin III were designed to be strong enough to withstand
maneuvering at such speeds, making the vessel almost more maneuverable than a
VTOL over the water.
That speed is also what keeps the pilot alive, as the Marlin III only
carries a ton of armor for protection. Even a crew-served machinegun would be
sufficient to sink one if a lucky shot found it. Likewise, the little vessel
is only armed with a ChisComp small laser for self defense. The low heat
generated by the HC45 allows the waste heat of the laser to be absorbed by
the powerplant, while a small auxilliary power amplifier provides the power.
While it is a negligible threat to all but the lightest of opponents, it does provide
some level of self-defense.
The electronics on the Marlin III are very powerful for such a light vessel,
drawing from the power amplifier to provide the Marlin III with the scouting
capability required of it. The Halsey systems were designed in-house, keeping
the cost low as per the contract. The NautiTrac tracking system in particular
is unique in that while the vessel in stationary, it can keep track of everything
around it within 30 km while being lost in the commercial traffic and easily
disregarded as such.
Deployment:
The Marlin III failed to really be adopted by the Davion military as too
much of a niche design to be worthwile except on planets like Chesterton.
MIIO, however, has found the little vessel to be ideal for covert operations on
such planets and has acquired the majority of the production. The little
vessels are easily disguised as any number of different hydrofoil pleasurecraft
and hide in plain sight as a toy or an old man's folly.
Variants:
The small size of the vessel does not lend itself to variants as every
component is wrapped around other components. However, it has led
Upton-Halsey engineers to start looking to see if any of their other existing
designs could not be repurposed for other uses.
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard 4 points 0.50
Engine: Fuel-Cell Engine 45 1.50
Cruise MP: 21
Flank MP: 32
Heat Sinks: Single Heat Sink 1 0.00
Control Equipment: 0.50
Lift Equipment: 0.50
Power Amplifiers: 0.50
Armor: Standard Armor AV - 16 1.00
Armor
Factor
Front 5
Left/Right 4/4
Rear 3
================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Spaces Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Small Laser FR 1 1 0.50
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 1 Points: 1
21n 1 0 0 0 1 0 Structure: 0
Special Abilities: ENE, EE
