Aegis Drone

The Aegis Drone, formally designated as HK Model No. 0001 Aegis, and scout drone as it was sometimes called, was an airborne Non-Humanoid Hunter Killer unit produced by LinkNet, and the forerunner of Evil Boskov's many aerial designs. The Aegis Drones served as reconnaissance aircraft to survey for any Rebel readings to gather intel from its findings. When its done, it'll set up waypoints for allowing the deployment of additional units like Grunts and Berzerks.

Origin and design
Before LinkNet went online and became self-aware, on planet Earth in the Solar System, the Aegis Drone was first developed for the US Air Force as the MQ-9 Reaper Drone by the American defense contractor General Atomics in 2001, the year when the September 11 attacks occurred.

The MQ-9 Reapers were powered by a turboprop engine, and can be armed mainly with missile systems. Unfortunately, the Reapers were incapable of independent thought, for they had to rely on multiple aircraft, ground-control stations, satellites, and flight and maintenance crews. They began service in the US Air Force on May 1st, 2007, when the 432d Wing was activated to operate them, as well as the older MQ-1 Predator UAVs at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada.

Following LinkNet's development on Hecturus, object scientists constructed their own unmanned aerial vehicle based on the MQ-9 Reaper chassis, resulting in what will become the Aegis Drone, technically the first of LinkNet's units. The Aegis Drone is largely identical to the Reaper drone, albeit 50% smaller; the scout drone's wingspan (10 m) is half of the Reaper's mean wingspan (20 m). The ventral fuselage of the Aegis is cut off to make way for the swivel-mounted machine gun. Its missile capabilities were inherited from the Reaper, but in addition, it was also armed with two underslung laser cannons, causing the Aegis to meet BattleTech's armament standards: laser, ballistic and missile weapons.

To further differentiate from the Reaper, the Aegis gains an ability that its predecessor lacked: VTOL technology. The introduction of VTOL engines has resulted in the Aegis to gain an extra pair of smaller, slanted upward wings, so that the VTOL engines can move about on a swivel servo. The turboprop, which was found on the Reaper, has evolved into a ramjet for increased speed. So much for the Reaper's reliance on its operators, the Aegis was now capable of independent thought, thanks to the introduction of its advanced sensors and fully autonomous capability.

As the Odin-Boskov War came, the Aegis Drone will become one of the two most important assets of Evil Boskov's air force, along with its much larger offshoot, the Anastasia.

Combat Characteristics


The Aegis Drone inherits its aerial reconnaissance role that the MQ-9 Reaper previously held after LinkNet became self-aware. As a smaller, lighter and a half-scale derivative of its predecessor, it carries limited missile systems other than its standard machine gun and laser cannons, making it ideal for dogfights against Odin Air Force fighter jet and starfighter squadrons. Aegis Drones tend to be loners, although they can sometimes be seen in squadrons.

It is equipped with countermeasures to avoid itself from getting destroyed by incoming enemy missiles. Reaper drones originally lacked any countermeasures, since they mainly have offensive weapon systems.

Inspirations

 * The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drone