Blood Kite

Blood Kite
Blood Kite
Production information
Manufacturer York BattleMech Y3 Facility
Production Year 2907[1]
Class Assault
Cost 9,691,225 C-bills
Technical specifications
'Mech type Clan BattleMech
Mass 85 tons
Chassis York XT
Armor Compound 12A1 Standard with CASE
Engine 255 Standard
Communications System York Y3-Com
Targeting Tracking System York Y3 T&T
Heat Sinks 21 Double heat sinks
Speed 54 km/h
Jump Jets Clan Series Type 3 Assault
Armament
BV (1.0) 2,484[2]
BV (2.0) 2,776


Description[edit]

The Blood Kite is a BattleMech that was designed on the orders of Clan Blood Spirit Khan Ceana Boques following the deployment of the OmniMech by Clan Coyote in 2854. Because Khan Boques expected the Trials for the OmniMech technology to escalate to the point that her small Clan's touman would not be able to compete, she ordered her scientist caste to rethink the way they designed 'Mechs. Boques dictated that this design philosophy was to conform to four points that seem like they would be common sense: be as cheap as is reasonable, have a reasonable chance of surviving an engagement, sustain a steady barrage, and be as efficient as possible. In fact, many prior designs created by the Clan's scientists violated many or all of these principles. The cream of this crop was the Blood Kite, which debuted in the early part of the thirtieth century.

The Blood Kite eschews the use of expensive technology and weapons, only making use of an Endo Steel internal structure to save weight. It contains as much standard armor as the engineers could fit onto the eighty-five ton frame, as well as jump jets that propel it up to ninety meters at a time.

Weapons and Equipment[edit]

The Blood Kite does not use advanced electronic targeting systems or expensive weaponry. For long range, it mounts a trio of Series 7K ER Large Lasers and three Type XV LRM-15 launchers. The missile launchers each contain enough ammunition for protracted engagements, though the twenty-one double heat sinks preclude continuous fire of all six weapons. At short range, three SEP Class SRM-4 launchers give the 'Mech the ability to score critical damage against exposed components.

Variants[edit]

  • Blood Kite 2 
    This more recent variant keeps only two LRM-15s from the original armament, each of which are slaved to an Artemis IV FCS. Added to them are three ER PPCs. This expensive weaponry is in violation of Khan Boques' directive, though the powerful design may prove worthwhile. No heat sinks were added, so the 'Mech is prone to overheating. It also carries a Light Active Probe in the head. BV (1.0) = 2,901[3], BV (2.0)= 3,122[4]

Design Quirks[edit]

The Blood Kite has the following Design Quirks:[5]

Notable Pilots[edit]

Notes[edit]

  • In German products, the unit's proper name was translated to Blutmilan.

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. MUL online date for the Blood Kite
  2. Technical Readout: 3067, p. 129
  3. Combat Operations, p. 110
  4. Record Sheets: 3067 Unabridged, p. 223
  5. BattleMech Manual, p. 90 Design Quirk Table - Blood Kite.
  6. Prince of Havoc, chapter 3 through 13

Bibliography[edit]