Claymore

Claymore
Production information
Manufacturer	Shipil Company of Skye
Production Year	3054
Use	Assault Ship
Type	Military Aerodyne
Tech Base	Star League
Technical specifications
Mass	1,400 tons
Structural Integrity	12
Length	87 meters
Width	74 meters
Height	25 meters
Drive System	Unknown
Safe Thrust	3 g
Max Thrust	4.5 g
Fuel (tons)	80 tons
Fuel (days)	43.5 days
Armament	1 x ER Large Laser 2 x ER PPCs 4x Large Lasers 4 x Medium Lasers 2 x Large Pulse Lasers 2 x Medium Pulse Lasers 2 x Small Pulse Lasers 4 x LB 10-X ACs 2 x LRM-10s 2 x LRM-20s 3 x Streak SRM-2s
Armor	Unknown Fore: 25 Sides: 20 Aft: 15
Crew	15
Escape Pods/Life Boats	0/2
Heat Sinks	47 (94)
BV (1.0)	3,989
BV (2.0)	5,034

Description

One of the first new AFFC DropShip designs to be produced after the recovery of the Helm Memory Core, the Claymore is a small but formidably armed and armored assault ship.

The design phase began amid great secrecy in 3047, but the Clan Invasion refocused AFFC funds toward new BattleMech design and production, with the prototype only taking its maiden flight at the end of 3053, production approved after successful operations on combat raids with the 6th Lyran Guards in 3054. Shipil produce one Claymore every nine months, the majority posted along the edge of the Clan occupation zones ensured they became a primarily Lyran design after the formation of Lyran Alliance, with the majority of new production making their way to Skye loyalist units.

Armament

While some observers have criticized the craft for lacking adequate firepower for an assault ship, the weapon array is enough to give pause to most other Dropships. The Claymore's six nose bays contain most of the vessel's weaponry, a mixture ER PPCs, a ERs and Mediums and Large Pulse Lasers, Streak SRM-2 and LRM-20 launchers and a LB 10-X AC autocannon. The rear of the vessel repeats the same basic layout, save for omitting the ER large laser and Streak launcher for two Small Pulse Lasers. The Claymores wing-mounted mixture of a forward facing Large Laser, LRM-10 and LB 10-X AC autocannon, paired with rear facing Large laser and Streak 2 launchers on each side, also cover both fore and aft arcs.

Cargo

Designed as an assault craft, the Claymore features a single two door cargo bay, with a 329 ton capacity.

Variants

• Claymore Interceptor 

  This version uses several experimental weapons systems to increase the range of the weaponry. Armor, fuel, and performance remain identical to the baseline Claymore. The standard weapons have been removed and replaced by Extended LRM-15s, Silver Bullet Gauss Rifles, Bombast Lasers, and Laser AMS. The rest of the weapons are built to Clan specifications. A quartet of ER Large Lasers are located in the wings, while twin Clan Large Pulse Lasers cover the rear. Seven Clan-spec ER Medium Lasers are carried by the Interceptor, three mounted in the nose and four covering the rear arc. Sixty-three extra heat sinks dissipate all the heat generated by the weapons. To make room for the new weapons and heat sinks, the cargo capacity is reduced to 263.5 tons. BV (2.0) = 6,975

• Claymore V3 

  This variant of the Claymore is based on the Claymore Interceptor. Unfortunately all the Clan spec weaponry has been replaced by less-efficient Inner Sphere versions. This leads to a design that hasn't performed as well as the Interceptor, resulting in some embarrassing losses to the Capellan Confederation's Lung Wang Pocket WarShip. BV (2.0) = 5,889

Design Quirks

The Claymore V3 variant is subject to the following Design Quirks:

• Atmospheric Flyer
• Bad Reputation

Known vessels

(See Category:Individual Claymore-class DropShips)

Gallery

• 

  Original Claymore from TRO:3057

• 

  Variant Claymore V3 from TRO:Proto

References

• Technical Readout: 3057, pp 12-13
• Technical Readout: 3057 Revised, pp 10-11

Bibliography

• AeroTech 2 Record Sheets
• Experimental Technical Readout: Steiner
• Record Sheets: Prototypes
• Technical Readout: 3057
• Technical Readout: 3057 Revised
• Technical Readout: Prototypes