Darter

This article is about the scout car. For the DropShip, see Darter (Individual Union-class DropShip).

Darter Scout Car
Production information
Manufacturer	General Motors
Production Year	2822
Mission	Reconnaissance
Type	Wheeled
Cost	68,568 C-bills
Technical specifications
Mass	13 tons
Armor	ProtecTech Light
Engine	GM 75 internal combustion engine
Speed	151 km/h
Crew	1
Communications System	Overlook J9
Targeting Tracking System	Brightstar 17 Mk. I
Heat Sinks	0
Armament	1x machine gun
BV (2.0)	125

History

The Darter Scout Car owed its existence to the destructive nature of the First Succession War. Following the end of that war, the Federated Suns needed to rebuild, with a preference to their BattleMech forces; they asked for manufacturing concerns to submit designs that would allow them to produce an effective combat vehicle filling a supporting role and not tie up materials needed to rebuild the more dedicated combat units. The Darter won that contract for General Motors in 2822.

Description

The Darter had respectable speed for a vehicle, topping out at 110 km/h. This speed came courtesy of an internal combustion engine, which allowed the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns to save fusion engines for its 'Mech force. A paltry two tons of armor protected the Darter, precluding it from all but the lightest combat. Rather than mounting dedicated electronics, the vehicle had three tons of cargo space that could easily be reconfigured. Despite their fragility, Darters were easily repaired.

Weapons and Equipment

The only weapon on the Darter was a Johnston Minigun machine gun with a full ton of ammunition.

Variants

• BAP 

  This version of the Darter replaced half its cargo space with a single Beagle active probe. The cargo capacity was reduced to 1.5 tons, but armament and armor remained the same as the standard Darter. BV (2.0) = 136

• C3 

  This version replaced one ton of cargo space with a C3 slave unit, to send targeting data to friendly forces. It was otherwise identical to the standard Darter. BV (2.0) = 125

• ECM 

  The only difference between this variant and the Beagle variant was the fact that the Beagle probe has been replaced by a Guardian ECM suite. BV (2.0)=193

• SRM 

  Some crews had eschewed cargo in favor of an SRM-4 and a ton of ammunition. BV 2.0= 192

• SRM2 

  This version took a standard Darter and reduced the cargo space to one ton. It added a single SRM-2 and ton of ammunition. Otherwise, it operated and was equipped as a standard Darter. BV (2.0) = 167

Gallery

• 

  Original Darter from TRO:3026 Revised

Bibliography

• Record Sheets: 3075
• Record Sheets: 3075 Unabridged
• Record Sheets: 3075 Unabridged - Age of War
• Technical Readout: 3075