Hi-Scout

Hi-Scout.jpg
Hi-Scout
Production information
Manufacturer ScolTek Associates
Production Year 3000[1]
Mission Scout/Drone Carrier
Type Tracked
Technical specifications
Mass 60 tons
Armor ArcShield V Standard
Engine Vlar 300 ICE
Speed 65 km/h
Crew 1
Communications System StealthMat-Q with MultiTrack
Targeting Tracking System Tar Tec Mini-Find
Heat Sinks 0
Armament

  • 1x SRM-2
  • 3x PathTrack
  • 3x NapFind-Drones
BV (2.0) 347


Description[edit]

The Hi-Scout Drone Carrier is a reconnaissance combat vehicle produced by ScolTek Associates since 3000. Gathering information equals gathering ammunition on a modern battlefield, and while throughout most of the Succession Wars scouting duties were performed by 'Mechs (such as the Locust or the Stinger), fast vehicles or satellite-systems, the Hi-Scout provides an alternative that is less susceptible to enemy countermeasures.[2]

The vehicle's sensor suite includes infrared, seismic, sound, motion, radio, radar and hyperpulse to detect any unit within sixty kilometers. It also comes with a 15-ton drone hangar capable of housing 3 NapFind hover Drones and 3 PathTrack tracked drones. The StealthMat-Q Communications with MultiTrack Coordination system is able to transmit and monitor over 500 channels simultaneously, and allows each Hi-Scout to control its fleet of drones. The drones act in coordination with each other and their mother vehicle to create a "sensor chain", increasing the vehicle's detection range by over one hundred percent. The only downside to the system is that unusually-high amounts of background radiation can interfere with the MultiTrack system.[2]

The Hi-Scout serves as a ground-based early-warning network for less important planets and, if it came to an invasion, as a communications and reconnaissance asset for the planetary defenders. Slow and lightly armored, the Hi-Scout was not built for direct combat, instead proving to be one of the most specialized, and effective, scout vehicles in existence before the recovery of the Helm Memory Core or the Clan Invasion and the subsequent development of newer C3 network technology. Its tracking and communication systems were superior to anything other than a specialized command 'Mech or dedicated C3-complex at its time.[2]

Weapons and Equipment[edit]

Armed with only a single SRM-2 and one ton of ammo, the Hi-Scout needed to be protected against both detection and enemy fire. Five and a half tons of ArcShield armor offered token protection against enemy scouts, but everything beyond a light hovercraft was surely beyond its capabilities.[2]

Drones[edit]

  • PathTrack 
    The PathTrack was a tracked, three-ton drone common aboard Hi-Scouts. It packed a sensor load of 0.75 tons and reached speeds of up to 129 km/h. A half ton of armor mainly served to protect it from the environment, but the great mobility and high data output made it the backbone of the Hi-Scout's drone contingent. It had a sensor range of twenty kilometers, using infrared, seismic, sound and motion detectors, and was able to intercept enemy radio communications.
  • NapFind 
    The NapFind was a hover-based, two-ton drone aboard the Hi-Scout. A sleek and incredibly fast hover drone, it lacked the sophisticated listening devices of its greater cousin and only had a sensor range of ten kilometers, but retained the same sensor package and used its incredible speed of up to 400 km/h to quickly reconnoiter the enemy. BV (1.0) = ??, BV (2.0) = 13

Variants[edit]

Design Quirks[edit]

The Hi-Scout Cunningham variant is subject to the following Design Quirks:[3]

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. MUL online date for the Hi-Scout
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Technical Readout: 3026 Revised, p. 84
  3. 3.0 3.1 Experimental Technical Readout: Phantoms, p. 10

Bibliography[edit]