Bug-Eye
Bug-Eye | |
Production information | |
Manufacturer | Bowie Industries of Wasat[1] |
Introduced | 2620 |
Use | Surveillance |
Tech Base | Terran Hegemony |
Technical specifications | |
Mass | 6,100 tons |
Length | 129 m |
Sail Diameter | |
Fuel | 320 tons |
Burn Rate | |
Safe Thrust | 5 |
Top Thrust | 8 |
Sail Integrity | |
KF Drive Integrity | 2 |
LF Battery | None |
Armament | 1 x Light NPPC 2 x Large Lasers 1 x AC/20 |
Armor | 95 tons of Mitchell 6HY Standard |
DropShip Capacity | None |
Crew | 20 |
Grav Decks | None |
Escape Pods/Life Boats | 0 |
Heat Sinks | ??? |
Structural Integrity | 20 |
BV (1.0) | ??? |
Description
Surrounded by often belligerent neighbors, the Terran Hegemony placed high priority on surveillance vessels with abilities far in advance of anything the rest of the Inner Sphere powers could produce, with the Bug-Eye class being one of the most successful and long lived designs. Commissioned by the HAF to replace the aging Nightwing and Tracker vessels in 2524, the distinguished service record of the compact and highly complex Bug-Eye continued when it entered service with the Star League Navy in 2620. While a few examples survived the liberation of Terra and accompanied the Exodus fleet, the tactical role of the Bug-Eye has no place among the Clans who mothballed the design.[1]
Armament
The class shines due to its large array of highly advanced passive stealth features. The Bug-Eye outwardly resembles various aerodyne merchant DropShips like Buccaneer and Baby Sylvester, and can mimic a wide variety of merchant-vessel call signs to mask its true identity. While looking like a DropShip, the Bug-Eye features two massive interplanetary drives which give it deceptive speed and agility, combined with one of the most compact jump drives ever created, so small that a relatively tiny internally stored Jump Sail can charge it. All the surveillance equipment is hidden by sliding panels or directly integrated into the hull, which is coated in special material which can absorb radar and seemingly disappear from enemy screens. With the class's role of surveillance, the Bug-Eye has extremely light offensive armament even compared to the DropShips it resembles, with one HellStar naval class Light Particle Projection Cannon mounted in the nose backed by two side facing Large Lasers and a single rear facing AC/20.[1]
Cargo
The compact Bug-Eye is considerably packed with surveillance equipment, with little cargo space beyond supplies for the crew.[1]
Variants
With little solid information about the class ever revealed, no variants are known to exist.
Note
Many special features mentioned for the Bug-Eye are incompatible with most WarShip rules, which led to the design being left out Technical Readout: 3057 and Technical Readout: 3057 Revised.