Orbital Strike Drone

[Livgardist]

Manufacturer: Mandal Hypernautics

Production Line: Orbital Strike Drone production line

Model: SR-21 Orbital Strike Drone

Technical Weapon Designation: SR-21 Orbital Strike Drone

Affiliation: Mainly for Mandalorians, but also available on the open market for military forces on friendly terms with the Mandalorians.

Availability: Currently prototype only, intended for interest gauging, but ready to be massproduced.

Modularity: Modifiable for recon- and attack missions.

Composition: Combination of lightweight durasteel alloy, and duraplast.

Ownership: Mandalorian military personnel

Description: The Orbital Strike Drone is, contrary to the name, not intended for orbital deployment, but rather for ultra-high planetary altitude deployment. It is designed as a modular weapons platform with attack- as well as reconnaissance capability depending on the need. In the case of Mandalorian needs, the main focus lies on the vessel being used as an unmanned reconnaissance drone. It combines light weight, and therefor very light armor, with great speed and during attack missions, armament. Due to its capability for speed as great as 3000 km per hour, it is very hard to bring down despite its light armor.

The drone is designed to be deployed from spaceships in orbit, but is also capable of landing on the ground when provided with a 40 m landing strip. It is controlled remotely from a control center on a ship, and thanks to large fuel tanks is capable of sustained flight for 30 hours before running out of fuel. It is armed with multiple-barrel blaster cannons, and air-to-surface missiles during attack assignments, and during reconnaissance assignments it is equipped with no weapons, only a high quality video camera. The drone is usually painted in a matte black color to give an edge during night flights, which is the time when it is most commonly deployed.

The OSD is equipped with an energy shield system designed not for protection against AA-positions, where its great speed is its greatest defense, but for atmospheric entry as well as compensation for its less aerodynamical flight body. When it requires maintaining surveillance for a longer period over a specific area, deflector shields are deactivated and speed is reduced greatly. This is known as "Drone mode". This makes the OSD an easier target for AA-positions, but the risk of this is reduced by its high altitude and the fact it mainly operates in drone mode during the cover of darkness. Due to the four powerful fission engines that drive the OSD, the drone's exhausts and engine system can also be highly radioactive if exposed to open air, and therefor extreme care and special treatment is required for personnel handling and working with the OSD.

Spoiler: Orbital Strike Drone

Classification: Unmanned aerial vehicle

Height: 3,6 m

Length: 11 m

Width: 15 m

Weight: 2900 kg

Propulsion: 4 x Mandal Hypernautics C20 Fission Engines.

Armaments: Six-barrel fully automatic Nordstrom blaster cannons, air-to-surface missiles

Passenger Capacity: None

Cargo Capacity: None

Misc. Equipment: Remote radar, video feed, artificial intelligence unit

Role: Unmanned aerial attack- and reconnaissance drone

 

[Number-75]

Damn it! I was hoping that I would get my Vehicle sheet in before some else did! Foiled again!

That aside, this looks pretty cool. I do have to wonder though, is the 5000 km/h top speed for in atmosphere flight, space, or just overall max that the frame can withstand before cracking?

 

[Livgardist]

Haha, sorry. It had to be done sooner or later. :D Anyway, thanks. I'm glad you like it!

And the 5000 km/h is the maximum speed airborne inside the atmosphere, though it should (I'm not too well-versed in physics) be capable of the same speed in space.

 

[Cassanova]

It'd be capable of craploads more in space. The only reason atmospheric flight is limited is because of friction produced by air particles eventually reaches an equilibrium with the amount of thrust the engines provide - this point would be its max speed. So things like aerodynamics, engine power, fuel type, fuel weight, weapon payload, overall weight all come into effect.

In space however, a given vehicle/drone will continue accelerating without limit. There is, however - according to relativistic physics, a theoretical point where that the faster an object travels the higher it's mass becomes, so the MORE fuel is needed to accelerate it. Eventually an object's mass becomes so great that it can no longer BE accelerated by any notable amount by its pissy engines. If, however, it can overcome this barrier, the vessel will actually travel as fast as the speed of light (without using a hyperdrive system).

Physics 101, boys ;)

 

[Livgardist]

No comprendo, señor. Habla Sueco? :CSly

 

[Cassanova]

pfft, theoretical physics mang. Theory of relativity.
PAY ATTENTION IN SCHOOL!

 

[Livgardist]

I was too busy chasing skirts. :CScool

 

[Solaris]

Why is it faster in atmosphere than a cloud car (1,500 km/h) or X-Wing (1,400 km/h for later models)? It doesn't even have a particle shield to get around that hideously bad-for-supersonic frame it has.

 

[Livgardist]

You don't like its shape? :CFuu

Anyway, to answer your question...well, I see now that I've left out the propulsion part, so I'm just going to give a reason for the high speed there instead. But I'll do that tomorrow when I've rolled the idea around for a bit. ;)

 

[Solaris]

I mean that an atmosphere will shred that thing, and I don't care what it's made out of, if it tries to get up to Mach 1, much less (approximately) Mach 4. Most Star Wars craft that aren't aerodynamically shaped have shields to form a more streamlined bubble around them, thus enabling the craft to go faster. That's why the X-wing's speed is listed as 1,400 km/h (faster with shields on).
Thus, it really doesn't matter what its propulsion system is - the shape of the frame prevents it from achieving that speed due a generally not streamlined shape and incredible parasite drag - notably, that nose is a big honkin' baffle.

 

[Livgardist]

Oooh, I see now.

So, it should be more capable of high speed if I just toss in an energy shield to form aforementioned streamlined bubble around it, yes?

 

[Solaris]

Yes, those speeds would be achievable with deflector shields.
I'd also say you could do better by giving it a swing-wing design, but even with that it's as streamlined as a pickup truck.

Now keep in mind that low flight speeds are good for what most UAVs do - loiter over a target and watch it for long periods of time. Given that shape is better for a low flight speed, it's actually a good thing that it needs to deploy its shields in order to fly fast.

 

[Livgardist]

That is true, what you say about UAV's. I was looking for a highspeed one, though, that would cruise over the battlefield almost like a satellite, invisible to the naked eye because it's so fast and high up. It'd be like the Eye in the Sky that you can't escape.

But, to the matters at hand, I've edited it to include propulsion (four fission engines to give a reason for the great speed), energy shields, and reduced the maximum speed to 3000 km/h, which is still pretty damn fast.

I might modify it some more, though, to give room for a slower, more drone-esque flight mode as well as the high speed flight mode...