Raziel
Dark Jedi Spymaster
Image Credit: http://cementiet.deviantart.com/art/Raybit-325088318
Intent: The result of a twenty year programme to create a more tactically effective droid infantry unit to supplement existing, but outdated models. (An interesting NPC enemy for opposing forces)
Development Thread: N/A
Manufacturer: Haor Chall Engineering and InnoteQ
Model: CS/BX11 Hailfire tactical battle droid fire team
Affiliation Open Market
Modularity: Yes. Each base droid can be fitted out as one of the following options: Heavy rifle, Rifle, Repeater, Scout, Communications.
Production: Minor
Material: Durasteel
Classification: Fourth Degree
Weight: 60kg (67kg for special weapons variants)
Height: 0.4 m
Diameter 90cm
Movement: Repulsorlift
Armaments:
Blaster Rifle
Heavy rifle: can pierce heavy personal armor (not including rare materials such as Beskar) and lightly armoured vehicles. Increased accuracy and range.
Repeater: light repeater capable of mowing down several troopers caught in the open.
Misc. Equipment:
Scout model equipped with a range of sensors suitable to the needs of the tactical unit
Comms unit has long range transmitter and relays significant information back to command
Description: The CS/BX11 Hailfire tactical fireteam has been designed to make best use of the latest technology to create battle droids that can adapt to difficult tactical situations more effectively than the ageing B class droids and the cost-effective Clanker.
The ACA ran a competitive contract with Haor Chall and Baktoid being the last two after several rounds of competition. In the end it was decided that HCE's design that moved away from the traditional bipedal soldiers met the needs of a rapidly modernising ACA.
The designers found that Bipedal design was actually a limitation, so set about creating a modular weapons system to be fitted to a repulsor powered chassis. Each droid provides a smaller target that can elevate from cover,and lock onto targets rapidly.
The actual drones and modified weapons have been available for five years, however the software has proved more troublesome. This large project ran over budget and failed to deliver to set milestones. In the end a new, more innovative team of developers (InnoteQ) was brought in to complete the software design.
Each 9 droid team shares computational resources, as long as they remain within a hundred metres of each other. This allows the collective to be far more intelligent than a solitary droid and each fire team will react and adapt to threats with the efficiency of an experienced squad of soldiers. Live testing with simulated weapons has found that the droids were capable of out-performing 60% of sentient squads available for testing. This is significantly higher than the current line battle droids, which struggle to win simulated combat with even forces. The droids are particular effective in urban combat, where their small frame can hide in many locations and they can move between floors with ease. Each squad can analyse a situation with sensory input from all droids, prioritise targets and individually lock onto new targets within half a second.
There are still limitations with the design. They cannot do basic soldiering task, such as carrying equipment from location to location, or anything else required of a humanoid. This is a huge limitation and ensures the droids cannot be the primary infantry unit.
As each member of the group is destroyed each fire team will become progressively less intelligent, until becoming equivalent to a B1 or less. If the comms droid is destroyed the remaining droids will not be able to communicate with anything outside of a mile radius. An equivalent regular solider is able to take the equipment from a downed squad mate.
However, Reinforcements can be rapidly deployed to squads automatically from stock, and the repulsors power allows them to move through dangerous combat zones rapidly. Squads of soldiers that have lost many members often take time to work well as a group again.
The current production model suffers in temperatures over 40 degrees. Processing struggles, limiting intelligence and in extreme temperatures (>50C) the units can shutdown. The cooling system is being improved for the mk2, with a refit programme to follow.
