Ashin Varanin
Professional Enabler
Image Source: Here
Intent: The first in a line of scanning probe droids for space use
Development Thread: None
Manufacturer: Theed Palace Space Vessel Engineering Corps
Model: Naboo Strategic Intrasystem Active Reconnaissance (SIARC) Probe Droid
Affiliation: Royal Naboo Defense Force, Theed Hangar, Galactic Alliance
Modularity: No
Production: Minor
Material: Durasteel, electronics
Classification: Second-degree/class two
Weight: 360kg
Height: 2.2m at longest dimension
Movement: Engine comparable to a starfighter (class 2) or a standard probe droid’s maneuvering pod, minus the hyperdrive.
Armaments: None. In extreme conditions, with time and effort, sensor gear could be removed and replaced with a basic warhead. This would be a last-ditch defensive option and a total waste of a good probe.
Misc. Equipment:
- Full-spectrum high-powered sensor package covering realspace (to a range of two light-hours), subspace, and hyperspace.
- Non-mass hyperwave transceiver with cross-channel hyperspatial radiation emission/detection functionality.
- Adaptive multispectrum encrypted comm suite.
Strengths:
- Provides comprehensive scans of a good-sized area within a relatively short amount of time.
- Multiple probes can detect hyperspace traffic which passes between them.
- Can transmit data despite virtually any communications jamming.
- Focused on detection and analysis of starships and relevant astronomical phenomena.
Weaknesses:
- Extremely obvious and easily targeted when actively scanning.
- Sensors not specialized for detecting or analyzing things other than starships or relevant astronomical phenomena.
- Fairly pricey to be so vulnerable; think twice before you deploy them in hostile conditions.
- Can only detect stealth vessels via drive emissions and magnetic sensors (meaning at fairly close ranges). Even then, thrust trace dampers and fiberplast hulls or hull degaussing processes will defeat those capabilities.
- Quite fragile, comparable to your average probe droid or a very light starfighter.
Description: The SIARC is a sublight-capable probe droid. Lacking a hyperdrive, it is designed for operations within the same system as the deploying ship. The SIARC probe has a powerful, expensive sensor suite capable of comprehensive scanning across realspace, subspace, and hyperspace. It is generally deployed through a purpose-built probe launcher (submission to follow), though it can be deployed from a hangar bay, standard airlock, or heavy missile tube as necessary.
The SIARC mounts a non-mass hyperwave transceiver which emits cross-channel hyperspatial radiation in specific directions. Though primarily used for hyperspace monitoring, this high-grade equipment allows the SIARC to transmit its data via directional hypercomm burst transmission. As a result, standard military-grade subspace or EM jamming has no effect on the SIARC's ability to pass along its findings, and hypercomm jamming would need to be quite intense and close at hand in order to scramble the SIARC's transmission.
The SIARC probe has three basic mission profiles, all involving detection and analysis of hostile forces.
In the first mission profile, a ship deploys a SIARC probe while retreating via sublight or hyperspace. The SIARC probe provides comprehensive scans of oncoming enemy forces and transmits them via an adaptive multispectrum encrypted comm suite. The Naboo system contains several astronomical phenomena which could provide cover for the SIARC probe, such as micronebulae, asteroid clusters, or the complex moon systems of the gas giant Storm. Cover is recommended, as this mission profile generally ends with the destruction of the SIARC probe. What matters is maximizing scan time.
In the second mission profile, the SIARC enters one of these areas of cover and commences comprehensive scans, to detect or flush out concealed vessels. The SIARC is capable of high resolution and respectable range even within the densest astronomical phenomena.
In the third mission profile, multiple SIARC probes are deployed around a known hyperroute. They emit and detect cross-channel hyperspatial radiation via non-mass hyperwave transceivers. Ships which pass between them in hyperspace are detected. This mission profile offers only three days of functionality, in contrast to permanent and much larger emplacements such as the Rekali Kar’tayl platform. Crucially, then, the deploying authority must have some reason to suspect that hyperspace transit will be inbound along a specific route.
Primary Source: None.
