Craft: Mekuun Hoverscout
Type: Hoverscout
Scale: Speeder
Length: 15.9 meters
Skill: Hover vehicle operation: Hoverscout
Crew: 1, gunners: 3
Crew Skill: Hover vehicle operation 4D+1, missile weapons 4D+2, vehicle blasters 4D+2
Passengers: 6
Cargo Capacity: 50 kilograms
Cover: Full
Cost: 75,000 (new) 55,000 (used)
Maneuverability: 1D
Move: 70; 200 kmh
Body Strength: 3D
Weapons:
Heavy Blaster Cannon
Fire Arc: Turret
Crew: 1
Skill: Vehicle blasters
Fire Control: 1D
Range: 50-250/750/1.5 Km
Damage: 6D
Laser Cannon
Fire Arc: Turret
Crew: 1
Skill: Vehicle blasters
Fire Control: 1D
Range: 50-100/200/500
Damage: 2D
Concussion Missile Launcher
Fire Arc: Turret
Crew: 1
Skill: Missile weapons
Fire Control: 2D
Range: 50-500/1.5/3 Km
Damage: 4D
Background: Mekuun Corporation’s Swift Assault 5 was a 15.9 meter-long hovercraft. It employed four Kasmin three-stage turbopumps to generate an air cushion. Kasmin’s turbopumps were the most refined heavy-duty air blower of its type available, permitting the Swift Assault 5 to produce extra elevation and float when required. A Gurian S87 “perpetual charge” power plant dynamo provided power for the hoverscout; a power capacitor started the air blower rotation, and the energy generated by the vehicles air cushion was recycled via back-blast impellers to supplement the S87’s power generation. The efficient engine design gave the Swift Assault 5 a longer operational range than equivalent vehicles of its size and type.
Capable of speeds up to two hundred kilometers an hour, the Swift Assault 5’s speed and maneuverability were not on par with standard repulsorlift vehicles, despite it having being modified from standard hover vehicle specifications to deal with military demands for traversing rough and rugged terrain. The hoverscout was favored on planets where terrain and planetary conditions caused erratic behavior in the operation of repulsorlift engines.
Swift Assault 5 could be piloted by a single crewmember, but an optimal crew of four allowed all the craft’s weapon systems to be employed without loss of efficiency. Training to crew a hoverscout required less equivalent training than was required to crew a repulsorlift vehicle. Six passengers could also be accommodated. Standard sensor packages included weapon-linked electro photo receptors at each crew position, as well as long-range communications equipment. Other sensor and communications packages could be installed depending on the mission profile. Between fifty and four hundred kilograms of cargo could be carried, in five hundred cubic centimeters of space. It could also store consumables for two days.
The Swift Assault 5 had an excellent maintenance and failure rate that was better than other floater scouts of similar type available on the market, and it was cheaper and easier to maintain. They could be purchased new for 75,000 credits, and used for between 45,000 and 55,000 credits.
Although lightly-armored, so as not to impair its maneuverability, the Swift Assault 5 could nevertheless withstand a direct hit. The doors and weapons ports on the vehicle were sealed, giving the hoverscout a fully closed and recyclable interior atmosphere. A wide field of vision for the pilot was achieved through the application of a windscreen made of ceraglass, a ceramic alloy that was both transparent and as tough as armor. The hoverscout was heavily armed, with three main weapons. A Mk 3/S heavy blaster cannon that was turret-mounted, and a light Mk 1/S laser cannon and Mk 2e/S concussion missile launcher that were able to fire in front and to the sides of the vehicle. Some models mounted a double blaster cannon and a double laser cannon, and a payload of either six Mk 1/S concussion missiles or sixteen concussion missiles was carried.