Entry 80: Warrior VTOL

Weight: 21 Tons

Introduced: 2957

Top Speed: 162 km/h

Engine: 70 ICE

Stock Armament: Autocannon/2, SRM4

*Crusty mp3 of Ride of The Valkyries here*

First produced in 2950, the Warrior H-7 Attack Helicopter is a common sight across the Inner Sphere, serving as a highly mobile fire support unit.

Privately designed by Lockheed-CBM as a cheaper and more easily produced substitute for Light BattleMechs in the notoriously top-heavy and sluggish Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces' Third Succession War era BattleMech regiments...

...the Lyran High Command originally dismissed the Warrior as a worthless "flying toy" in 2957 until the Ninth Battle of Hesperus that same year damaged Defiance Industries' facilities to the point the LCAF were desperate for any military hardware, placing heavy orders.

The aircraft itself is a standard rotary wing design. The two counter-rotating rotor systems negate the need for a tail rotor, as there is no drive torque to be canceled.

Capable of speeds of 162kph, the Warrior can range across the battle field with ease, its ability to serve as a recon unit enhanced by its ability to drop 250 kilograms of remote sensors.

Many Warriors are assigned to garrison units and air-mobile infantry regiments to provide quick response fire support, where tactically the VTOL is best used to engage its target at long range without being tied to the defense of a specific location.

The Warrior is designed around a center line-mounted SarLon Autocannon/2. While not as powerful as some autocannons, the extremely long range of the weapon allows the Warrior to engage targets from outside of the effective range of most opponents, slowly wearing down their armor.

To provide close-in protection against targets that cannot be effectively engaged within the minimum range of the SarLon, the Warrior mounts a TharHes SRM-4 rack.

Both are mated to a N&D Handsfree targeting and tracking system linked to the pilot's helmet, allowing the pilot to merely look at what he wants to target and pull the trigger. One ton of reloads each give the helicopter decent endurance in combat.

The life of the Warrior's relatively fragile frame can be measured in seconds if drawn into close range combat with armor or 'Mechs.

The H-7B variant swaps the AC/2 for a medium laser and the SRM4 for 2 SRM2s. Making it into more of a close anti-infantry support than a long range sniper. This is the variant that MechWarrior 5 uses.