Raider (RDM)
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- This article is about the Re-imagined Series Raider fighter craft. For other versions, see Cylon Raider.
The Raider is the primary aerospace attack craft used by the Cylons against the peoples of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol.
Modern Raider
| Modern Cylon Raider | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Race: | Cylon | ||
| Type: | Military | ||
| FTL: | Yes | ||
| Propulsion: | |||
| Crew: | None (biomechanical being) | ||
| Capacity: | |||
| CO: | {{{co}}} | ||
| XO: | {{{xo}}} | ||
| Role: | Space superiority fighter | ||
| Weapons: | 2 Kinetic Energy Weapons, missiles | ||
| Armaments: | {{{arm}}} | ||
| Defenses: | {{{def}}} | ||
| Aircraft: | {{{aircraft}}} | ||
| Aviation facilities: | {{{facilities}}} | ||
| Fate: | {{{status}}} | ||
| Emblem: | [[Image:{{{patch}}}|175px|Ship's patch]] | ||
| Other Images: | Gallery | ||
| Length: | 29.3 feet (8.94 meters) | ||
| Width: | {{{width}}} | ||
| Height: | 4.97 feet (1.52 meters) | ||
| Weight: | {{{weight}}} | ||
| Wingspan: | 18.3 feet (5.59 meters) | ||
| Other: | {{{otherdi}}} | ||
| Cost: | {{{construction}}} | ||
| Construction Time: | {{{construction}}} | ||
| Hull Size: | {{{hull size}}} | ||
| Hull: | {{{hull}}} | ||
| FTL Cooldown: | {{{ftl cooldown}}} turns | ||
| Speed: | {{{speed}}} m/s | ||
| Turn Rate: | {{{turn rate}}}°/turn | ||
| Armor Total: | {{{armor total}}} | ||
| Armor Left: | {{{armor left}}} | ||
| Armor Right: | {{{armor right}}} | ||
| Armor Front: | {{{armor front}}} | ||
| Armor Rear: | {{{armor rear}}} | ||
| Armor Top: | {{{armor top}}} | ||
| Armor Bottom: | {{{armor bottom}}} | ||
| DRADIS Range: | {{{dradis range}}} m | ||
| Processing Power: | {{{processing power}}} | ||
| Munition Slots: | {{{munitions}}} | ||
| Munition Cooldown Period: | {{{munition cooldown}}} turns | ||
| Squadron Slots: | {{{squadrons}}} | ||
| Squadron Size: | {{{squadron size}}} | ||
| Special Abilities: | {{{special abilities}}} | ||
| Additional Information | |||
The modern Raider, radically redesigned but still resembling its past incarnation as a giant flying wing, is first encountered 40 years after the Cylon War, when the Cylons launch their devastating surprise attack on the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. During this attack, Raiders transmitted commands to Colonial vessels utilizing the Command Navigation Program (CNP). Compromised prior to the attack, the CNP was programmed with back-doors that permitted the Cylons to cut the power of any ship carrying the program (Miniseries).
This incarnation of the Raider was initially thought to be wholly mechanical in design, with a high-level AI controlling it. However, from inspection of a damaged Raider forced down in a firefight and recovered by Lieutenant Kara Thrace (Act of Contrition), the craft is found to be bio-mechanical in nature (You Can't Go Home Again), incorporating a number of large organs in its design, including a central brain. In effect, a modern Raider is a creature in itself.
Though the Raider may be classified as self-aware, it's intelligence level is less than that of a humanoid Cylon; it is more like a trained animal (Six Degrees of Separation). Much like the humanoids, the bio-mechanical Raider pilot's consciousness can be transferred into new a "body" if it is destroyed. While this process of rebirth allows the Raider to "learn" from its previous mistakes and become a more efficient killing machine, it can also cause Raiders to fight with deadly, almost human-like tactics best described as vengeance for undergoing repeated deaths (Scar).
The Raider is equipped with an FTL drive system (Miniseries). Following tests on the Raider captured by Galactica, this FTL system is found to be far more efficient in jump calculations than Colonial FTL systems. The drive shows its accuracy when Lt. Thrace takes the Raider from a point somewhere near the vicinity of Kobol back to Caprica in a single jump (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I).
Much like its counterpart, the Colonial Viper, the Raider is capable of atmospheric operations, and retains an aerodynamic shape (You Can't Go Home Again).
The Raider is known as a "sparrow" in Colonial military jargon (Maelstrom).
Weapon configurations include:
- Conventional and/or nuclear missiles carried in internal wing bays (Miniseries)
- Two Kinetic Energy Weapons mounted under the leading edge of the wings
Cylon War-era Raider
| Cylon War-era Raider | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Race: | Cylon | ||
| Type: | Military | ||
| FTL: | Yes | ||
| Propulsion: | |||
| Crew: | Up to 3 Centurions | ||
| Capacity: | |||
| CO: | {{{co}}} | ||
| XO: | {{{xo}}} | ||
| Role: | Space superiority fighter, dropship | ||
| Weapons: | 2 guns (type unknown) | ||
| Armaments: | {{{arm}}} | ||
| Defenses: | {{{def}}} | ||
| Aircraft: | {{{aircraft}}} | ||
| Aviation facilities: | {{{facilities}}} | ||
| Fate: | {{{status}}} | ||
| Emblem: | [[Image:{{{patch}}}|175px|Ship's patch]] | ||
| Other Images: | Gallery | ||
| Length: | |||
| Width: | {{{width}}} | ||
| Height: | |||
| Weight: | {{{weight}}} | ||
| Wingspan: | |||
| Other: | {{{otherdi}}} | ||
| Cost: | {{{construction}}} | ||
| Construction Time: | {{{construction}}} | ||
| Hull Size: | {{{hull size}}} | ||
| Hull: | {{{hull}}} | ||
| FTL Cooldown: | {{{ftl cooldown}}} turns | ||
| Speed: | {{{speed}}} m/s | ||
| Turn Rate: | {{{turn rate}}}°/turn | ||
| Armor Total: | {{{armor total}}} | ||
| Armor Left: | {{{armor left}}} | ||
| Armor Right: | {{{armor right}}} | ||
| Armor Front: | {{{armor front}}} | ||
| Armor Rear: | {{{armor rear}}} | ||
| Armor Top: | {{{armor top}}} | ||
| Armor Bottom: | {{{armor bottom}}} | ||
| DRADIS Range: | {{{dradis range}}} m | ||
| Processing Power: | {{{processing power}}} | ||
| Munition Slots: | {{{munitions}}} | ||
| Munition Cooldown Period: | {{{munition cooldown}}} turns | ||
| Squadron Slots: | {{{squadrons}}} | ||
| Squadron Size: | {{{squadron size}}} | ||
| Special Abilities: | {{{special abilities}}} | ||
| Additional Information | |||
The original Cylon Raider as seen during the Cylon War resembled a great flying wing.[1]
Deployed en masse by the original-configuration basestar, Raiders were used to great effect against battlestars and were nearly a match in maneuverability against their opponent, the Viper Mark II. They were also used as drop-ships for deploying ground forces (as exemplified by the Battle of Tauron), and were capable of landing in a vertical fashion, much like the Colonial Raptor ("Razor", extended version).
Raiders, in combination with basestar missile salvos, destroyed the battlestar Columbia during Operation Raptor Talon (Razor Flashbacks).
This Raider model had a crew comprised of three Centurions. From the rear cockpit a Command-variant Centurion gave orders to two Cylons positioned at the front to pilot, navigate, and handle weapons.
40 years later, some of these Raiders are still in active service and used by the Guardians (Razor).
Notes
- Like the Original Series Raider, the weapons fire of the Re-imagined Series Cylon Raiders is bluish-white. The nature of this weapon is, again, more of an homage to the Original Series but, given the series' disuse of "energy weapons", should not suggest that this original Raider used an energy weapon as its Original Series counterpart.
Concept Drawings
These concept drawings represent the interior of the modern Raider, and emphasize the bio-mechanical nature of the craft. They are very close to the fully realized versions seen in the Re-imagined Series. However, there were several changes made and these drawings should not be considered completely canon.
-
Raider brain cavity
-
Internal workings
-
Front view
-
Starbuck in brain cavity
References
- ↑ This fighter design is an homage to the Original Series version of the Raider.