Heavy Raider

Heavy Raider
Race	Cylon
Type	Military
FTL	Yes
Propulsion
Crew	Holds approximately 10 Centurions
Capacity
CO	{{{co}}}
XO	{{{xo}}}
Role	Troop transport and gunship
Weapons	A 6-barrel Kinetic Energy Weapon and at least one missile launcher
Armaments	{{{arm}}}
Status	{{{status}}}
Other Images	More images...
Dimensions
Length	{{{length}}}
Width	{{{width}}}
Height	{{{height}}}
Weight	{{{weight}}}
Wingspan	{{{wingspan}}}
Other	{{{otherdi}}}

From Battlestar Wiki, the free, open content Battlestar Galactica encyclopedia and episode guide

Jump to: navigation, search

This article is about the Re-imagined Series heavy raider. For other versions, see Cylon Raider.

A Heavy Raider is a Cylon dual purpose attack and transport spacecraft, nicknamed "turkey" by the Fleet's military units (Maelstrom).

The main armament of the Heavy Raider seems to consist of a barbette of six cannons mounted under the cockpit area of the vehicle (as seen here). These cannons are capable of an extremely high rate of fire (Scattered). The Heavy Raiders are also capable of launching missiles.

The first Heavy Raider is seen as part of a Cylon search party looking for Karl "Helo" Agathon and Sharon Agathon née Valerii on Cylon-occupied Caprica (Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down). Further sightings in Season 1 are in "Colonial Day" with one craft landing near Agathon and Valerii, and in space over Caprica in "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II".

Unlike the standard Raider, the Heavy Raider is either exclusively or optionally piloted by humanoid Cylons (The Hub) or Centurions, however it can apparently pilot itself (The Road Less Traveled).

Significant appearances

A Heavy Raider with a boarding party of five Centurions crash-lands into Galactica's unused starboard flight pod (Scattered).

During the Battle of the Communications Relay, two Heavy Raiders make soft landings inside one of the flight pods of the battlestar Pegasus and unload Centurion boarding parties (Razor).

Heavy Raider on Kobol

After shooting down a Colonial scouting party over Kobol, a force of five Centurions lands near the crash site of Raptor 1 in a Heavy Raider. They proceed to dismantle its missile launcher and DRADIS assembly in an attempt to build a surface-to-air missile battery, intending to shoot down any search and rescue parties that Galactica sends to find the survivors (Fragged).

The Heavy Raider is conclusively proven to be a troop transport in "The Farm" when Sharon Agathon née Valerii commandeers one and uses it to evacuate the Caprica Resistance after they rescue Kara Thrace from a Cylon hybrid "farm." That captured Heavy Raider is eventually used to jump to Kobol where Thrace, Agathon and Valerii finally hook up with Laura Roslin's fleet.

The Cylon attack fleet in "Flight of the Phoenix" includes a large amount of Heavy Raiders, which could indicate a planned boarding operation or merely the need for additional heavy firepower.

Months later, Felix Gaeta reveals that with Valerii's cooperation they are able to interface the navigational system of a captured Heavy Raider with a Raptor's FTL drive, making it capable of farther and more accurate jumps than before (beyond Colonial FTL's Red Line limit) with significantly faster calculations (as previously determined from a captured Cylon Raider). A strike team is able to return to Caprica in less than ten jumps and successfully rescues the Caprica Resistance (Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I).

After New Caprica, Thrace believes she sees a Heavy Raider in the atmosphere of a nearby gas giant, although no one else can see it. Its appearance may somehow relate to her alleged destiny (Maelstrom).

Heavy Raiders play a significant part in the battle to destroy the Cylon Resurrection Hub. Piloted by rebel Cylons, they tow powered-down Colonial Vipers to get them close without their engines and electronics being detected. After the cables are cut and the Vipers' systems activated, they engage the Cavil-faction baseships and Raiders until the resurrected D'Anna Biers is retrieved and the Vipers destroy the Hub in a nuclear missile strike (The Hub).

A Heavy Raider is seen running a joint CAP with Colonial Vipers in Deadlock.

Notes

According to Eric Chu, Richard Livingston designed the Heavy Raider. ^[1]
As of "Razor", a new retconned exterior design for the Heavy Raider is in use. It is virtually identical to the previous incarnation save for a new head canopy—which matches that of the retconned standard Raider—and the addition of missile launcher (capable of propelling two missiles) superior to the forward battery.
The production team never constructed the interior of the Heavy Raider.

Related Imagery

Heavy Raider over Kobol (Home, Part I)	Firing frontal 6-barrel KEW (Scattered)	Heavy Raider aft view (Scattered).	Deployed from a baseship (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II).
Redesigned Heavy Raider.	Closeup of the head.	Flying joint CAP's after the mutiny.