Raider (RDM)

2005-08-19T18:20:39Z

Dominus: /* Original Series Raider */

==Re-imagined Raider==

=== Overview ===
The Raider is the primary aerospace attack craft used by the [[Cylons]]. Two variants are know to have been developed:
* The Piloted Raider
* The Automated Raider

===Piloted Raider===
[[Image:Bsg-raider-P.jpg|thumb|Cylon Piloted Raider (credit: Small Artworks)]]
The piloted Raider was first encountered during the [[Cylon War]]. Piloted by a crew of three, it was armed with two forward-firing [[Kinetic Energy Weapon|kinetic energy weapons]] and could carry missiles in bays within the wings and on racks mounted beneath the wings.

Oval in shape, the piloted Raider had two sublight engines for propulsion, but probably did not incoporate FTL technology.

The vehicle was both space and atmosphere-capable.

====Notes====
* Within fan circles, when discussing the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|re-imagined series]], it has been hypothesised that the original Raider was in fact a Colonial vehicle designed to be flown by a human crew. However, with the development of the [[Cylon Centurion]], they were crudely adapted to be flown by Cylons. Thus, their use during the [[Cylon War]] prompted the development of the Colonial [[Viper]]. Currently, there is nothing that is [[canon]] to support this.

===Autonomous Raider===
[[Image:bsg-raider-A.jpg|thumb|Cylon Autonomous Raider, captured by the Battlestar Galactica (credit: Sky One / Sci-Fi Channel)]]

The Autonomous Raider was first encountered more than 40 years after the [[Cylon War]], when the Cylons launched their devastating [[Cylon Attack|surprise attack]] on the [[Twelve Colonies]].

The vehicle is substantially different to the piloted Raider, comprising a small fuselage mounted between two large forward-curved wings.

The autonomous Raider was initially thought to be wholly mechanical in design, with a high-level AI controlling it. However, following the recovery of a Raider that had been forced down onto a planetoid during a firefight with [[Thrace, Kara|Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace]] ([[Act of Contrition]]), it was discovered the new Raider is, in fact, bio-mechanical in nature ([[You Can't Go Home Again]]), incorporating a number of large organs ins its design, including an organic brain.

The autonomous Raider has a broad weapons capability:
* [[Kinetic Energy Weapon|Kinetic energy]] missiles carried in internal wing bays ([[Mini-Series]])
* Nuclear missiles mounted on under-wing racks ([[Mini-Series]])
* Two different caliber sets of twin kinetic energy weapon guns mounted under the leading edge of the wings ([[33]] onwards)

During the Cylon attack, the new Raider was also capable of transmitting an electronic virus to any Colonial vessel utilising the Command Navigation Program ([[CNP]]). The CNP had been compromised prior to the attack, and provided a [[backdoor]] by which integrated systems aboard Colonial vessels could be rendered inoperable, rendering the ship defenseless ([[Mini-Series]]).

The new model of Cylon Raider is also equipped with a small-scale [[FTL]] drive system ([[Mini-Series]]). Following tests on the Raider captured by the ''Galactica'', this FTL system was found to be far more capable than Colonial FTL systems. Estimates showed that the drive could carry the Raider from somewhere near the vicinity of [[Kobol]] back to [[Caprica]] in a single jump ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]).

Like the previous model of Raider, it is atmosphere-capable ([[You Can't Go Home Again]]).

Overall, the new Raider is an agile fighter craft, far more manoeuvrable than its piloted forebear, and able to match Colonial [[Viper|Vipers]] in combat.

==Original Series Raider==

The original series raider is the same as the piloted raider, seen above.

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Raider (RDM)