:''For information on the Cylon spacecraft from the [[Original Series]], see [[Cylon Spacecraft (TOS)]].''
{{shard|Cylon Models|Cylon Spacecraft|refs=Y}}
{{RDM cylons series}}
The Cylons have a series of spacecraft with specific roles and tactical needs.
==Raider==
:''Main article: [[Cylon Raider (RDM)]]''
[[Image:Bsg-raider-A.jpg|left|200 px]]
The [[Cylon Raider (RDM)|Raider]] is an autonomous attack fighter with a metallic carapace and a largely organic interior; it is the successor to the [[Cylon Raider (RDM)#Cylon War-era Raider|Piloted Raider]] dating from the [[Cylon War]].
[[Sharon Valerii]] describes the Raider's nature to [[Galen Tyrol]] as she examines the exterior of a captured Raider, unaware that she is, in fact, a sleeper [[Humanoid Cylon]] with innate knowledge of the Raider ([[Six Degrees of Separation]]):
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<blockquote>"It's not really a ''thing'', y'know? It's probably a Cylon itself. More of an animal, maybe, than the human models. Maybe they genetically design it to perform a task. To be a ''fighter''. [You] can't treat it like a ''thing'' and expect it to respond. [You] have to treat it like... a pet. At least that's my guess."</blockquote>
Two Raiders are captured by the Colonials. The first is found and returned to the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]] by [[Kara Thrace]] ([[Act of Contrition]]) and is later lost ([[Scattered]]). A second is used by [[Daniel Novacek]] to escape the Cylons and is currently in Colonial possession ([[Hero]]).
==Heavy Raider==
:''Main article: [[Cylon Heavy Raider]]''
[[Image:HeavyC.jpg|left|200 px]]
The [[Cylon Heavy Raider|Heavy Raider]] is a troop carrier spacecraft. It contains a crew compartment with life support sufficient for human comfort and room for at least ten [[Cylon Centurion]]s ("[[The Farm]]", "[[Scattered]]").
When the [[Caprica Resistance]] plans to capture a Heavy Raider in the episode "[[The Farm]]", [[Kara Thrace]] anticipates having to "blow its brain out" before it can be commandeered. No information has been provided in an episode (as of April 14, 2007) whether a Heavy Raider has autonomous components, or whether the Caprica copy of Valerii, who commandeers a Heavy Raider for herself, Thrace and [[Karl Agathon]], performs any procedure to disable any autonomous elements in the spacecraft or "persuade" the organics of the Heavy Raider to fly.
A Heavy Raider crashes into ''Galactica's'' starboard [[flight pod]] and deploys Cylon Centurions. If the Heavy Raider is autonomous, it performed its mission in concert with the Centurions at the battle ("[[Scattered]]", "[[Valley of Darkness]]").
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==Reconnaissance Drone==
:''Main article: [[Cylon Reconnaissance Drone]]''
No information has been given in any episode (as of "[[He That Believeth In Me]]") on whether the Reconnaissance Drone is manned, autonomous, or intelligent.
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==Freighter==
:''Main article: [[Cylon freighter (RDM)]]''
These cargo or troop carriers are seen briefly in "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]".
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==Basestar==
:''Main article: [[Basestar (RDM)|Basestar]]''
[[Image:Basestar.jpg|left|200px]]
A basestar (also called a baseship) is the Cylon's capital warship and counterpart to the Colonial [[battlestar]]. Both biological and mechanical in nature, basestars are commanded [[basestar command|by Humanoid Cylons in a collaborative manner]]. It contains a landing bay large enough to accompany a [[Raptor]] with life support capable of sustaining [[Humanoid Cylon]]s. Basestars can pummel a target with missiles but do not have gun batteries, leaving them vulnerable in close-in battle with a prepared battlestar.
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==Resurrection Ship==
:''Main article: [[Resurrection Ship]]''
[[Image:211 004.jpg|left|200px]]
Resurrection ships are large vessels containing the full apparatus necessary for resurrecting Humanoid Cylons once their consciousness has left a destroyed body. The ship is created to allow humanoid Cylons to be reborn in new bodies when they are out of range from the Cylon homeworld ([[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]). A second Resurrection Ship resides with a Cylon fleet that leaves [[New Caprica]] ([[Torn]]).
The Cylon central Resurrection Hub is a space-based installation, which coordinates the resurrection process among all of the Cylons' Resurrection Ships and other downloading facilities. Unlike the actual downloading process, the functions of the Resurrection Hub appears to have an indefinite range, and the Hub itself is irreplaceable. The Hub periodically jumps to a new location in order to prevent its discovery and relays its new location to the Cylon fleets. The Resurrection Hub also contains a facility used to store boxed Cylons' consciousnesses, which means that they can be revived there.
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[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
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Latest revision as of 04:24, 17 August 2025
This article on Cylon Spacecraft (RDM) is a shard, or a part, of a larger article (Cylon Models). Please direct all edits there.
Older craft were purely mechanical, and easilygave the largely unprepared Colonials a run for their cubits. At this time the Cylons are known to have employed basestars of various design, and Raider support ships capable of carrying a crew of three Centurions. These designs were retired sometime at the end of the War, however, a few raiders from this era survived, and were placed aboard the Cylon Colony after the arrival of the Final Five.
The pre-production script for Blood and Chrome provides additional information about First War Raider capabilities, describing advanced models that could transform for atmospheric flight. These Raiders were capable of sprouting "ailerons and flaps, transforming from a familiar type of ship into something brand new" when transitioning from space to atmospheric combat.[1] This atmospheric adaptation capability allowed them to effectively engage Colonial forces in planetary environments, demonstrating greater versatility than previously understood about First War Cylon spacecraft.
Modern Cylon craft are a mixture of mechanical and organic parts, and with the inclusion of a brain in the raiders, and hybrids in the larger capital ships, they can be considered separate models in their own right. Generally, these modern ships are weaker than their First War counterparts, and can easily be out gunned with as little as two battlestars (TRS: "Resurrection Ship, Part I"), however Cylon resurrection allowed them to attack without fear of attrition.
This marriage of mechanical and organic parts allowed most Cylon craft to operate individually of any pilot or controller, especially the smaller raiders. It is not known if the Heavy Raider can operate on it's own, and was never seen to operate on its own. The basestar, Hub, and Colony all were usually under the control of a group of humanoids, who would feed sets of instructions to the ship's hybrid or hybrids. While hybrids rarely function autonomously, one erratic hybrid was seen jumping its baseship on its own will without instruction from any controllers (TRS: "The Hub").
While there are many strengths to this, their organic parts proved to be the fleet's undoing. Organic Cylon parts are not immune to sickness, and in one such case, a virus picked up from a homing beacon killed an entire basestar, its crew, and raider compliment. This basestar was abandoned by the Cylons for fear of the virus following them through the resurrection process (TRS: "Torn"). The next knock against their organic parts came after attacking raiders detected the presence of the Final Five in the Colonial fleet. They broke off their attack, and refused further orders as a result. It was ordered that the raiders undergo lobotomies, so they would attack the fleet again, however this action split the Cylon fleet up into civil war (TRS: "Six of One").
