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Raider (RDM)

From Battlestar Wiki, the free, open content Battlestar Galactica encyclopedia and episode guide
This article is about the Re-imagined Series Raider. For other versions, see Cylon Raider.


Cylon Raider
Cylon Raider
Race: Cylon
Type: Military
FTL: Yes
Propulsion:
Crew: None (Shipboard AI)
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
Dimensions
Length: (approx) 8.94 meters
Width: {{{width}}}
Height: (approx) 1.52 meters
Weight: {{{weight}}}
Wingspan: (approx) 5.59 meters
Other: {{{otherdi}}}
Game Information
Cost: {{{construction}}}
Construction Time: {{{construction}}}
Hull Size: {{{hull size}}}
Hull: {{{hull}}}
Mobility
FTL Cooldown: {{{ftl cooldown}}} turns
Speed: {{{speed}}} m/s
Turn Rate: {{{turn rate}}}°/turn
Armor Sum
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}}}
Armament
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 Raider is the primary aerospace attack craft used by the Cylons.

The Raider is first encountered more than 40 years after the Cylon War, when the Cylons launch their devastating surprise attack on the Twelve Colonies.

The Raider is initially thought to be wholly mechanical in design, with a high-level AI controlling it. However, following the recovery of a Raider forced down during a firefight and recovered by Lieutenant Kara Thrace (Act of Contrition), the new Raider is found to be, in fact, biomechanical in nature (You Can't Go Home Again), incorporating a number of large organs in its design, including a biomechanical brain.

The Cylon Raider'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 biomechanical Raider pilot's consciousness can be transferred into new "bodies" if it is destroyed. (Whether this process requires a nearby basestar or Resurrection Ship for the transfer is not known, although it is heavily implied in Scar that this is indeed the case.) While this death/rebirth process allows the Raider to "learn" from its mistakes and become a more efficient killing machine, the process can also cause Raiders to fight with deadly, almost-humanlike tactics (Scar).

Raider weapon configurations include:

During the Cylon attack, the new Raider could transmit commands to any Colonial vessel utilizing the Command Navigation Program (CNP). The CNP was compromised prior to the attack, and provides a backdoor that allowes the Cylons to shut down Colonial vessels with the CNP, rendering the ships defenseless (Miniseries).

As with their predecessors in the Cylon War, Raiders also use wireless transmissions directed at Colonial ships, especially battlestars, to attempt to crack, or infiltrate the ship's computer network. If the cracking is successful, a virus can be transmitted, which can severely damage or disable many battlestar systems (Valley of Darkness).

The Raider is equipped with a small-scale 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).

As with its nemesis, the Viper, the Raider is capable of atmospheric operations, which explains why it has retained an aerodynamic shape (You Can't Go Home Again).

The Raider is known as "sparrow" in Colonial pilot jargon (Maelstrom).

Notes

A "piloted" Raider (or mock-up) seen in Galactica's museum Miniseries
  • While the Raiders used in the Cylon War may have had one or more Centurions flying the craft, no evidence has yet aired of the existence of this Raider model used with a modern Cylon Centurion pilot.
  • An older Raider, identical in outward appearance to the Raider of the Original Series, is seen briefly in the Galactica Museum (Miniseries). It's unknown of the internal configuration of this older fighter or the type of weapons used.
  • It probably was piloted by anywhere from one to three Centurions, and had primative KEWS
  • Like the Original Series Raider, the weapons fire of the Re-Imagined Series Cylon Raiders is bluish-white.

Concept Drawings

  • These concept drawings are very close to the fully realized versions of what we have seen in the Re-imagined Series. However, There were, of course, many changes made and these drawings should not be considered completely canon.