STATISTICS
| Mass: 30 tons | Movement Type: Standard VTOL |
| Power Plant: TME 130 eXtraLight | Armor Type: TME 3049 Ferro-Fibrous |
| Comm Systems: TME Vox Et Deus | Cruising Speed: 100 kph |
| Targeting/Tracking Systems:
TME 3050 Point-And-Shoot |
Maximum Speed: 150 kph |
| Chassis: TME XMHC Model 540 | |
| Armament: 3 TME/BTSTS-ML:3000 "ZapEmGood" Medium Lasers 3 TME/BTSTS-MG:3000 "Chatterbox" Machine Guns |
|
OVERVIEW
The Crow was a TME military design which was never accepted by the Weirdo Zone Military Services. Like any good business, they just took it "overseas" and sold it to the inhabitants of the BattleTech S/TS.
CAPABILITIES
The Crow is a good all-around weapons platform, similar in concept to a twentieth-century Hind gunship. It is armed with three medium laser/machine gun combination hardpoints that fire to the front, left, and right sides of the Crow. It also mounts Targeting Acquisition Gear (TAG) in the nose to spot for cargo. The 9.5 tons of cargo it can carry can be allocated to additional pod-based ordinance (making this TME's first OmniCopter) or infantry.
In its traditional role, the TME-04 Crow was to fly in, drop infantry and then support the infantry. The medium lasers were to ward off light armor and the machine guns were to mow down enemy troops. When the first Inner Sphere users discovered the pod-based weapon enhancements, industry magazines hailed the Crow as the first OmniCopter, much to the ire of the Clans. The Clans demanded Crows to study. The Clans were politely reminded that they could buy them. The Clans then threatened the original TME/WZES base, the whereabouts of which was common knowledge. The Clans were told to shove off. This led to the infamous Battle of TFD5693-A.
DEPLOYMENT
The TME-04 is a staple of air-cav infantry across the Inner Sphere, especially in the forces of House Marik.
VARIANTS
The TME-04 is practically made to be modified. The most common variants are troop-carrying and cargo-carrying models, but a common mobile support field variant strips out the machine guns and ammunition and fills up the pod space with either an LRM-20 with nine shots or three SRM-6s with thirty shots. Another common gunship variant replaces the cargo space and machine guns with a heavy rotary autocannon and enough rounds for fifty bursts.
TME-04 Crow VTOL Gunboat |
|||
| 30 tons | Rotor VTOL | Cruising MP: 9 (97.2 kph) | Flank MP: 14 (151.2 kph) |
| Engine: 130 XL Fusion | Engine Mass: 3.5 t | Control Mass: 1.5 t | Lift Equip Mass: 3 t |
| No Power Amplifier | 10 Heat Sinks | Internal Structure: 3 t | No Turret |
| Armor Mass: 3.5 t Ferro | Armor Points: 59 | Crew: 2 | |
ARMOR |
EQUIPMENT |
||
| Front: | 20 |
Medium Laser | Front |
| Left/Right Side: | 14 / 14 |
Machine Gun | Front |
| Rear: | 9 |
Medium Laser | Left |
| Front Turret: | not applicable |
Machine Gun | Left |
| Rotor: | 2 |
Medium Laser | Right |
| can mount additional
weaponry pods can carry up to a platoon of troops |
Machine Gun | Right | |
| TAG | Front | ||
| 150 Machine Gun shots | Body | ||
| 9.5 tons cargo / armament | Body | ||
DESIGNER'S NOTE: Micro Machine