[gurps] [VEHICLE] of the week 702 – Hypersonic Recon Drone

[Onno Meyer]

  This is a weekly posting with GURPS vehicles (and the like) to the 
GURPSnet mailing list. I grant the permission for all non-commercial 
redistribution of my work, but I would like to know if you put it on 
a website or the like. My site is down for rebuilding, but sooner or 
later the old stuff should reappear at   omeyer.gmxhome.de
  Onno Meyer, 2008-04-07

Hypersonic Recon Drone v1.0 (TL8)
  Copyright 2008 by Onno Meyer

  This recon drone could serve as a McGuffin or plot device in a present 
day espionage or conspiracy game. Payload modules range from cameras and 
radars to salvaged alien mind control rays ... anything that has to move 
at Mach 6 for proper dramatic effect. The characters could be tasked to 
recover a downed drone, or they could choose to investigate reports of 
strange contrails and sonic noises. 
  The ramjet burns 40 gallons of jet fuel per minute. A load of fuel is 
$1,800.

Subassemblies: Body +3, three retractable Wheels +0. 
Powertrain: 19,200-lb. ramjet; 35,000-kWs advanced battery.
Fuel: 600 gallons jet fuel (fire 12).

Armor      F      RL     B      T      U
Body:     4/20   4/20   4/20   4/20   4/20
Wheels:   3/10   3/10   3/10   3/10   3/10

Equipment:
  Body: Scrambled very long range radio; scrambled long range tight-beam 
radio; 100x LLTV; flight data recorder; IFF; inertial navigation system; 
military GPS; terrain-following radar; advanced radar/laser detector; 12 
aircraft chaff dischargers; 12 aircraft flare dischargers; C4 genius, 
hardened minicomputer; 2-cf modular socket. External: Radical stealth.

Statistics
Size: 24'x6'x4'   Payload: 2 tons    Lwt.: 4 tons
Volume: 250 cf    Maint.: 12 hours   Price: $3,022,250

HT: 12.   HPs: 375 Body, 40 each Wheel

aSpeed: 4,800   aAccel: 48   aDecel: 12   aMR: 3   aSR: 3
Stall Speed 190 mph. Ceiling 25,000 yards.

Design Notes
  Body is 250 cf, with lifting body and radical streamlining. Wheels are 
12.5 cf. Structure is medium and advanced. Armor is advanced composite. 
Ultra-light, self-sealing tank. Sealed structure. Computerized controls. 
There are 26.128 cf of empty space. Empty weight is 4,000 lbs.
  The vehicle uses the design rules from Vehicles [second edition, third 
printing, Dec 2004 errata], VXi and VXii (including the armor volume and 
stall speed rules) with the text format from Vehicles Lite.


Next Week: A much smaller high-tech drone.