Class History There's never really been a need for a dedicated SWACS craft in the Earth Alliance as most fighters have sophisticated sensor arrays. MarsGuard is not the EA, however. Mars defenses and surveillance was always secondary to the EA, whereas Earth was an impregnable fortress should the EA choose to clamp down. When Mars gained independance, a requirement was made to provide Mars with an enhanced warning and control vehicle of some sort. It just so happened that the same company that produced the Magnum heavy lifter also had been working on a type of ELINT craft in order to market it to the various prospecting and mining companies in the EA as a way of getting a heads up on Raider activity. Guardian Industries already had the prototype built and tested when Mars gained independance. Fate seemed to smile on them as they had the right vehicle at the right time. It was small enough to fit in most ships' hangars, and was also atmospheric so it could be based on the surface. The Hawkeye is an unarmed craft, the size of a large shuttle. It is capable of generating 2 points of OEW per turn. The EA also has a version of this craft, the SE-12C, which has one Mk. I Interceptor in a 360 degree turret. |