Balac

Introduced after the Jihad, the Balac Strike VTOL was an extremely fast and versatile Advanced Tactical Missile-armed VTOL.

With Clan Diamond Shark expecting that both the Clan and Inner Sphere militaries would invest heavily to rebuild to pre-Jihad levels, the Sharks focused on quickly filling the need for a heavily armed VTOL. While sales were not everything the Sharks hoped for, thanks to the increasing use of reduced military philosophies by Devlin Stone, the Balac was a common sight within most standing militaries and was retained over other older designs that were being phased out. It was maintained in general use even after the collapse of the Republic of the Sphere.

Somewhat of a rarity for VTOLs due to their extreme increase in cost, a Consolidated 135 XL Fusion Engine provides the Balac with an impressive flank speed of 184 kph while allowing it to carry a heavy weapons load-out. Unfortunately like many VTOLs, the Balac carries a relatively minimal armor protection; two and half tons of Forging AM15 Ferro-Fibrous plating are enough to survive incidental hits at speed, but insufficient to survive a sustained salvo while pilots use the hover feature to maximize accuracy of its ATMs.

Weapons and Equipment
Intended for anti-vehicle support, the Balac carries a pair of Type 6 ATM-6 launchers as its primary weapons. With a four ton capacity ammo bay allowing the craft to carry any combination of ATM missile loads, the Balac boasted lengthy field endurance. In case the ATMs did run dry, a nose mounted Mk.3 ER Medium Laser provided a degree of non-ammo reliant firepower.

Variants

 * Spotter : The spotter variant developed in Introduction Year::3079 reduced the size of the ammo bay to free up weight for an ECM Suite and Active Probe, trading the ER Medium Laser for TAG . BV (2.0) = 934


 * LRM : A low-cost "budget" variant also introduced in 3079, both ATM's were downgraded to LRM-15s and the XL engine was swapped to a standard model. The ammo bay was reduced to compensate for the heavier engine . BV (2.0) = 1,278


 * Hybrid : Introduced in Introduction Year::3090 this version uses a standard Fusion engine. The two ATM-6 launchers remain, but the laser has been replaced by a single Heavy Machine Gun with a half-ton of ammunition. The smaller engine means the Hybrid can only reach a top speed of 150km/h. BV (2.0) = 797