Marten

Description
The Marten Light Scout VTOL was produced briefly by Cal-Boeing of Dorwinion on the world of Belladonna. The vehicle was conceived originally as a combat-oriented version of the company's Ferret VTOL in 2967. However, the Wild Weasel was too fragile for customers and the design was discontinued. Cal-Boeing attempted to introduce a less daring design in form of the Marten in 3021. Billing the Marten in the role of a light transport VTOL and recon unit. Performance-wise, the craft was effective, however the shadow of Cal-Boeing's early Wild Weasel and the Marten's high cost caused the sales to falter.

Cal-Boeing of Dorwinion put the design back into production sometime prior to 3145.

Deployment History
Sales of the Marten had been limited, initially having been able to sell seven companies of the vehicles to the AFFS' Ceti Hussars. The combined-arms regiments have the Martens take over the role of scouting from its Light BattleMechs. The Lyran Commonwealth's Twenty-second Skye Rangers purchased only a single company of the vehicles. However, some wealthy worlds' planetary militias have taken interest in the Marten, purchasing the vehicle for their use.

Weapons and Equipment
The Marten is armed with a single front mounted Federated SRM-2 Launcher with a ton of ammunition. (Though this launcher is named a streak by its manufacturer, this is merely a brand name and not an indication that the SRM is a Streak SRM-2. ) It is equipped with a one ton infantry bay and a half ton cargo bay. When reintroduced by Cal-Boeing, the half ton cargo bay was replaced by a Remote Sensor Dispenser to increase the Marten's utility as a scout craft.

It is protected by 1.5 tons of standard armor.

Variants

 * Infantry : This variant removes the missile launcher and ammunition for a larger infantry bay. BV (1.0) = 17, BV(2.0)=107