Mad Dog (Vulture)


 * Vulture redirects here. For other uses, see Vulture (disambiguation).
 * Vulture Mk II redirects here; see Vulture Mk II section below.

Description
The Mad Dog is a heavy Clan OmniMech used for long-range indirect fire support. With hunched shoulders, a protruding head, and reverse-jointed legs, the Mad Dog resembles a vulture, so much so that it was codenamed Vulture and Hagetaka ("Vulture" in Japanese) by the Inner Sphere forces which first encountered it. The name also fit the battlefield role of the Mad Dog; the main role of the Mad Dog is to act as a support 'Mech, and it often holds a hill maintaining constant watch over the entire battlefield, like a vulture waiting for its prey. With its ample firepower and decent speed of 86.4 km/h, it makes a highly mobile firing platform, and as such has spread to near ubiquity among the forces deployed by the Clans, although the design is favored more by Clan Ghost Bear MechWarriors. The Mad Dog carries eight and a half tons of Ferro-Fibrous armor for decent protection, although it will not be able to stand up to heavy fire.

The Mad Dog was designed by Clan Smoke Jaguar as a second generation OmniMech based on the original heavy OmniMech Lupus of Clan Coyote. The Mad Dog also used some of the same moulds of the Clan Wolf Timber Wolf OmniMech. However, despite using some of the same moulds (which might be viewed as high praise), the Mad Dog was named as a slur to the Lupus and Timber Wolf, and to Clans Wolf and Coyote. Because of its widespread production, most Clans maintain a large number of Mad Dogs in their toumans.

Weapons and Equipment
For its fire support purposes, the Mad Dog is armed with twin shoulder-mounted LRM-20 missile racks, which allow the 'Mech to inflict heavy damage on any opponent it may target. The Mad Dog is also more than capable of going on the offensive, mounting dual large and medium-sized pulse lasers, one of each on each arm. Mad Dog pilots have been known for showering missiles on opponents before swooping down with a finishing blow from the lasers, much like a vulture swooping down for carrion.

In the case that the Mad Dog must retreat or face down heavier opponents, it can adequately do such as well, as the pulse lasers it mounts are much more accurate than standard lasers, allowing it to move and fire at the same time. This allows it to stall opponents and slowly back into a more defensible position, although overheating may become an issue.

Variants

 * Alt. Config. A : The Mad Dog A can bring devastating fire on targets at any range, mounting an ER PPC and an LB 5-X AC, with which it can easily cripple enemies from long range. Should it get close enough, its six SRM-6 racks ensure the demise of nearly any foe. BV (1.0) = 1,510, BV (2.0) = 1,923


 * Alt. Config. B : A more general purpose configuration, the Mad Dog B mounts more laser weaponry, with two ER Large Lasers in the left arm, and three Medium Pulse Lasers in the other. For additional long-range firepower, the Mad Dog B mounts only one LRM-20 having replaced the other with two Streak SRM-6 launchers. BV (1.0) = 1,903, BV (2.0) = 2,284


 * Alt. Config. C : The Mad Dog C greatly differs from the other configurations, having replaced its entire weapon load with two massive Gauss Rifles for a powerful long-range punch. BV (1.0) = 1,707, BV (2.0) = 1,892


 * Alt. Config. D : This variant uses a pair of ATM 12s that are powerful at all ranges. It also uses paired ER Medium Lasers, Medium Pulse Lasers, and ER Small Lasers. An extra heat sink helps to keep heat levels under some control. BV (1.0) = 1,966, BV (2.0) = 2,447


 * Alt. Config. E : The E configuration makes use of a Hyper-Assault Gauss Rifle 30 in each arm, though each one only has a single ton of ammunition to draw upon. BV (2.0) = 2,031


 * Alt. Config. F : The Mad Dog F has a pair of HAG 20s. Though they don't have the sheer power of the larger guns, the four tons of ammunition provide substantially better staying power than the E variant has. To back the HAGs up, the F mounts four ER Medium Lasers. BV (2.0) = 2,300


 * Alt. Config. G : This variant carries a pair of Streak SRM-6s in the right torso and a Streak LRM-15 in the left. The Mad Dog G carries a single ER PPC in the left arm, while the right mounts a trio of ER Medium Pulse Lasers. BV (2.0) = 2,503


 * Alt. Config. H : Built with new Heavy Laser technology, the Mad Dog H downgrades the LRM-20 launchers to LRM-15s, so it can mount it's arsenal of a Heavy Large Laser and three Heavy Medium Lasers, making it much more capable at close range. BV (1.0) = 1,735, BV (2.0) = 2,097


 * Alt. Config. U : An underwater configuration, this version uses BattleMech HarJel System to prevent hull breaches. It's equipped with five UMUs to maintain a high cruising speed underwater. Its weaponry consists of twin LRT-15s with Artemis IV guidance and each arm carries a Medium Pulse Laser and ER Medium Laser. BV (2.0) = 2,488


 * Vulture Mk. II : Produced by Bergan Industries for Clan Ghost Bear, the Vulture Mk. II introduced by the time of the FedCom Civil War is almost functionally identical to the original, but has a slightly different appearance in terms of armor, structure, engine mounting and other cosmetic areas due to being produced from factories using Spheroid tooling. One such change of note was moving the Medium Pulse Lasers to a torso-mounted chin turret.

Apocryphal Configurations
From MechWarrior Online:
 * MDD-BA Bandit : PGI's first Hero 'Mech config, the Bandit is themed as being piloted by Russou Howell and is armed with a mammoth Ultra Autocannon/20 in each side torso. With only twin ER Small Lasers in each arm as supporting weapons, its pilot must make every shot of its combined total of two tons of reloads count.


 * MDD-RV "Revenant" : Themed as the battered Mad Dog used by ex-Smoke Jaguar Garrett on Solaris VII, the second MWO Hero 'Mech is configured as a long ranged specialist mounting sixty Long Range Missile tubes - twin LRM-20s and twin LRM-10s split between its side torsos - supported by four Medium Pulse Lasers, one in each arm and two in a Mad Dog Mk II style center torso mounted turret. Four tons of LRM ammunition is more than enough for the average Solaris duel or Clan Trial.

From Solaris VII Boxed Set - German Edition:
 * Vulture D : A different loadout from the canonical "D" version, this one sports 3 medium pulse lasers, 2 LB 2-X autocannons, a LRM-20 and a Streak SRM-6. BV (1.0) = ??, BV (2.0) = ??

Notable pilots

 * Smoke Jaguar Galaxy commander Russou Howell was a Mad Dog pilot most of his career.


 * Galaxy Commander Beckett Malthus of Clan Jade Falcon piloted a Vulture during the desant operation.

Vulture Mk II
While the later Vulture Mk III and Vulture Mk IV evolutions of the Mad Dog design became rather prominent, the Vulture Mk II is hardly ever mentioned. In a Line Developer clarification/ruling of 21 August 2013 (and thus established as fully canonical), Herb Beas made a connection between the following quote from Technical Readout: 3050 Upgrade (p. 130, "Deployment") and the Vulture Mk II: "Indeed, since their move to the Inner Sphere, Clan Ghost Bear's Bergan Industries factory line is building more and more Clan designs, including a homegrown Vulture. Minor variances in structure, armor, and engine design—legacy of Bergan's Spheroid factory tooling—have slightly altered the appearance of these Vultures, but these new machines are functionally indistinguishable from their homeworld forebears.

The bottom line: The Mk. II is functionally identical to the original; it merely differs cosmetically."

- Herbert A. Beas, Line Developer - 21 August 2013

Although credited as a Ghost Bear redesign, the Vulture Mk II owned by Latonya Lyons is stated to be of Clan Smoke Jaguar manufacture in her dossier. To reconcile this with the Line Developer ruling, it can be assumed the 'Mech was originally built by the Jaguars, but refurbished and thereby turned into a Mk II version by the Ghost Bear factory at a later point.

The MechWarrior 4 series depicted the Medium Pulse Lasers as mounted in a chin rack, the results are the moving of the Medium Pulse Lasers into the Center Torso. This model is called the Mad Dog Mk II (Vulture Mk II) by the online BattleTech Community, but it remains uncertain if this is among the cosmetic changes mentioned above. (Technically, changing the location of the lasers from one torso section to another arguably goes beyond being functionally indistinguishable.)

Related BattleMechs

 * Archer - Although not strictly descended from this 'Mech, the Vulture shares design lineage with it, most visibly in the side torso mounted missile racks.


 * Vulture Mk III - Originally created to bolster the touman of Clan Ghost Bear, and shared with Clan Snow Raven, this design adds more protection while also increasing the missile payload considerably. A fair complement of backup weapons allows the Vulture Mk III to defend itself at closer ranges.


 * Vulture Mk IV - Manufactured by Clan Sea Fox and sold to every nation and Clan, the Vulture Mk IV OmniMech is largely unchanged from the original Vulture in basic design terms.


 * Avatar - Battlefield salvage left after the Battle of Luthien allowed Luthien Armor Works engineers to reverse-engineer their own OmniMech, the Avatar. The torso of the Avatar was widened to allow the incorporation of a bulkier, Inner Sphere XL Engine.


 * Lupus - Clan Smoke Jaguar based their second generation Mad Dog on the first generation Lupus introduced by Clan Coyote.


 * Timber Wolf - The Mad Dog shares similar parts to the venerable Omnimech due to the fact it was made from the same mould of the Timber Wolf. But the name of the mech itself was used to insult the Timber Wolf and Lupus designs that came before it.


 * Bushwacker - Recovered schematics of the Vulture allowed TarHes engineers to overcome many issues with the Bushwacker's design, which would have otherwise precluded the mech from active service.