Hawk Moth

The Hawk Moth Gunship is Michaelson Heavy Industries' follow-up to the very well-received Yellow Jacket Gunship. The similarities between the designs allowed Michaelson to develop the Hawk Moth very quickly. A scant one and a half tons of armor protect this VTOL, but this is not seen as a significant problem as the Hawk Moth is quite speedy and stands off at extreme range.

Weapons and Equipment
With the Hawk Moth, the designers responded to the only criticism of the Yellow Jacket; its lack of ammunition. They contracted with Imperator Automatic Weaponry to import the Light Gauss Rifle, who was delighted to showcase what was then a new weapon on a platform so similar to one that had proven itself against the Clans. The light rifle has twice the ammunition of the standard variety and the Hawk Moth carries two tons of this ammo. The incredibly long range of the Gauss gives the Hawk Moth the ability to indiscriminately pepper away at a target, while its speed allows it to stay out of range of its enemies guns.

Variants

 * Armor : Introduced during the Clan Invasion era, this variant trades out a ton of ammunition for an extra ton of armor. BV (1.0) = 674 (672), BV (2.0) = 501


 * Thunderbolt : This is a Jihad era design variant which has advanced equipment. The Hawk Moth's Internal Combustion Engine is swapped out for a Fuel Cell engine. The Light Gauss and its ammunition are taken out and replaced by a Thunderbolt 15 Missile Launcher with 8 rounds. Finally, the Moth has a Mast Mount on its rotors to increase the craft's ability to keep under cover while spotting. BV (2.0) = 745

Custom Variant

 * "Verwandlung" : This variant of the Hawk Moth is allegedly used by an assassin known only as "Kafka." It uses a Fuel Cell engine to free up weight but maintain the speed of the standard Hawk Moth. The weaponry has been removed and replaced by a Rotary AC/5 and Machine Gun in a VTOL Chin Turret. A ton of ammunition is available to the RAC/5, while the Machine Gun gets a half ton of ammunition. To compensate for the reduced range of the weapons, the Verwandlung carries two tons of Heavy Ferro-Fibrous armor. BV (2.0) = 749

Design Quirks
The Hawk Moth "Verwandler" variant is subject to the following Design Quirk:
 * VTOL Rotor Arrangement(Co-Axial Rotors)