Beagle (Combat Vehicle)

Description
In 2666 the Star League contracted Numall Armored Vehicles to build the Beagle Hover Scout. Developed purely to carry its advanced namesake, the Beagle Active Probe, the hover tank was ready for production in just 12 months, and it was quickly fielded to most of the SLDF armor units. Unfortunately crews found a critical flaw in the vehicle shortly after it was fielded. The flaw caused the turret to lock up in a way that required the vehicle be returned to the manufacturer to be fixed. This fix, however, often took as long as the original construction. This caused many SLDF units to "forget" to turn in the flawed vehicles. Because many of the original tanks were never refitted, the Beagle all but disappeared during the First Succession War, as often from mechanical failure as from combat damage.

Reintroduced by the Word of Blake, the cheap and easy to produce Beagle and its variants fill a variety of roles in the Word of Blake Militia, rolling off the production lines of the Epsilon Eridani based Kressly Warworks at an amazing rate.

Weapons and Equipment
The Beagle is lightly armed with a single Exostar-2C Small Laser mounted on the front of the vehicle, and an Aberdovey Mk II Medium Laser alongside the sensor wand for the Beagle Active Probe in its turret.

Variants

 * C3i : Developed as a dedicated reconnaissance vehicle and spotter, all offensive weaponry has been removed in exchange for a C3i module and Anti-Missile System. The addition of a XL Engine allows an increase in speed to a startling 226kph to quickly roam across the battlefield, while Heavy Ferro-Fibrous plating improves protection. BV (2.0)= 266


 * Beagle TAG : An unarmed spotter, the TAG variant utilizes the same Heavy Ferro-Fibrous armor and XL Engine as the C3i but carries an Beagle Active Probe, Guardian ECM Suite and Target Acquisition Gear to call down indirect LRM fire, AeroSpace Fighter flights or, most threatening of all, orbital strikes from the Blakists' WarShips. BV (2.0) = 295


 * Sealed : Based on the Beagle C3i, this variant uses Environmental Sealing to protect the crew from hostile environments. BV (2.0) = 249


 * LRRP : The long-range reconnaissance patrol version of the Beagle was developed as a prototype for the SLDF. It was designed to patrol individually, and as a result the Numall engineers made extensive changes to the vehicle. The Beagle LRRP used a Floatation Hull to survive encounters with water, and a Supercharger allowed it to reach burst speeds of 180km/h to outrun trouble. The laser weaponry was removed and replaced with a single Flamer for starting fires, while a pair of Mine Dispensers allowed the LRRP to discourage pursuit. Numall Armored Vehicles created twelve of these units, and they were destroyed defending New Earth. BV (2.0) = 219