Air Raid (G1)

Air Raid (エアレイド Ea Reido) (known as Air Rider (エアライダー Ea Raidā) in Japan) is a member of a group of aircraft Autobots called Aerialbots. He can transform into an F-15 Eagle jet and forms into the right leg of Superion. He and his fellow Aerialbot team members were rebuilt by Optimus Prime and his fellow Autobots from old Cybertronian jet and shuttle parts to resemble Earth jets and brought to life when Alpha Trion sacrificed himself to activate Vector Sigma on Cybertron. He is the most impulsive member of the group and he likes to fight Decepticons right up close.
==History==
===Cartoon===
Air Raid and the other Aerialbots debuted in the second part of the season two story "The Key to Vector Sigma". Like most of the Aerialbots, Air Raid was not immediately won over to the Autobots' cause and was willing to follow Slingshot back to Cybertron. Silverbolt convinced them to instead help the Autobots defeat the Stunticons. In "Aerial Assault", Air Raid took part in an operation in the Middle East where he helped dig out Slingshot when he was damaged by a rockslide during a battle with the Combaticons. He and Silverbolt later took on a group of flying Decepticons and Bruticus before finally managing to join the other Autobots in forming Superion.
In "War Dawn", with Air Raid and most of the others still unsure of the Autobot cause, the Decepticons managed to trick the Aerialbots into being sent back in time to the early days of the war on Cybertron. They witnessed the brutality of Megatron's raid on a full depot and saved the life of Orion Pax, who was rebuilt as Optimus Prime, before returning to their own time. In "Cosmic Rust", Air Raid was shot down by the Decepticons' laser cannon while trying to rescue Perceptor.
After the movie, Air Raid reappeared in "Five Faces of Darkness" as part of a rescue team that recovered Rodimus Prime's party from Quintesson. He continued to appear throughout the third season, battling Trypticon in "The Ultimate Weapon", leading Cyclonus and Scourge into an ambush in "Fight or Flee", meeting a young Alpha Trion in "Forever is a Long Time Coming" and being infected by the Hate Plague in "The Return of Optimus Prime". In the concluding miniseries, "The Rebirth", he was shot down by Sixshot while trying to defend Cybertron from a Decepticon attack.
===Comics===
Air Raid first appeared in the UK-exclusive story "Second Generation", as part of a vision of the future witnessed by Optimus Prime and Buster Witwicky. This led into his Marvel US debut in Issue #21, where he and the other Aerialbots were sent out to stop a Decepticon raid on Hoover Dam. In the following issue, they were sent out again to battle the Stunticons but ended up being captured by the human anti-robot organisation RAAT. They were released after helping RAAT field leader Circuit Breaker stop the Battlechargers.
After being seen battling the Constructicons in the G.I. Joe and the Transformers miniseries and among the crowd watching Ratchet trying to revive Optimus Prime in Issue #27, Air Raid wasn't seen again until issue #41, among the Autobots gathered on the moon to witness the duel between Grimlock and Blaster. In Issue #50, during the Underbase Saga, he helped rescued Buster Witwicky from the arctic along with Skydive and Fireflight, before being deactivated as part of the Autobot/Decepticon group led by Blaster and Ratbat who defended New York from the Underbase-powered Starscream. He was presumably among those revived with nucleon, since in the final issue of the series he was among the casualties of the battle with the Decepticons on Klo.
In Marvel UK's Earthforce storyline, Air Raid was active as a member of the Autobot Earthforce in "Mystery", where he helped clear up a misunderstanding between Skydive and Wheeljack, who Skydive had mistaken for a Decepticon while on guard duty. In "The House That Wheeljack Built", he helped provide aerial cover for Prowl who was battling through the accidentally-activated Autobot base defences.
The post-movie version of the character appeared in "Space Pirates" where he was shown fighting alongside Beachcomber during the Quintesson attack on Autobot City only to be cut down.
==Appearance==
Air Raid is decorated primarily in black with a silver cockpit, and silver, black, yellow and red stripes on his wings and tail rudders. He features fairly realistic proportions, and a large amount of molded details on the surface of his jet parts. He features fixed rolling rear landing gear, and a rolling front gear that can fold into the nosecone. His transformation is the same scheme as the other three small Aerialbots: the cockpit and tail sections pivot on rods to form a “backpack”, the wings fold upward, the jet rear extends, and the arms pivot out on rods to his sides. His robot mode is decorated with a die-cast chestplate, stickers, and molded leg details. His face is painted the same silver as the cockpit canopy, and he can wield his small pistol by clipping it over his fist.
==Personality==
Air Raid prefers streaking into a cluster of Decepticons to shooting at them from long range. Likewise, he is the most fearless Autobot who wants to have fun. 
==Abilities & Weapons According to Transformers: More than Meets the Eye profile books & 1986 The Transformers Universe series==
==== Primary function: Warrior ====
====Abilities====
*In his jet mode, Air Raid can reach speeds of Mach 2.5 (~ 1918 mph or 3087 km/h) for up to 1,500 miles (~ 2414 km).
[MTMTE's profile claims his top speed with is Mach 5 (~ 3836 mph or 6174 km/h) for up to the same range above.]
*Air Raid has average strength with good amount of intelligence & endurance. He is a skilled warrior & a fearless fighter of the team, which results him flying straight into the enemies for the fight rather than shooting them from a safe distance.
*He can also fly in robot mode.
*He severs as one of the limbs (mostly left leg) for the gestalt form of the team - Superion.
*Sometimes, he becomes the right foot of a special gestalt known as Comperian or the left arm of another special gestalt named Autobot Super Scramble in which he provides high-speed punching capacity.
*In some occasion, he is forcibly involved in the formation of a combiner known as Galvatronus.
====Arsenal: Air Raid has great firepower====
*His jet mode is armed with air-to-air heat seeking missiles & Vulcan nose cannon.
*In robot mode, Air Raid uses a torque rifle whose beam applies 80,000 psi of rotational force, which is enough to cause stressing and/or shredding effect to the hit targets.
====Weaknesses====
* Air Raid's reckless behavior impedes his effectiveness in tactical position. This can also puts him at greater risk than he expects to handle.
Stats comparison to other Aerialbots
 	
Pros 	
* Higher strength than Skydive
* Higher intelligence & speed than Fireflight & Slingshot
* Higher endurance than Skydive & Slingshot
* The highest courage among the Aerialbots
* Higher firepower than Fireflight
* Higher skill than Fireflight & Silverbolt
*
Equals	
* Same speed with Silverbolt & Skydive
* Same rank with Slingshot
* Same firepower with most Aerialbots
*
Cons 	
* Lower strength & rank than most Aerialbots
* Lower intelligence than Silverbolt & Skydive
* Lower endurance than Fireflight & Silverbolt
* Lower skill than Skydive & Slingshot
*
Specific differences
 	Strength	Intelligence	Speed	Endurance	Rank	Courage	Firepower	Skill
Fireflight	- 2 	+ 2 	+ 1 	- 1 	- 1 	+ 1 	+ 1 	+ 4
Silverbolt	- 1 	- 1 	0 	- 1 	- 3 	+ 2 	0 	+ 2
Skydive 	+ 1 	- 3 	0 	+ 3 	- 2 	+ 3 	0 	- 3
Slingshot 	- 1 	+ 1 	+ 1 	+ 3 	0 	+ 2 	0 	- 2
== Gallery ==
File:(A) Dreamwave G1 Aerialbot Air Raid.jpg|Dreamwave G1 Air Raid profile
File:Ts air raid.jpg|G1 Air Raid Tech Spec
File:Airraid toy.jpg|Air Raid toy
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