FQ-101 Lammergeier

The FQ-101 Lammergeier Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle is a post-war development on the FQ-99 "Wombat", a UCAV that was hastily developed and used during the late stages of the Human-Covenant War, largely due to shortages of proper fighter aircraft for close air support details. Despite the Wombat's effectiveness against low-flying Covenant aircraft such as Spirit- and Phantom-class dropships and gunships, as well as ground-based infantry or armour, however, it failed in the role of fighter support, ultimately proving cumbersome in flight and interfering with UNSC and Covenant Separatist interceptors engaged in aerial combat. As such, development was almost immediately begun in improving the design of the FQ-99 to fit a wider combat role; the first of these upgrades came in the form of the FQ-100, lovingly nicknamed the "Combat Wombat" by UNSC personnel, millions of which participated in the Battle of Earth.
The FQ-100 "Combat" Wombat was a vast improvement over the rushed designs of the original FQ-99, featuring more resistant armour, the replacement of the original Wombat's 35mm M644 Autocannon with an , and the improvement of various systems such as optics and targeting modules. The "Combat Wombat" performed favourably during its combat runs, proving itself capable of efficiently supporting manned interceptors against hostile aircraft as well as providing surgically accurate close air support for ground-based allied forces.
The final adjustments were made following the conclusion of the Human-Covenant War, entailing the creation of the FQ-101 "Lammergeier". The UCAV's systems and circuitry were completely reworked so as to be much more combat-efficient, while externally, the Drone received numerous structural changes, as well as newer and more resistant armour systems. Much cheaper to produce than the large and sophisticated interceptors commonly deployed for exoatmospheric and atmospheric aerial engagements, the Lammergeier, manufactured en-masse following the end of the Human-Covenant War, ultimately served to bolster the numbers of post-war serviceable aircraft and augment the war-devastated UNSCDF air services.