Pulsar Drone Missile

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*"Beep!"*

- Pulsar Drone Operator, getting *"into character"*

## Tactical Analysis

* **The All-Seeing Eye**: A stealthy, unmanned aerial reconnaissance drone, the Pulsar can be used as an observation craft, scouting out your enemy's position without their knowledge.

* **O-V-E-R-K-I-L-L**: Reconnaissance is not the Pulsar's only function, as it carries a deadly payload; a Singularity Missile that can tear apart fortified structures and infantry with chilling ease. And controllers who have shown restraint and aim that reduces collateral damage are rewarded with the cluster missiles, which has three smaller singularity missile split from the main missile before impact for greater area of effect.

* **Paper Plane**: However, the Pulsar has near zero armour and is easily shot down. Additionally, it missile can only be reloaded back at the Drone Center which takes significantly longer compared to most aircraft, leaving the Pulsar completely helpless after dropping its bomb.

* **Attention Seekers**: Fortunately, should the Pulsar draw too much attention from the enemy, it can dispense flares that confuse enemy missiles, allowing it to get away.

## Operational History

The American *Norwell-Hucks Corp ASM-1303 **Pulsar Drone Missile*** is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which the Allied Air Force describes as a MALE (medium-altitude, long-endurance) UAV system, named after its inventor, Dr. William Claymoore. It was designed to serve in a reconnaissance role, providing an expendable, long-range recon asset. The aircraft, in use since 1965, has seen combat over France, Germany, Oceania, Alaska, Iran, and Vietnam. In addition, the Allied Air Force, working in conjunction with the Experimental Corps, has used it to deliver a Red Matter-based Singularity Missile.

The ASM-1303 Pulsar is a system, not just an aircraft. The fully operational system consists of four air vehicles (with sensors), a ground control station (GCS), and a Athena-derived primary satellite link communication suite. In the overall Allied Air Force integrated UAV system the Pulsar is considered a *Tier X* vehicle. Initially, the Pulsar was used for mid-altitude border scanning of the Polish border, but quickly found itself serving in a combat reconnaissance role. In short-term fly-by recon it was eventually replaced with the Hermes UAV, a much faster, smaller squadron based scouting unit, but for long-term observation the Pulsar was unmatched. The small, low-profile vehicle generates minimal noise and thus was often ignored by ground-based Soviet gunners, allowing the UAV to monitor battles for hours on end and give Allied operators valuable targeting and intelligence information. It also had the benefit of a stealthy profile and non-magnetic composition, allowing it to gather intel unharrassed as well as giving it immunity to the Magnetic Satellite.

After a year of combat operations a push was made to arm the Pulsar. Experiments in the field with single Vindicator bombs were generally successful, and the project was approved. Testing showed an powerful potential role for the Pulsar, as a delivery system for a large missile. As the technology for stable ICBMs were currently out of Allied hands, this would level the playing field against the Soviets, who had recently unveiled the Vacuum Imploder.

Inspired by the Soviet weapon and the Allies' own *"Spatial Distortion Field"* (aka Black Hole Armour), Allied scientists created the Singularity Missile, which uses a magnetically contained capsule of Red Matter to create artificial, temporary holes in space-time, comparable to black holes. Anything caught within the singularity will be crushed by the immense gravity, and units who stray too close can be dragged in. In particular, the missile has proven extremely useful against infantry and structures. Nothing is able to fall through the singularity itself, which limits the lifetime of the singularity and prevents possible tampering with the space-time continuum.

When the Empire entered the war in 1968, it became clear that the Pulsar could not evade detection or destruction by the Empire's computer-controlled missiles. A flare dispenser was added to confuse enemy target acquisition systems; the flare was designed to resemble the engine of the Pulsar in arming routine, which is more than enough to draw fire away from the real drone and any surrounding Allied forces. As of July 1969 the Allied Air Force’s fleet stands at 195 recon outfit Pulsar and 280 Singularity Missile equipped Pulsars, with 600 more units on priority order.

## Behind the Scenes

* The Pulsar owes its inspiration to the MQ-1 Predator while the finished unit resembles the AQM-34 Firebee (a UAV of the 1960's).

* The Pulsar was originally intended to be called the *"Claymore"*, but a typo early on gave it the name Claymoore. It was later renamed to its current name.

## Just the Stats

 **Armour Type** | Thin-Skinned

 **Kill Reward** | 9600

 **DPS** | 30