Ranger Assault Vehicle

## Design

### Overview

The Rider is an all-terrain rapid assault vehicle produced by Draco Transportation on New Cambridge. Lightly armoured but impressively fast, the Raider supports a number of weapon systems across its various models in order to take on any threat.

## Manufacturer and Operators

### Current and Potential Operators

Initially the Raider entered service with the New Cambridge Armed Forces, being deployed by the Army, Marines and Air Force.

During the Inter-War period Raiders were also sold to a number of colonies to help bolster their military forces, and as a result was relatively wide-spread when the Andon War broke out.

With the devastation caused by the conflict, a number of Raiders found their way into civilian ownership, either legally or otherwise.

## Variants and Upgrades

During its production history the Raider Assault Vehicle had a number of variants and upgrades intended to allow it to perform multiple roles for both the civilian and military markets.

### Raider Prototype

The prototype model for the Raider was first developed during the Illyan-Hadron War, and was tested on the barren planes and rocky hills of New Cambridge.

The prototype was originally tested with a laser cannon, though was eventually switched to a Multiple Missile Launcher.

### Raider Mk I

The mark I Raider was the first version of the vehicle fielded during the end of the Illyan-Hadron War, being a single-occupant vehicle.

The mark I Raider fielded either a Multiple Missile Launcher or a Flamethrower as its armament.

### Raider Mk II

The mark II version of the Raider came about after a result of difficulties in mark I operators being able to manipulate the vehicle's weapons systems while performing the driver role. Due to the distrust of artificial intelligence, the solution was ultimately to add a weapons operator to the vehicle, resulting in a modest extension of the chassis to accommodate the additional space requirement.

The mark II Raider remained in service even after the end of the Andon War, being used as a lighter counterpart to the mark III.

As with the mark I the mark II Raider fields either a Multiple Missile Launcher or a Flamethrower as its armament.

### Raider Mk III

The mark III Raider was an evolution of the mark II, and featured an extended chassis and secondary pair of rear wheels to support a significant upgrade to its armament. The weapons operator was also shifted into a dedicated turret situated atop the vehicle.

The mark III Raider remained in service after the end of the Andon War, being used as Rapid Assault Vehicle by various colonies as they rebuilt their military forces.

The mark III Raider possesses a significant upgrade to the mark II's weaponry, fielding a Twin Laser Cannon or a Twin Gauss Cannon.

### Raider Mk IV

The mark IV Raider was a modification of the Mark III intended to perform as a troop transport, featuring a reworking of the chassis. This model was able to carry half a squad of Soldiers but sacrificed its armament and some armour.

Ultimately this model fell out of favour with the military due to the lack of armour and weaponry, being replaced by the larger Avenger APC, which solved both of these issues.