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Description

ACCESSSING FILE: G-01

Technology File - UNTD-01A Hermes UCAV

Written by Kiev Yarkov,
UNTD Lab 1 Chief Scientist

The end of the first year of battle against the shadow beast saw a drastic increase in pilot casualties especially when confronting those of ‘S’ threat rating and higher. Just like with UN troopers, regular air force pilots were ill-prepared to face this new menace, often making poor decisions in the heat of a fire fight as a result of succumbing to fear. However in a similar vein that led to the inception of the Enforcer program, UNITE realized that they need a kind of pilot that could make pin-point decisions fast and accurately without hesitation. For that they turned to Lauren Machina Industries (LMI) who provided the solution: autonomous fighter craft.

The concept of unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) is not new. From as early as the 90’s, weapons platforms like the MQ-1 Predator were at the forefront of a new kind of warfare. For the most part such vehicles were usually remote controlled, or pilot assisted; with a limited degree of autonomy. It only made sense for the next technology leap to be fully autonomous drones capable of thinking and fighting on their own accord. There was a problem however. Treaties such as the Providence Agreement, banned the widespread usage of autonomous robots in warfare. After all, if a robot accidentally targets a friendly unit, or civilians, then who is to take responsibility for it? This would be have put a dent in UNITE’s original plans if not for one small loophole. The treaty specifically states that the usage of such weapons were forbidden against humans. But since shadow beasts aren't exactly human to begin with, that technically makes them fair game. So while the bureaucratic doves within the UN Security Council continued to debate the issue, LMI began work on building a new UCAV to fill the role. It wouldn’t take long for them to develop this weapons platform as they already had a prototype in the form of the LMI-03 Artemis which was essentially a mini Hermes. All they had to do was upscale the model and pack it in with the latest weapons and aeronautics suite.

On [DATE REDACTED] the first UNTD-01A Hermes rolled out of the Santa Monica war factory where it underwent trials for the next five months. Its two cyclone drive engine allows it to reach speeds up to Mach 2.6. Because there is no human pilot, it can perform aerial maneuvers and dives that would normally be fatal. This means that much space that would normally be dedicated for a cockpit and life support systems were replaced with additional countermeasures and armor allowing the prototype to outperform and survive beyond modern fighter jets its time. The cyclone engines also have thruster points on both its base and rear, giving the Hermes VTOL capabilities. These engines are able to rotate on an axis from the main fuselage, giving the drone an additional boost in maneuverability. Its first major conflict would be during Operation: Signum Crusis, where a squadron of these drones would go up against a threat rating 'A' shadow beast, under the support of an Enforcer. Without a single unit lost during that mission, it was deemed a technological success and by the end of that year UNITE would commission more than a hundred Hermes drones.

As part of its main armaments, the Hermes sports a ventral chin-mounted turret equipped with a 25 mm chain gun, and a 7.62 machine gun. Stored in its massive fuselage are a series of 16 missiles of varying yield which are split evenly between air-to-surface and air-air- missiles. However they can be easily reconfigured to best suit their mission perimeters. While their weapons are generally ineffective against shadow beast, their persistence and nippy speed made them extremely effective at distracting shadows beasts of varying size; pulling their attention away from urban sectors. Later variants of the Hermes would include the UNTD-01BX ‘Firefly’ which was equipped with the D-24 direct energy emission gun; essentially a smaller version of the Spectra artillery's main weapon. The key feature of the Hermes is their advanced programming which allows multiple Hermes to relay information gathered to each other. This allows the drones in a swarm to seamlessly form complex tactics that can be used to outsmart their quarry. Suffice to say, if a Hermes see you, you can be sure the rest of its swarm will have as well.

As of present, UNITE has more than 400 such UCAVs in their arsenal many of which are stationed at terrestrial bases awaiting the order for combat. In the four years since their inception, the Hermes would also see battle against shadow beasts of various threat ratings. But as of recent that scope would also expand to the more gifted members of the Neu family where the UCAV's would demonstrate varying levels of... erm... success. Individuals like Magiilily Neu were able to exploit a notable flaw in the Hermes programming and that is their inability to adapt quickly to ever changing tactics. Something which she did during Operation: Star Force . Over the past year she has become extremely adept at fighting off our drones, and more problematic individuals like Sony Neu are outright able to squash them without ever breaking a sweat.

Despite that, the Hermes is a step in the right direction when it comes to the future of warfare, with experts estimating that they will replace all manned fighter jets on the battlefield within the next five to ten years. Its success would pave the way for many more autonomous units within UNITE's arsenal.

(Pictured above: an isometric view of the Hermes UCAV, as well as side view against an average sized adult male and Magilily Neu. The fiducial marker represents the axis point from which the cyclone drive engine connects to the main fuselage.)

- End of Report -

RETURN TO DATA HUB

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One down! I think that description was probably the hardest thing to do of the entire art piece. This unit is basically a modern update of the Hermes drone I did many years ago, changing its role from a reconnaissance drone to an offensive one. Some of the design elements from the original can still be seen in this new version.

Speaking of design, you might have noticed that it looks veeeeeery different from the one in Magilily's report. Funny story there. When I was doing Entry 002, I had an idea at the time of what the Hermes would look like. But I had no idea what I truly wanted in its design. After I uploaded that entry, I would revisit the Hermes several more times before finally settling on the design shown above. By that point it looked nothing like the original, but I'm pretty satisfied with this new look. I'll have to redo that image again down the line, but for now just retcon it in your mind.

Main inspiration for the design is the Hunter Killer Aerial, specifically, the Terminator Salvation version (you can get a rough idea of its capabilities from that clip).

Magilily Neu, In the Neu House (c) BRSstarJV

Lynn loud Sr, The Loud House (c) Nickelodeon

Description

ACCESSSING FILE: G-01

Technology File - UNTD-01A Hermes UCAV

Written by Kiev Yarkov,
UNTD Lab 1 Chief Scientist

The end of the first year of battle against the shadow beast saw a drastic increase in pilot casualties especially when confronting those of ‘S’ threat rating and higher. Just like with UN troopers, regular air force pilots were ill-prepared to face this new menace, often making poor decisions in the heat of a fire fight as a result of succumbing to fear. However in a similar vein that led to the inception of the Enforcer program, UNITE realized that they need a kind of pilot that could make pin-point decisions fast and accurately without hesitation. For that they turned to Lauren Machina Industries (LMI) who provided the solution: autonomous fighter craft.

The concept of unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) is not new. From as early as the 90’s, weapons platforms like the MQ-1 Predator were at the forefront of a new kind of warfare. For the most part such vehicles were usually remote controlled, or pilot assisted; with a limited degree of autonomy. It only made sense for the next technology leap to be fully autonomous drones capable of thinking and fighting on their own accord. There was a problem however. Treaties such as the Providence Agreement, banned the widespread usage of autonomous robots in warfare. After all, if a robot accidentally targets a friendly unit, or civilians, then who is to take responsibility for it? This would be have put a dent in UNITE’s original plans if not for one small loophole. The treaty specifically states that the usage of such weapons were forbidden against humans. But since shadow beasts aren't exactly human to begin with, that technically makes them fair game. So while the bureaucratic doves within the UN Security Council continued to debate the issue, LMI began work on building a new UCAV to fill the role. It wouldn’t take long for them to develop this weapons platform as they already had a prototype in the form of the LMI-03 Artemis which was essentially a mini Hermes. All they had to do was upscale the model and pack it in with the latest weapons and aeronautics suite.

On [DATE REDACTED] the first UNTD-01A Hermes rolled out of the Santa Monica war factory where it underwent trials for the next five months. Its two cyclone drive engine allows it to reach speeds up to Mach 2.6. Because there is no human pilot, it can perform aerial maneuvers and dives that would normally be fatal. This means that much space that would normally be dedicated for a cockpit and life support systems were replaced with additional countermeasures and armor allowing the prototype to outperform and survive beyond modern fighter jets its time. The cyclone engines also have thruster points on both its base and rear, giving the Hermes VTOL capabilities. These engines are able to rotate on an axis from the main fuselage, giving the drone an additional boost in maneuverability. Its first major conflict would be during Operation: Signum Crusis, where a squadron of these drones would go up against a threat rating 'A' shadow beast, under the support of an Enforcer. Without a single unit lost during that mission, it was deemed a technological success and by the end of that year UNITE would commission more than a hundred Hermes drones.

As part of its main armaments, the Hermes sports a ventral chin-mounted turret equipped with a 25 mm chain gun, and a 7.62 machine gun. Stored in its massive fuselage are a series of 16 missiles of varying yield which are split evenly between air-to-surface and air-air- missiles. However they can be easily reconfigured to best suit their mission perimeters. While their weapons are generally ineffective against shadow beast, their persistence and nippy speed made them extremely effective at distracting shadows beasts of varying size; pulling their attention away from urban sectors. Later variants of the Hermes would include the UNTD-01BX ‘Firefly’ which was equipped with the D-24 direct energy emission gun; essentially a smaller version of the Spectra artillery's main weapon. The key feature of the Hermes is their advanced programming which allows multiple Hermes to relay information gathered to each other. This allows the drones in a swarm to seamlessly form complex tactics that can be used to outsmart their quarry. Suffice to say, if a Hermes see you, you can be sure the rest of its swarm will have as well.

As of present, UNITE has more than 400 such UCAVs in their arsenal many of which are stationed at terrestrial bases awaiting the order for combat. In the four years since their inception, the Hermes would also see battle against shadow beasts of various threat ratings. But as of recent that scope would also expand to the more gifted members of the Neu family where the UCAV's would demonstrate varying levels of... erm... success. Individuals like Magiilily Neu were able to exploit a notable flaw in the Hermes programming and that is their inability to adapt quickly to ever changing tactics. Something which she did during Operation: Star Force . Over the past year she has become extremely adept at fighting off our drones, and more problematic individuals like Sony Neu are outright able to squash them without ever breaking a sweat.

Despite that, the Hermes is a step in the right direction when it comes to the future of warfare, with experts estimating that they will replace all manned fighter jets on the battlefield within the next five to ten years. Its success would pave the way for many more autonomous units within UNITE's arsenal.

(Pictured above: an isometric view of the Hermes UCAV, as well as side view against an average sized adult male and Magilily Neu. The fiducial marker represents the axis point from which the cyclone drive engine connects to the main fuselage.)

- End of Report -

RETURN TO DATA HUB

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------

One down! I think that description was probably the hardest thing to do of the entire art piece. This unit is basically a modern update of the Hermes drone I did many years ago, changing its role from a reconnaissance drone to an offensive one. Some of the design elements from the original can still be seen in this new version.

Speaking of design, you might have noticed that it looks veeeeeery different from the one in Magilily's report. Funny story there. When I was doing Entry 002, I had an idea at the time of what the Hermes would look like. But I had no idea what I truly wanted in its design. After I uploaded that entry, I would revisit the Hermes several more times before finally settling on the design shown above. By that point it looked nothing like the original, but I'm pretty satisfied with this new look. I'll have to redo that image again down the line, but for now just retcon it in your mind.

Main inspiration for the design is the Hunter Killer Aerial, specifically, the Terminator Salvation version (you can get a rough idea of its capabilities from that clip).

Magilily Neu, In the Neu House (c) BRSstarJV

Lynn loud Sr, The Loud House (c) Nickelodeon