XAD82-CAS Petrel Gunship

Developed as a part of Project EXCALIBUR, the XAD82-CAS Petrel was developed as a dedicated close-air-support gunship to supplement the then-aging Sparrowhawk gunships. It shared a frame with the D77-TC Pelican to maximise intercompatability of parts and equipments, but was different in a number of ways. Though capable enough, it was ultimately decided that producing another gunship was not worth the cost, and funds were diverted to up-armour the existing fleet of Hawks and Pelicans.

Though the basic frame was similar to the Pelican, there were a number of differences. For one thing, the Petrel relied more heavily on VTOL RCS systems, replacing the Pelican's stubby wings with additional vertical thrusters. Though this reduced its maximum velocity, the extra thrust allowed the craft superior VTOL capabilities, and extended its loiter time - canards mounted to the side of the cockpit provided traditional life, but were mostly superfluous. At the rear of the craft, the twin tail thrusters were fixed, lacking the pivot so distinctive of the Pelican, but with more thruster nozzles mounted to the underside. Where the troop bay would be was replaced with an internal weapons storage bay - missile and rocket pods could be extended, fired and retracted, increasing its aerodynamic features during flight. A 40mm chin-mounted autocannon was fitted, controlled by the co-pilot's helmet-mounted display system, allowing the gunship to engage infantry targets without expending its valuable rocket and missile payload, though it could also be controlled by a computer-operated Target-Acquisition-and-Designation-System, freeing the co-pilot for other duties.

Development of the Petrel was plagued with setbacks. The loss of the the Milieu colony in 2538 saw the deaths of several important project leaders, and Insurrectionist attacks on shipping in Reach orbit denied the development team construction materials, delaying it further. The final product ended up cannibalising parts from deveral decommissioned Pelicans, and was intended as only a concept demonstration model only. In the end, the prototypes less-than-stellar performance saw CENTCOM divert funding to refitting the current Hawk and Pelican gunships already in service. Some features, such as the tandem cockpit design, would be adopted by the D77H-TCI, while the internal payload system would be incorporated into the AH-306 Sarissa Attack Gyrodyne. For the most part, though, the Petrel is regarded as a failure.

Quotes

 * "Can't really say much about it. It wasn't really that innovative, and the development was constantly getting delayed. Apparently CENTCOM was leaning pretty heavily on EXCALIBUR for good results - I guess the Petrel wasn't one of them."
 * "When you compare this and a Hawk, the Hawk is better. I don't really know why they even bothered."
 * "It was as big and bulky as a Pelican, without any of its advantages. I'd say that's a big FAIL."
 * "People are pretty harsh when they talk about the Petrel, but they forget that hte prototype was far from the designer's idea of what the finished product would have been. I guess we'll never find out now."