FQ-101 Lammergeier

The FQ-101 Lammergeier Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle is a post-war development on the FQ-99 Wombat UCAV, a UAV that was used tentatively during the late-stages of the Human-Covenant War, most notably the Battle of Earth. Despite the Wombat's initial effectiveness against Loyalist Phantom Dropships, it was later found that they utterly failed during combat with much more capable Covenant craft, notably Seraph-Class Interceptors. While a Wombat UCAV could easily dispatch a Phantom, which lacked heavy armament and could not achieve supersonic speeds, scores of the drones were able to be destroyed by even a single competent Seraph pilot. 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, around 200 of which participated in the Battle of the Ark and the later part of the Battle of Earth.

The FQ-100 Wombat was a vast improvement over the tentative designs of the original FQ-99, featuring a good deal of additional armour, the replacement of 50mm Autocannons with Gauss Cannons, and the improvement of various systems such as the optics and targeting modules. The "Combat Wombat" performed favourably during its combat runs, proving itself capable of downing the far-more-advanced fighter craft utilized by the Covenant, as well as providing a large volume of aerial fire support to UNSC ground 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 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 Longsword interceptors commonly deployed for space engagements, the Lammergeier virtually replaced the Longsword in an atmospheric fire support role, while the Longsword itself proved much more capable as a space-faring interceptor.