Stinger Droid

One of the smallest Sirasion War Droids, the stinger is newest addition to a wheeled line of war droids that have never been successful since day one, the Sirasions simply not being able to get the wardroid system to work in conjunction with a wheeled platform, until now.
Reaching speeds of well over two hundred fifty miles per hour, a group of Stingers can lay waste to an enemy formation and then retreat before the enemy even know what is attacking them.

Design History

The first of these droids was the A-100, or nicknamed the Wheely droids by the hightechno it fought, its purpose was to be a four wheeled mobile gun platform used to support troops, deal with tanks as well as aircraft, however its instability limited its success Later, long after the high techno war and into the great uprising, the A-100 was redesigned into the A-200, the a-200 pioneered war droid limbs, and the technology used in the a-200 wheel droids is still reminiscent in today’s war droid models, it was slimmed down, still using four wheels, but now supported the ability to carry large weapons such as scatter cannons and other artillery pieces and shoot them like a man shoots a rifle. Later the concept of melee weapons was approached, the wheely droids being the first line of war droids to use melee combat against other vehicles, at first it was just a blade mounted on the end of the scatter cannon, later it became large glaive weapons that proved very successful in destroying tanks and other land vehicles, the A-200 was arguably the most effective out of the wheely droid line.
Going forward to the galactic war, many of the a-200 droids had been lost to the rebellion, and it seemed pointless rebuilding something that would be so out of date. Designers set out to create a new wheely droid platform that would bring it up to speed with the new series of wardroids such as the mantis droid. The next wheely droid began its development, this time only having two wheels, it took a very long time to finish and came quite late into the opening stages of the war. The new a-300 droid was finally finished just after the ceasefire between the alliance and Sirasions, instantly an order of 500 was placed, and almost as soon as the first wheely droids came into battle they started to run into problems. Problems with its AI programming were its primary downfall, the droids AI wasn’t advanced enough to handle all the complex movements it had to make to stay balanced while fighting and driving at nearly 100 mph, plus with its tall upper torso it made an easy target for any alliance tanks over the horizon.
Firing the main weapons was also a difficult task, the two wheels allowed for much greater venerability in motion but while stationary the droids chassy had to be kept upright with two spikes attached to their own mechanical arms that would dig into the ground to keep the droid steady, they could also be used for extremely sharp turns and breaking, however when faced with keeping the droid balanced under the recoil of the scatter cannon(which was more or less the only heavy weapon this droid used) the stabilizing arms didn’t manage as well as an extra set of wheels, firing the main gun would damage them over time, leading to overly frequent replacements being needed.
Overall the a-300 was a successful failiure, it was a mechanical and computer nightmare however it did succeed in destroying countless tanks and other armored vehicles in its brief time.
upon reaching mid way into the galactic war where the Yaku and Necrophytes entered thew fold, the wheeled droid line has made a come back, with the A-400 Stinger
The stinger has a completely redesigned chassy and body, instead of and upright torso, it has a far more compact version, being able to fold itself out for melee combat or stationary firing, but to travel it compact itself down and fold away the arms, making it much lower profile and more streamlined.
Its AI programming is far improved over the a-300. The stinger being capable of computing all the necessary actions it needs, and with 360 degree sensors, its capable driving without vision, so can defend itself from aircraft while avoiding obstacles on the ground.

Power Generation

unlike conventional war droids, the Stinger doesn't use an under hanging matrix, instead relying on a more conventional friction based power unit thats kept topped up by the movement of its wheels. While similar in fundamentals to the standard war droid matrix, it is nowhere near as volatile, and with the fact its wheels are moving almost all the time, it can effectively keep moving indefinitely.

Propulsion

Stinger droids use two large wheels to get around, being one of the few war droids to use them. For this fact Stinger droids are regularly fielded in large, open areas like tundra, grassy plains and deserts, where they most excel in combat. as a contrary to being used in tightly packed forests.

Weapons & Armament

While in travel mode, the stinger can deploy its arms to take advantage of the twin particle cannons, when using the particle cannons it will fold its blades away to enable the targeting sensors on the other end, the stinger droid can use its particle cannons without the aid of the targeting arrays, however with much less accuracy and precision. In case the stinger droid should be faced with some infantry or a fast moving light target, it is equipped with a twin linked anti personnel cannon mounted just under its optical sensors.
Should the droid need to get up close and personal, it is equipped with two serrated protosteel blades that can rend armour to ribbons. a favoured tactic of these droids is to scream past a column of enemy tanks and slice along the side flanks as they go, disabling the vehicles tracks or at the very least shaking up the crew, only for them to turn their bodies around to fire at the tanks with their particle cannons as they retreat into the distance.

Armor and defense

Stinger droids, like the Mantis Droid do not possess shields, instead relying on its speed and agility to avoid damage. Its armour is fairly minimal for the same reason.

Sensors

Unlike most other war droids, the stingers optical sensors are rather on the exposed side, this does indeed make them easier to target, but it gives the droid un-paralleled visability, and even if its optical sensors are destroyed, it still has the Spiderdroid system sensors, which also aid it in detecting obstacles everywhere around it, meaning the droid can be facing its body backwards and still avoid anything that comes up in front of it.

Class

Heavy War Droid

Manufacturer

Kronark Systems Corporation

Owning Organization

The Sirasion Empire

Rarity

uncommon

Width

Length: 6,8m - Width: 2.1m

Length

6,8m

Height

6.2M

Weight

5,500kg

Speed

250mph