AERIAL HK (Various Models) Production Date: Various from 2020 to 2029.
There are many air ships that fit into this category used by Sky-Net. There are small VTOL air craft (A4), larger interceptors (A14;also VTOL), ground support (A5) and a Heavy Assault Model (A8M). The design and propulsion systems of all these are derived from the same principles and the ships only vary in form in regard to their function. As these ships are piloted by artificial intelligence, they can maneuver in ways that would kill any human pilot. They are all formidably armed with high intensity, long range plasma phase weaponry and explosives. These air ships resembled insects and were nicknamed "Wasps" and "Dragon Flies" by the resistance.
A4 (VTOL Seeker)- light armor, sensory vulnerability. Semi-autonomous. Small vessel.
A14 (VTOL Interceptor)- larger vessel, less vulnerability. Semi-autonomous.
A5 (Semi VTOL Ground Support)- most maneuverable vessel. larger than A14 and A5, heavy armor, great fire power. Autonomous.
A8 (Endoskeleton Troop Carrier)- heaviest armor of all vessels. Larger than A14, A4, A5, and A9. Autonomous.
A9 (Intelligence Gatherer)- high altitude vessel. Lightest armor of all vessels, no weaponry. Autonomous.
A8M (Modified Gun ship)- largest vessel. greatest arsenal of fleet. Autonomous.
INTELLIGENCE
Smaller models were semiautonomous with sophisticated logic arrays and subroutines but no sentience or ability to organize, think, or learn. Their network of control systems were designed to emulate the human nervous system, but resulted in inhumanly fast and precise reaction time. Larger models such as the A5 were more autonomous and sophisticated and capable of directing the actions of the smaller ships in coordinated air attacks. The A8 endoskeleton transport and the A9 observation unit probably had the most advanced CPUs. It would be logical to assume that just as Sky-Net programmed many Centurion units to become self aware in the event of its "death", it may have applied the same programming to some of the more advanced Aerial HKs.
WEAPONRY
Aerial HKs are all equipped with reactor fed, extreme rapid fire Westinghouse Model 25D3 phased plasma cannons mounted on turrets capable of engaging targets from all possible sides of the vessel. Smaller vessels were heavily armed and larger several times the same. A5s were generally the most formidably armed with the A8s having the greatest armor and range. A few A8s were refitted into super gun ships and they had the most firepower of the entire fleet. An A5 had enough firepower to incinerate a city block, to give you a rough estimate. Due to the nature of their power supply, they had a virtually infinite supply of firepower. A9s were not armed and relied on altitude and stealth.
SPEED & MANEUVERABILITY
Smaller models such as the A4 and A1 could achieve speeds of roughly Mach 1 to Mach 1.6 depending on the model of their engine and the date of their production. All Aerial HKs were capable of supersonic flight. The most maneuverable being the A5, designed for ground support. The smaller ships were capable of hair-pin turns and maneuvers that would never be dreamed possible by pilots of the 21st century. Not only would pilots not survive such maneuvers but no air craft in existence created by humans had a durable enough frame to sustain such punishment. VTOL ability was fairly consistent in all of the models, but some of the larger models could only utilize VTOL capability under certain conditions and it was more taxing on their systems. Their highly streamlined architecture lent to this great maneuverability.
The navigational and guidance systems of Aerial HKs was truly superior utilizing highly advanced GPS and sensory suites several times more acute than anything possessed by ground forces. An A5 could specifically target something the size of a hubcap and hit it from about a block away.
ENDURANCE
The smaller models (A1,A4) had light hyper alloy construction, resistant to conventional fire power and light plasma weapons, larger units (A5, A8,) were heavily armored to with stand even more intense ballistic projectiles and heavier plasma phase fire, especially the A8. The A4 had a weakness in its sensory array and could be blinded if precisely targeted in the right areas. The A9 (an intelligence and observation unit) had the lightest armor).
Aerial HKs were powered by a high capacity, high efficiency compact nuclear reactor which powered at least three engines in even the smallest designs. This granted them far greater range and efficiency than any human air craft designed in the 21st century.
A weakness of all of the Aerial HKs was that their communications transmissions were perceivable to equipment used by human resistance forces. The frames of Sky-Net ships were even used to bounce human resistance transmissions, totally unnoticed by Sky-Net. Even the A9, designed for intelligence gathering, had this weakness and Sky-Net's inability to discern this was a key factor leading to its destruction.
HK-FLYING HUNTER EFFICIENCY RATINGS
Intelligence: ***
Weaponry: *****
Speed & Maneuverability: ******
Endurance:****
