Colonial Raptor
| First appearance | Mini Series, Part 1 |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Colonial Fleet, Cylons |
| General characteristics | |
| Armaments | Nuclear missiles, Conventional missile pods, Gun pods, twin tail-mounted four-barrel Gatling cannons (First Cylon War models) |
The Raptor is a multipurpose military air/spacecraft featured in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. According to producer Ronald D. Moore, the Raptor is analogous to the U.S. Navy's EA-6B Prowler.
The Raptor's primary function with the Colonial Defense Force is as an electronic warfare platform. It scouts ahead of the fleet, accompanies Vipers and provides targeting information and electronic counter measures (akin to the Prowler) as well as SEAD missions. Raptors can also carry external munitions to assist Vipers against large targets. Its non-combat roles include SAR (search and rescue) operations (akin to the SH-60 Seahawk) and transport of military personnel in hostile areas. Raptors, like Vipers are capable of atmospheric operations but unlike Vipers are also capable of short-range FTL jumps, around 0.5LY, to scout ahead of the fleet. However, this is believed due to the limitations of Colonial navigational computers and not engine performance. Latter in the BSG series Cylon ships are captured and their FTL computers used to enhance the Colonial's FTL computers by a factor of 15 or so. This is supported in the episode where Raptors from Galactica return to Caprica from a location presumable close to Kobol, a distance that is close to 2,000LY (as depicted in the BSG map of the Twelve Colonies by Graizer) in only 10 FTL jumps, to rescue members of the resistance. Gias Baltar after being handed over by the Cylons states he has seen the Cylon's FTL algorithms that allow for their enhanced FTL capability and presumably reveals them to the Colonials. Standard crew includes at least two: one pilot, and one electronic countermeasures officer (ECO).
It is designed for reconnaissance, scout operations, and electronic countermeasures roles supporting Vipers, marine assaults, ambulance, EVAC, and general transport.
It has a multitude of electronic countermeasure and monitoring tools including jamming transmissions, scrambling signals of guided weapons, and Viper Identification friend or foe operations.
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