Scout (Galactonian)

The Scout is a fighter that is fast, maneuverable, and sported long range sensors equivalent to those used by probes and came in squadrons of three ships.

Background
The advantages they had over unmanned probes is that the fleet commander could order them to move as needed (for retreat and repositioning) saving resources and time. They also had a small gun for defense, but due to their weak armor and weaponry they should never be allowed to remain in a firefight for very long against targets tougher than a squad of strike craft. Their main uses were for reconnaissance, probe hunting, and decoys.

One special ability of the upgraded scouts is cloaking, which can hide the scouts from enemy ships for long periods of time. This will allow them to also hide nearby strike craft to counter against frigates and larger ships. The effect of cloaking is a very good tactic for surprise attacks, so the more scouts there are against a target, the larger the force they can bring with them. It has been recorded in several engagements that a small gathering of scouts can continuously cloak a large force of fighters, interceptors and corvettes, allowing them to destroy what would normally be an overwhelming fighter wing.

Trivia

 * In the mod, the ship is referred to as the Wasp-class Scout.

Appearances

 * Homeworld Universal Conquest