AT-101 Seawasp

AT-101 Seawasp
Machine Information
Name	AT-101 SeaWasp
Created by	FDM-Aerospace
Used by	RDA SecOps
Model	AT-101
Type	Attack Tiltrotor
Usage	Target spotting Direct fire support
Armament	Single chin-mounted GAU 33-K Stub Wing Gun Two TK-411 WAFAR air-to-ground missile pods Four Hawkeye HELLFIRE air-to-air missile pods Two Modular Missile pods Four secondary wingtip mounted missile
Size	14 meters long (without the front machine gun)
Speed	284 knots (526 km/h)
Behind the Scenes
First seen	Avatar: The Way of Water

The AT-101 Seawasp is a next-generation aerial gunship built for high performance and direct fire support. It is an evolutionary step from the Scorpion Gunship with improvements in speed, range and maneuverability.

Specifications

Crew

The Seawasp is crewed by a single pilot who is in charge of flying the aircraft and operating its systems. Like the Scorpion Gunship, the pilot uses a series of holographic wraparound displays alongside a standard manual flight control system.

Armament

The Seawasp's armament is different from the Scorpion as it sports a chin-mounted 30mm rotary cannon, 38 TK-411 WAFAR (Wrap-Around Fin Aerial Rocket) rockets in two 19-tube rocket launchers (compared to the Scorpion's 190), and 16 Hawkeye HELLFIRE (Helicopter Launched Fire-and-Forget) missiles (compared to the Scorpion's eight). There are also two 6-tube pods mounted on the primary wingtips designed for modular loadouts, including tracking beacons known as "Pingers" for spotting and tagging tulkun for hunting. Its impressive speed and reliance on missiles over cannons made it ideal for both sustained air support and fast tactical strikes.

Propulsion and design

Compared to the Scorpion, the Seawasp sports a quad coaxial ducted-fan tiltrotor system rather than two, as well as two pronounced pusher turbine engines that gives maximum forward propulsion without heavy pitch of the rotors. Engineers gave it a slender shape more akin to a fighter jet than a helicopter. These design features give the Seawasp exceptional speed and maneuverability as well as better resistance to the strong maritime saltwater winds of Pandora. In effect, the Seawasp was not only built for speed, but also functions as a 'half-airplane' due to its sleeker aerodynamic performance. Despite the impressive capabilities in both speed and maneuverability, the Seawasp was unable to take full advantage of both at the same time, needing to slow down in order to pitch rotors and maneuver. This left the Seawasp vulnerable to flanking maneuvers or cornering in environments with plenty of obstacles.

The aircraft's skin is marked with a fine honeycomb pattern, which absorbs radar and adds strength to the light composite material. Despite these improvements, the Seawasp was still fragile - as .50 Cal rounds were strong enough to destroy them from above. The canopy was also enhanced in strength to protect against most enemy attacks, though arrows were still capable of piercing them at close range.

Operational history

A Seawasp flying over the train tracks

During the RDA's return, the Seawasp has become the dominant attack aircraft for the RDA, having replaced the older Scorpion Gunship. A Seawasp, along with a Kestrel Gunship, was escorting a Mag-Lev Jungle Train when it was attacked by a raiding party led by Jake Sully. Jake was able to use his M69-AR to destroy the Seawasp from above, sending it crashing to the ground.

Seawasps also escorted Quaritch's Valkyrie shuttle to Bridgehead. During Quaritch's briefing with the RDA's new commander, Frances Ardmore, Seawasps were also shown on a computer screen at Bridgehead, being destroyed by banshees. These craft also escorted Ardmore’s Dragon Assault Ship alongside Kestrels.

In Cet-Ops service, Seawasps were used to hunt tulkun. One Seawasp was able to fire a Pinger at a tulkun mother, giving away its location and allowing Mick Scoresby and his whaling crew to kill it. It is also assumed that the tracker fired at Payakan was fired by a Seawasp.

During the Skirmish at the Three Brothers, a Seawasp engaged skimwings used by the Metkayina Clan, killing a few of them while a second prepared to launch from the Seadragon's dorsal helipad. Both of them were shot down by Neytiri halfway through the engagement.

Trivia

• According to the concept artist Ben Procter, "The SeaWasp is more reminiscent of a fighter jet than a helo. The canopy has a gold coating reminiscent of the F-22 and F-35 fighters." Despite this, the helicopter’s design is still based off an AH-64 Apache.
• The SeaWasp is similar in role to the AH-1Z Viper and Ka-50 attack helicopters.

Sources

• McFarlane toy "RDA Seawasp"

References

See the image gallery for Seawasp