Raptor Mark IIIa

The Raptor Mark IIIa was the modern Raptor, a multipurpose spacecraft used by the Colonial Fleet as its standard support vessel. One of the most heavily used craft in the Fleet, it was capable of performing a wide variety of missions, and unlike most small Colonial craft it carried a small FTL drive that let it make short jumps. A standard Raptor crew numbered two, a pilot and an electronic countermeasures officer, sitting side by side in the cockpit. (Battlestar Galactica (miniseries))

Design#

In the miniseries Sharon Valerii complains about bringing "50 tons of Raptor" onto a moving hangar deck. The craft could carry around eight to ten adults in addition to its two-person crew. The cabin was pressurised, but crews flew in flight suits and helmets in case a hull breach depressurised it. (Battlestar Galactica (miniseries); Battlestar Galactica, "Bastille Day")

Raptors could fly in both atmosphere and space. To stay airborne within an atmosphere, however, their engines had to run constantly, which burned fuel and could strain the engines. The small FTL drive set the Raptor apart from most Colonial craft of its size, letting it scout ahead of its mother ship. (Battlestar Galactica (miniseries); Battlestar Galactica, "You Can't Go Home Again")

Roles#

Within the Colonial Fleet, the Raptor worked alongside the Vipers, the fleet's fighters, covering the support roles the fighters couldn't. (Battlestar Galactica (miniseries); Battlestar Galactica, "33")

During combat, Raptors typically worked with a Viper squadron as an early warning and electronic countermeasures platform, able to jam enemy transmissions and scramble the control signals of guided weapons. They were normally unarmed, but weapon pods could be fitted to their hardpoints, as they were for the rescue of New Caprica. (Battlestar Galactica (miniseries); Battlestar Galactica, "33"; Battlestar Galactica, "Exodus, Part 2")

As a scout, the Raptor could operate independently, scanning for the signatures of other ships and searching planetary surfaces for resources such as water. It also served as a transport, moving crew from ship to ship or ship to surface, and as an assault craft for Marines, docking to another ship's hull through a skirt on its underside. On search and rescue missions the cabin could be depressurised to pull a stranded crewman inside. (Battlestar Galactica, "Water"; Battlestar Galactica, "Bastille Day"; Battlestar Galactica, "You Can't Go Home Again"; Battlestar Galactica, "A Day in the Life")