Name: Helldiver
Alignment: New Helic Republic
Family: Hawk
Registration Number: NHR-01
Crew: 1
Height: 4.1 Meters
Length: 18.6 Meters
Weight: 33.2 Tons (with bombs), 32.2 Tons (without bombs)
Top Speed: Mach 2.5/3062.5 kph
Weapons: Dual 30mm Machineguns, Dual Heavy AZ Bombs, Concealed 10-Shot Rocket Gatling.
Special Abilities: None.
Level: 4
The Helldiver, as the name might suggest, is a dedicated aerial Zoid, built by the New Helic Republic for the sole purpose of divebombing. The Helldiver, though extremely new, has gained overnight notoreity for its extreme effectiveness at what it does - delivering the thousand-pound bomb it carries under either wing to a target. It was brought to bear during the end of the brief naval war between the New Helic Republic and the Zoid Battle Commission, and magnificently damaged and destroyed many Commission ships. Though divebombers seem dated and nearly obsolete in this day of guided missiles and guided bombs, the Helldiver has somehow managed to prove itself worthy of becoming a common medium bomber for the NHR, largely in part to exceeding courageous actions of Republican naval pilots.
However, the Helldiver hasn't only been brought into the spotlight because of the skill and valor of its pilots. It, as its name suggests, can dive like hell, being able to do so with tremendous power and maneuverability during downward flight to put a Storm Sworder to shame. It also has an uncanny ability to pull out of steep dives with equally steep climbs, and though its rate of climb leaves something to be desired, the Helldiver has another uncanny knack for not stalling easily. The Helldiver is also quite maneuverable overall for a bomber, hovering around the Zabat's category. Mainly though, this Zoid was built with two points vital for a good divebomber in mind: size and durability. The Helldiver is extremely short in height, making its cross-sectional area very small and hard to hit head-on during a dive. Secondly, the Helldiver is quite tough, with armor better than even that of a Storm Sworder. When all of that praise is put together, it makes an impressive and powerful bomber that is very good at its job. It's easy to see what New Helic Republic saw when they built this Zoid.
Weapons:
Dual 30mm Machineguns:
The Helldiver features two fixed and very much standard Dual 30mm Machineguns, one located in either side of the nose. Each can fire 15 rounds of ammunition every second, and the weapons were built for both striking and dogfighting purposes. Despite the original function, Helldiver pilots say that they more often find themselves using them for Anti-Missile Defense purposes, at which the Machineguns are also extremely helpful.
Dual Heavy AZ Bombs:
There are two parts to the word "divebomber". One is the word "dive", which the Helldiver excels at. The other is "bomb", which requires some kind of disposable explosive ordnance. To that end, the Helldiver carries two thousand-pound Heavy AZ Bombs, which are bombs with limited capacities to change its course mid-drop. This weapon need not lock on, it does that by itself instantly when dropped (it just locks onto the nearest terrestrial target that gives off an IR signal and doesn’t respond properly to its IFF inquiries). It has only limited guidance capabilities, but it can correct for a good deal of movement of a target if its dropped more or less on top of it. It may have trouble with fast-moving ones, but it will still try to hit them. Also, the Homing Bomb has four times the explosive power of an ordinary Anti-Ground Missile and a much larger radius, so it can do real damage if it hits.
Concealed 10-Shot Rocket Gatling:
The Dual Heavy AZ Bombs are great weapons for doing significant damage to enemy terrestrial or surface-aquatic Zoids, but they can't always hack it when it comes to the bigger, meaner Zoids. As a matter of fact, they rarely do finish the job in the case of Zoids of a similar level. For that case is the 10-Shot Rocket Gatling located in the Helldiver's belly. An armor plate slides back to reveal this weapon, and then off it rattles. It can let loose 1 rocket every second, and the gatling barrel-like chamber behind the final rocket tube gives it its name. The rockets it fires are standard rockets, but the Gatling is positioned so that the the fire from the 30mm Machineguns won't intersect with the rockets during a dive. Helic pilots have reported that this a useful weapon for finishing off persistent targets, and it can take several dives to deplete the entire ammunition store.
