Type: LAM
Technology Base: Inner Sphere
Tonnage: 45
Battle Value: 1,427
Cost: 4,944,428 C-Bills
Introduction: 3079
Overview
The Loon is one of the first LAMs designed since the fall of the Star League. It is an experimental unit, testing the possibilities for LAMs after the Word of Blake fielded LAMs of their own. When word came that the Word of Blake was fielding Land-Air 'Mechs, the response was confusion followed by concern. The fall of the Star League had ended new development of LAMs, as well as any efforts to develop tactics around their use or to overcome their inherent drawbacks.
The fact that Word of Blake had produced and deployed three new models suggested that the Blakists had accomplished a breakthrough advancement in LAM technology. This potential edge concerned Devlin Stone enough to
commission a re-evaluation of Land Air Mechs to determine if any significant improvements could be made with modern technology. Luthien Armor Works, desperate for any business opportunity after their facilities were decimated at the start of the Jihad, successfully bid to take on this project. The Loon was the result. As the first LAM in decades to be developed completely from scratch, the Loon was a proof-of-concept machine including many design compromises. Initially planned to have an advanced lightweight composite internal structure, this was scrapped when the composite proved to be too difficult to manufacture.
The machine's cooling system was also temperamental,
forcing the designers to pair each energy weapon with its own dedicated double-capacity heat sink to avoid melting the
'Mech's internals. Despite these drawbacks, the Loon stands out from earlier LAMs as being able to transform quickly between forms without jamming, while also delivering consistent firepower and multiple combat options to its pilots. The designers kept the mobility of the AirMech form in mind, allowing the Loon to stay light on its feet despite its relatively slow landspeed. Its weapons and electronics were chosen to try and match the raw firepower of the Blakist LAMs while also allowing the Loon to support a lance of traditional groundbound 'Mechs.
Test pilots were trained and sent out alongside the Loon prototypes, but budget constraints and a tight development schedule limited training time. As a result pilots had to learn on the fly, often literally, which is believed to be responsible for at least two of the destroyed test models. As a curious side effect of the Loon's development, Luthien Armor Works found itself inundated with requests for spare parts, as word of their LAM development spread and the owners of the few dozen remaining LAMs reached out in the hope of servicing and repairing their aging machines.
Luthien's management initially expressed interest in continuing LAM development, but ultimately shelved the project due to public image concerns after the annihilation of the Word of Blake's own LAM factory on Gibson. The surviving Loons and plans for future Land Air Mechs were put into storage, ultimately forgotten about after the collapse of the HPG network. However, rumors abound that the Loon's development notes and some of the surviving prototypes were sold on the black market to various "interested parties."
Capabilities
The Loon is a mobile support 'Mech focusing on ranged firepower. A Light PPC augmented with a capacitor is the main weapon, backed up with a pair of ER Medium Lasers and an MML-5. A Beagle Active Probe, TAG, and a bomb bay give it additional combat flexibility. It is protected by 7 tons of armor. Its landspeed tops out at 64 kph, forcing it to rely on its AirMech or aerospace fighter forms to move quickly. Designed based on years of experience with LAMs, the Loon can transform smoothly between its different modes, and its arrangement of jump jets allows the pilots unprecedented control over its flight and, more importantly, its landings.
Deployment
A total of ten prototypes were made, with two reserved for the test field and the other eight deployed in various units across Devlin Stone's coalition as an extended field test. At least two of those deployed never saw field action, as the commanders were hesitant to field such a rare unit and could not find any situation where a combination 'Mech/aerospace fighter was specifically called for.
Three were destroyed in combat, one via a dramatic high-speed crash into a Celestial Omnimech. The remaining three were deployed successfully in strikes against orbital installations, jumpships, and moon bases, where the commanders quickly grew fond of the LAM's ability to change forms, allowing it to achieve pinpoint landings and also deploy arms for fine manipulation.
