Bushwacker BSW-S2

       The prototype Bushwacker was under construction at the start of the Clan invasion. An ambitious, unorthodox design, the Bushwacker featured a long, narrow upper torso designed to present a minimal target profile to enemy units. This unconventional configuration resulted in at) extremely complex interior layout, with the ‘Mech’s fusion engine, sensors and communications suites crowded together. Unfortunately, the engine shielding proved insufficient to insulate the sensors and communications suites from the engine’s radiation, and the Bushwacker experienced frequent targeting and sensor system failures. Attempts to increase the engine shielding made the ‘Mech too heavy and cumbersome for battle use. Though the Bushwacker program seemed destined for cancellation, many observers praised the innovative design as a daring work of BattleMech engineering.
       It was the Clan invasion that saved the Bushwacker from the scrap pile. A raid on a Jade Falcon base on Twycross yielded a vast haul of technical specifications and schematics for various Clan BattleMechs. The Bushwacker design team were given the specs for the Clan Vulture. Using these documents as a guide, the Bushwacker team was able to reconfigure the ‘Mech’s interior spaces and eliminate the electronic interference.

       The Bushwacker is built with long-range combat in mind. Its two LRM launchers, along with its improved large laser and Mydron autocannon, give this ‘Mech the ability to really reach out and touch someone. While against Inner Sphere opponents this weapons mix is quite lethal, Clan opponents are a different matter: the Clan weapon systems out-range their Inner Sphere counterparts by up to 50 percent. Engaging in a long-range slugging duel with Clan troops is suicide for any Inner Sphere ‘Mech, even as one as well armed as the Bushwacker.
       To compensate for this disadvantage, Bushwacker units attempt to use the terrain and natural obstacles to engage Clan units at relatively close range. In a lance of Bushwackers, one member will serve the remaining three units as a spotter for indirect LRM fire.

       The Bushwacker was put into full scale production in 3053, though many Federated Commonwealth units received pre-production models during the Clan invasion. The Bushwacker commonly replaced units lost from medium ‘Mech lances on the Clan border. As a result, most of the Bushwackers in service belong to units of the Lyran Alliance, with only a handful serving in the remainder of the Federated Commonwealth.