Black Dragon VTOL

Mini Review:

I've seen some ink spilled on discussion boards over what the Black Dragon isn't, which would be the troop carrier as seen in the Renegades cartoon series.  While getting a troop carrier would have been preferable due to how seldom large expensive vehicles are released, the Black Dragon VTOL is still a fantastic addition to your Cobra airfleet. 

The Vehicle has no sticker sheet so everything you see is painted to the body. While I often do like taking the time to place stickers just 'so' (since to me stickers tend to lend an authentic and busy 'military' look to a vehicle) there is also something to be said about the smooth lines and simplicity of assembling a few pieces and quickly having a complete toy.  As much as I liked laboring by placing all those SkyStriker decals on, I'm glad the Black Dragon kept it simple.  The result is a very sleek and clean looking aircraft.

On the top are two buttons, the rear-most flips the wings and rotors into flight-position.  It's a well done feature that lends the vehicle well to storage.

The forward button has two functions.  If you press it a little, the second Gatling Gun flips out of the bottom. If you press a little harder, both bays open on either side of the fuselage dropping bombs.  Mechanically, I don't think this works very well. On one of my Black Dragons it works okay, but on the second it's too touchy to manage without dropping the gun AND the opening the bays.  Note also that each wing shows two hard points in the image below, the outermost being effectively behind the rotor.  Unfortunately, the vehicle comes with nothing that fits into these posts, which is very disappointing.

As a convertible helicopter, it wouldn't have been much of an issue to equip it only with landing skids.  However, having a real gear with wheels allows the Black Dragon the capability to operate short take-off and landing maneuvers (STOVL), which makes it capable of taking off with greater payloads (a reason why having accessories to fit the hard points, or a hard point capable of fitting other Joe/cobra weapons is so disappointing).  It is armed with eight bombs -four in each side-bay- one rotating cannon under the nose, and a hidden, down-facing canon in the fuselage.  While you may not miss the lack of stickers so much, the one thing lacking from the packaging is the traditional blueprints listing some vital details, statistics, and performance information.  This presents us with the challenge of creating this information on our own.

Okay, now for the completely made-up stuff.

GENERAL:

One of the most conspicuous things about the Black Dragon is the opaque canopy.  With no way to see out, it can be reasoned that the pilot's means of viewing is entirely electronic, similar to the imagery capabilities provided by the real life's F-35's Digital Aperture System.  This provides heightened situational awareness by allowing the pilot to look 'through' the hull of the airframe to view targets or threats and feeds the image into the helmet of the pilot. The pilot then can be entirely shielded by the protective skin of the aircraft.  If this system fails there there is a backup optical scope in front of the pilot.  It's not very useful for targeting, but does allow the pilot to navigate the aircraft.

The VTOL capabilities of the Black Dragon are extensive.  Both engines can be swiveled around their axis  105 degrees (actually, 360 deg operation is possible with safety overrides overridden) ranging from straight forward for high speed flight, straight up for hover, and back 15-deg for hover/reverse.  Furthermore, the engines should be able to be angled a few degrees for sideways hover.

The Dragon can take off both vertically and perform short takeoffs when it carries larger payloads.  Conventional takeoffs are also possible, but not preferred given the inadequacy of the front gear.  The aircraft can also land conventionally in an emergency (such as when an engine is out, as it cannot hover on only one engine)

PERFORMANCE:

The Black Dragon is quite maneuverable, capable of quick transition from flying like a helicopter to flying like an airplane, or even something in between.  The controls are all fly-by-wire, which allows much easier control in difficult maneuvers since the flight computer figures out most of the complexities for the pilot.  The adjustable rotors leave a number of unusual aerobatic combinations possible: like 'Viffing', were a plane such as the  Sidley/Hawker Harrier was able to escape pursuit by angling down their thrust, which lifted the aircraft while suddenly dropping speed, allowing the pilot to drop in behind his pursuer.  It can fly sideways, use it's rotors to augment it's roll rate, and hover in the air.

EQUIPMENT:

As has been mentioned, the pilot views the world outside the cockpit exclusively through the means of a Digital Aperture System (D.A.S).  This system afford the pilot a complete 360x360 view of the skies in black&white, full color of the visual spectrum, and infra red.  Various cameras are positioned around the aircraft to provide a full external view of the airframe.  These images are fed into a series of complex digital signal processors that parse together the imagery and feed it to the pilot's helmet-up-display or view screens in the cockpit.  This works in conjunction with the integrated targeting computers for the infra red search and track system (IRST) and the gunnery sighting system that controls the forward turret-mounted cannon.   It's DAS system also makes it suitable for night and all-weather operations.

The Black Dragon also has an ultra violet-based Missile Approach Warning System (MAW)s against infra-red SAM and MANPAAD threats and an integrated Radar Warning System (RWS) built into it's avionics package that informs the pilot against surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles.  It uses these in conjunction with a chaff/flare countermeasures port located at tail of the airframe.   

WEAPONS:

The Black Dragon comes configured with three weapons:  eight 150lbs smart bombs.  One 20mm Gatling gun mounted under the nose (can fire 210 degree arc horiz, and +5 to -15degrees vertical) with 280 rounds.  one 30mm Gatling gun hidden in fuselage (firing arc vertical only, 0 degrees straight ahead, to -155 degrees behind) with 800 rounds. Both guns feature advanced targeting capabilities tied into the DAS system.  The nose cannon follows the head-shift of the pilot to train on targets, while the larger 30mm can lock forwards or adjust it's altitude to train on ground-based targets to saturate them with fire.  There are four unused wing hardpoints capable of mounting undetermined weaponry.  There is no current Hasbro GI Joe accessories that fit these slots, but possibilities include: heat seeking air-to air missiles, air-to-surface missiles, rocket pods, and bombs.

ARMOR:

The hull or the aircraft is plated with a carbon nanotube-based armor to protect the pilot and vital systems from ground fire.  The armor is nearly impervious to handgun calibers and highly resistant to rounds up to .30cal at close ranges.  The armor primarily protects the cockpit and canopy, engine cowlings and fairings, the leading edges, props and hubs, and bays from enemy fire, providing the most protection from the front quarter.  Lighter armor is placed on the sides of the airframe (none on top as it was never designed to protect from air-to-air cannon).   

ANALYSIS/ROLE:

Trying to figure out where the Black Dragon VTOL fits in Cobra's Order of Battle is not too much of a challenge.  Cobra has often focused it's air fleet on assault capabilities, and the Black Dragon continues that trend.  The Black Dragon is widely considered by many to be the the Fang IV, which in a way sounds apt.  However, the Dragon is considerably larger and better equipped than the diminutive F.A.N.G line, which quite honestly strike me as limited and dubious, even in the relaxed realism of the GI Joe Universe.

So is the Black Dragon limited to being simply an attack/close support vehicle?  How would it fare against vehicles in the Joe arsenal?  

I think it matches up favorably against the Dragonfly due the advantages of being able to shift between airplane and helicopter-like flight modes.  It can hide and hover at low altitudes like the Dragonfly can, but it's airplane configuration allows for "boom-and-zoom" yo-yo dive/climb tactics that a helicopter cannot effectively duplicate and would find hard to counter.  It's DAS system provides more sophisticated visibility and greater awareness.  However, it does not have the speed, acceleration, and climb of Jets like the SkyStriker and Conquest.  It lacks RADAR, limiting it to visual range engagements only.  It's armor, like most, is ineffective vs the heavier weaponry of that consists of most air-to air and surface to air guns and cannon.

The best roles for the Black Dragon are in close-support engagements or tank hunting.  It also should do well against choppers given it's superior speed and the versatility of it's flight modes.  It's good range and ability to land vertically make it a good mission-infiltration vehicle.  All in all, it expands Cobra's already stocked attack and support capabilities by bringing a modern and versatile variable-mode aircraft to the field to do battle with GI Joe.

EDIT: 12/4/12 - Looking at the purpose and best functions of the Black Dragon again, it strikes me that it would be great at a particular modern day role among the forces of Cobra: Counterinsurgency [COIN].  Of course, this may go beyond the normal sphere of typical Cobra activities as seen in things like the A Real American Hero cartoons (though I'm not sure about the comics).  Usually, members of Cobra are the insurgents, complete with secret bases to keep their operations clandestine while they plan to take something or take something over (or build something nutty).  Counterinsurgency is an action normally taken by a legitimate army or an openly occupying force.    For an organization like Cobra, it would consist of things like intelligence gathering and searches for members of an underground resistance faction or political dissidents.  If Cobra conducted itself like more of an influential international security force (with terrorist associations/underpinnings) than an organized crime syndicate,  COIN operations would be a huge portion of their work.  Imagine: a small force of GI Joes operating a sabotage/Espionage ring trying to promote freedom  in a land where the ruler has enlisted Cobra to provide security and control the population while building a war machine.  Scarlett and Chuckles hide in a basement of a house while Shock Troopers go door-to-door searching for them and other enemies of the state.  They must get influential leaders of the resistance movement and rightful political leaders of this country to the safety of the United States or face execution.  Outside, a squadron of Black Dragon VTOL aircraft patrol the roads and countryside while troopers check every vehicle that passes.  A flight Black Dragons break patrol to engage a vehicle reported to charge through a roadblock, with orders to destroy....

Unofficial (missing) specs:

Black Dragon VTOL Specs Weight (empty): 14,123lbs Weight(max vtol&hover): 21,600lbs* Weight(maximum stovl takeoff): 25,000lbs Power Plant: two 2000hp turboprop engines Rotors: two variable pitch/variable speed Performance Max Speed: 365nph (420mph) Cruise Speed: 280nph (320mph) @ 18,000ft Range @100% fuel, 1250nm Combat Radius: 500nm Service Ceiling (cruise mode ): 35,000ft Hover ceiling (vtol max weight) 10,000ft Hover ceiling (minimum wt) 16,000ft *with normal armament of 2000lb ordinance, guns &ammo, 75% fuel.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

If you have a stock of Rattlers among your Cobra forces, you don't really need the Black Dragon.  The Rattler carries more ordinance and weaponry and is competitive in it's speed, armor, and firepower.  The Rattler lacks the Dragon's more sophisticated flight modes, hover performance, and advanced avionics, especially the situational awareness granted by it's DAS.   However, it has a lot of advantages over the over-weaponized FANG autogyro: speed, range, altitude, maneuverability, electronics, etc.

While I'm fairly certain the Black Dragon VTOL will only have a single release from HASBRO given it's from the cancelled GI Joe Renegades line, it would be nice if they released an updated version including missiles or rockets that would fit the hard points in the future, but I doubt that will happen.