Good afternoon, generals! How are we all doing this week?
We're good. So, let's dispose of the formalities and jump right into the update.

In addition to being a mobile stealth detector, we have wanted to make the US Sentry Drone a more viable combat unit later in the game without making it too powerful of a T0 anti-infantry option. This is desirable because the Sentry will, according to current plans, be a standard US unit for two of the three US generals in 2.0, whereas General Bradley will replace Sentry Drones with the Bradley IFV. You may have seen in the previous updates that the Bradley is making an early return to the upcoming version 1.9 as a powerful and highly versatile combat detector unit that exemplifies the ideas of the Sentry Drone - those being its fast speed, cheaper cost, and detection abilities. With the Bradley coming out, we have not forgotten about the Sentry Drone itself, and it has now received an updated optimized model and for the first time a proper lore introduction.





The Skinner-Novak Tactical Robot (SNTR), commonly known as "Sentry" among US troops, was the first unmanned ground combat vehicle deployed in large numbers by the US military during the latter half of the war against the GLA in the 2020s. At the time, it was unique in being entirely controlled by artificial intelligence, receiving orders directly from commanders in the same way as a human squad leader or pilot, without any intermediary operators involved, as was still typical of most unmanned vehicles of that era. However, the AI itself was not fully refined yet, resulting in a significant delay between its interpreting of orders and subsequent action.

Newer versions of the Sentry Drone introduced in the 2030s rectified this issue, with the current iteration carrying out orders instantaneously and consistently. Although designed for multirole modularity, the US military most frequently deploys the Sentry in a base security and reconnaissance role, carrying a suite of advanced sensors to detect concealed enemies and explosive traps alongside a machine gun for immediate termination. It should be noted that in its basic configuration, the Sentry is a relatively weak combatant to reduce the risk of friendly fire when used within a base perimeter or populated area. However, it benefits significantly from armor and firepower upgrades that commanders typically apply to all of their drones during the course of a battle, making it a serious threat to enemy infantry and light vehicles in a combat reconnaissance and fire support role later on.

Besides its service with the US military and several other armed forces around the world, a civilian version of the Sentry Drone is being used by many US police departments, particularly in support of SWAT teams and bomb disposal specialists, and in a remote surveillance role by Border Patrol, equipped with non-lethal weapons.

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For many years, the Guardian Drone was seen as a lackluster unit with little in the way of a defined role. Originally envisioned as a drone-based light tank equivalent for General Bradley in 2.0, the little guy struggled to make an impact or be seen as valuable when competing with other US tank and anti-tank options. As such, we have decided to change the unit's role and purpose away from being a more typical tank unit and have geared the drone to specifically be a powerful anti-vehicle and anti-tank specialist. This will be reflected in the default version of the Guardian, featuring new special projectile effects, which are further emphasized once it receives its new railgun armaments upgrade. Railguns are a new theme weapon for the US faction that is optimized for anti-tank combat and will allow General Bradley to meet the heavy tanks of Russian and Chinese opponents on an equal footing instead of creating the paradoxical situation where the dedicated Tank General has to rely on air power to counter opposing tanks.



Another iconic product of Skinner-Novak Robotics, the Guardian Drone, is widely regarded as the "big little brother" of the Sentry Drone. In fact, its development began with a number of ad hoc modifications made to Sentries during the War on Terror. During Operation Black Gold, the neutralization of GLA-operated oil processing facilities in Iran, soldiers of the 75th Ranger Regiment equipped several drones with Carl Gustaf recoilless rifles and additional armor plating to bolster their foothold on a captured airfield. In the ensuing battle, these drones achieved a remarkable number of kills against the GLA and even the heavier response forces of the Iranian Army, including several older-generation tanks.

After the war, SNR engineers developed the Guardian as a refinement of this successful experiment. A new tracked chassis, larger, tougher, and more powerful than that of the Sentry, serves as the propulsion base for an AI- or remote-controlled 84mm cannon designed around the same family of shells used by the Gustaf. The latest munition is equipped with a ramjet accelerator for improved velocity and range, making it a potent weapon against light armored vehicles and even many common types of tanks. Thanks to its proven concept and rugged reliability, the US Marine Corps chose the Guardian as its primary ground-based anti-armor drone over the more exotic WAR-Tech AT Drone favored by the US Army.







Following its early, if predictable, successes against the GLA in Africa, the Guardian Drone saw its true trial by fire in a joint US-China operation against Russian forces in 2040. Despite the overall failure of this operation, the drones prevented a bigger disaster by acting as a sacrificial screening force for retreating US troops against their Russian pursuers. In the aftermath, relations between the US and China deteriorated to an unprecedented low, and the new administration of President George Ironside, who entered office the following year, initiated a policy of confrontation against both Russia and China in anticipation of a future peer-level conflict in Eurasia.

Skinner-Novak Robotics was quick to capitalize on this development and began work on the next version of the Guardian Drone. Unlike the original model, which was armed with a conventional propellant-based cannon, this new iteration carried an electromagnetic railgun, essentially a scaled-down version of the heavy EMPA cannon first seen on the Paladin tank. This increased the Guardian's already respectable anti-tank capability to unparalleled levels for a vehicle of its size and weight, as demonstrated during the Essequibo War in the early 2040s. Air-mobile US Marine elements equipped with railgun-armed Guardians moved quickly between different firing positions and inflicted heavy losses on the invading Venezuelan Army, which lost several of its imported Russian-made Sentinel tanks in these engagements.

By the time of America's entry into the Third World War in 2048 under Ironside's protégé successor William Bradford, not all of the thousands of Guardians in use by the USMC had been outfitted with railguns yet. As a result, field commanders first need to upgrade their drones with advanced weaponry in order to deploy this deadly robotic tank destroyer.

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That's all for this week's flesh-bags. Make sure you praise the Omnissiah and remember that the flesh is weak and that robots are pretty cool. See you all next time!