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This versatile vessel uses the same frame as its sister ship the Asp Explorer, but is more manoeuvrable due to having less overall mass. The trade-off for this agility is a lower hardpoint capacity, which makes the Scout less suited to combat situations. But with the same jump range as the Explorer, the Scout still has something to offer the pioneer.

— In-game Description

The Asp Scout is a lighter and cheaper version of the Asp Explorer.[1] It is designed as the Asp version of the Diamondback Scout, being around two thirds the price of its full model.

Overview

The Asp Scout maintains its variants focus on being a multipurpose ship, being less effective but at a lower cost.

In combat, the Scout is rather poor. It has awful shields and armour for its price range and its hardpoints are not very good; even the Cobra MkIII boasts comparable stats. The upside the ship has is its manoeuvrability, at an impressive 5 it can evade fire very easily and keep fixed mounts on targets easily. This would make it a good stealth ship, however, another glaring fault in the Scout makes this unviable; the utility mounts. With only two the ship cannot make very good use of Chaff Launchers and other utilities which are mandatory assets for Stealth fighters, making it a questionable choice compared to cheaper ships.

With only 72t of cargo, the ship is a rather poor trader. It also boasts around the same jump range as a Type-6 and less than a Dolphin making both much better options for trade. Even the Keelback has only slightly lower jump ranges, but greater cargo space.

As an Explorer the Scout has about 31Lys of jump range without engineering. This is a rather average amount; around the same as the Type-6, Cobra MkIII and Diamondback Scout. Meanwhile, the Dolphin and Adder surpass this amount by a good margin and the Diamondback Explorer and Hauler eclipse it, and all of the above ships are significantly cheaper than the Asp scout. Combined with poor compartment space and sizes, while the Scout certainly isn't a bad Explorer, its price makes it very ill-suited as a dedicated vessel, unlike the Asp Explorer.

Overall the Asp Scout doesn't quite live up to the power of the Asp Explorer and instead ends up a Master of None ship, and doesn't excel in any department. However, its sole advantage is the general lack of multi-purpose ships in the price range. The Scout can be a good option for a commander looking for a ship that can do everything and finds the Keelback's low manoeuverability unappealing.

The weapon hardpoints are located as follows: One Top mounted Class 2 Medium hardpoints on each side of the cockpit (Total 2), and Two bottom mounted Class 1 Small hardpoints directly underneath the cockpit.

Unlike the Asp Explorer, the Asp Scout has a single centerline grouping of engines instead of the twin offset engine mountings of the Explorer. Compared to the Asp Explorer, the Scout is shorter and wider than the original.

Purchase Locations

System Station Date Seen Discount
Shinrarta Dezhra Jameson Memorial Always available 10% discount
Brestla i Sola Prospect Always available 20% surcharge
KP Tauri Spedding Orbital Mar. 14, 2019 15% discount
G 35-15 Cugnot Terminal Mar. 14, 2019 15% discount
Hel Jones Orbital Mar. 14, 2019 15% discount
Maikoro Hawking Port Mar. 14, 2019 15% discount
Eravate Russell Ring Mar. 14, 2019
Altair Solo Orbiter Mar. 14, 2019
Nehet Xuesen Orbital Mar. 14, 2019
CF 464 Bartini Enterprise Mar. 14, 2019
78 Ursae Majoris Rominger Dock Mar. 14, 2019
Tarbi Alvarado City Mar. 14, 2019

Outfitting

Main article: Outfitting

All ships are highly customisable through the Outfitting menu of Station Services. Listed below is the default load-out for the Asp Scout.

Category Default System Default Rating Default Class Max Class
Small Hardpoint Pulse Laser (L) F 1 1
Pulse Laser (L) F 1 1
Medium Hardpoint Empty -- -- 2
Empty -- -- 2
Utility Mount Empty -- -- 0
Empty -- -- 0
Bulkheads Lightweight Alloys I 1 8
Reactor Bay Power Plant E 4 4
Thrusters Mounting Thrusters E 4 4
Frame Shift Drive Housing Frame Shift Drive E 4 4
Environment Control Life Support E 3 3
Power Coupling Power Distributor E 4 4
Sensor Suite Sensors E 4 4
Fuel Store Fuel Tank [x16] C 4 4
Internal Compartments Cargo Rack [x8] E 3 5
Cargo Rack [x8] E 3 4
Shield Generator E 3 3
Empty -- -- 3
Empty -- -- 2
Empty -- -- 2
Supercruise Assist E 1 1
Planetary Approach Suite (H) I 1 1

Trivia

  • The Asp Scout length (54.8 m) is similar to a Boeing 747 SP (56.3 m).[2]
  • According to INARA, the Asp Scout has the lowest usage of any ship that has been available for more than two months.[3]

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References

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