Wasp (20t)
Model by Primus

The Wasp was the first recon 'Mech ever to be mass-produced. Over the last six centuries, the Wasp has served in every House army. This new model incorporates Hellespont's endo steel which, with the inclusion of a standard fusion engine and the maximum possible amount of stealth armor, gives the new Wasp an incredible survivability for the lightest of BattleMechs - a quality absolutely necessary in a scout 'Mech. In designing the 'Mech's armor layout, the project engineers paid close attention to better protecting the Wasp's joints. They also relocated the jump jets to the torso-a fact that not only provided better protection for the 'Mech but actually saved costs. At the same time, though a relatively minor move, the designers chose to incorporate only standard heat sinks to cut down on expenses - and to make use of the CCAF's huge stockpile of these heat sinks, a stockpile that had barely been touched in the past decade. Finally, the Wasp was equipped with a pilot ejection system similar to that on the Phoenix Hawk. Like the original, this new Wasp is only lightly armed, carrying an extended-range medium laser as its primary armament. In a somewhat controversial move, the CCAF authorized the addition of a single Marian rocket launcher to the design, giving it an additional punch to help it extract itself from difficult situations. When added to its high mobility and stealth characteristics, the weapons loadout makes the Wasp 3L an extremely effective and survivable light recon 'Mech.