The 273-meter Scout is the smallest JumpShip in common use in the Inner Sphere. As its name suggests, the Star League-era Scout was designed as an independent reconnais- sance and exploration vessel. During the Succession Wars, many Scouts were pressed into military service. The vessel's small emergence signature made it especially well suited for covert operations such as transporting small surgical strike teams deep behind enemy lines.
         The Scout has comfortable quarters and a large medical bay. The design lacks a gray deck, however, and must use the acceleration method, or gravity maneuvering, to produce artificial gravity. This drastically increases the Scours fuel consumption, and so Scouts that carry out gravity maneuvering often carry extra fuel in their cargo bays.
         The Scout's bulbous nose houses most of the vessel's crew quarters, as well as the spacious bridge, jump-computer, life-support system, and a series of back-up generators. The back-up generators can power the Scout's life-support system for up to three months, allowing the crew to survive in the event the main fusion plant fails.
         The Scout's middle section contains the vessel's sole docking collar. The docking collar enables the Scout to maneuver while transporting DropShips of less than 25,000 tons. A 450-ton capacity cargo bay and a small-craft bay are sandwiched between the fragile drive core and the hull. Generally, the cargo bay is used to store additional supplies for the JumpShip and its crew.
         The aft end of the ship houses the Scout's power plant, fuel tanks and station-keeping drive. The station-keeping drive is unusually powerful, and can provide up to 0.2 Gs of acceleration when the vessel is not transporting a DropShip. The fragile jump-sail mechanism is also located in the aft section. Four large pylons ensure that the 890-meter sail does not come into contact with the vessel's hull.