AH/G-24 Banshee

"Relax, hotshot. I got something useful for ya'; Banshees. These babies can blow the snot outta ground forces. Got cloaking too. Gotta love that!"

- Rory Swann

The AH/G-24 Banshee Tactical-Strike Aircraft is a terran air unit in StarCraft II.

Overview
"Similar to the Siege Tank in its ability to make quick work of ground troops, the Banshee is an aerial harbinger of destruction. Agile twin turbofans accompany cloaking technologies and powerful backlash rockets, making the Banshee our military’s most capable hit-and-run option when the situation demands nothing less."

- Raynor's Raiders blurb

Propulsion
"A Dominion marine on the Banshee's rotors"

- StarCraft Field Manual

The Banshee is powered by relatively low-thrust and inexpensive VTOL turbofans capable of operating only in an atmosphere, coupled with a fantail rotor assembly for steering and banking. The turbofans are sturdy, simple in design, and relatively easy to maintain. They allow for indefinite loitering with minimal noise, which is perfect for stealth operations. The fans allow the Banshee to be dropped from orbit, but are incapable of attaining escape velocity. However, Banshees are outfitted with special propulsion systems only used in space. The Dominion Special Forces make use of a Banshee variant with upgraded twin VTOL turbofans as well as a new rear vertical stabilizer, ensuring superior stability and performance.

The Banshee's cockpit is fully pressurized, and an oxygen generator is integrated into the ship's design&mdash;both were integrated after the ship's initial deployment. These features allow for quick orbital deployments to more efficiently support troops on the ground, and to strike at targets of opportunity.

Armament
"Overall, the design is economical and easy to maintain. Its one drawback: no anti-air capability." "That's why God invented marines. To shoot down all the crap you can't."

- A Dominion marine 'discussing' the Banshee's capabilities

The Banshee was designed to be both economical and effective. Built specifically to provide air support for frontline infantry, they are ideal aircraft for tactical strikes.

The Banshee is heavily optimized for its intended role. Its standard armament is air-to-ground Backlash rockets. Additional armament options were also developed. Kel-Morian Banshees were armed with rapid-firing projectile weaponry capable of striking aerial targets. By the Second Great War, Banshees could carry the Shockwave missile battery, which bombard a longer linear area ahead of the aircraft, rather than just a smaller circular point as with the default Backlashes.

The Banshee received cloaking devices after entering service with militias and guerilla forces. Salvaged cloaking devices from Wraiths allow the Banshee to become an effective raider, and the Dominion's "stealth darling." By the Second Great War, the Dominion Armed Forces were equipping their Banshees with the DN51 cloak generator; at the time, the DN51 was such a sophisticated example of Dominion technology that special teams were deployed to recover them from crashed aircraft.

By the Defenders of Man Insurgency the Umojan Protectorate appeared to be fielding banshees, and some were infested by the zerg on Jarban Minor.

History
The Banshee was designed by Procyon Industries to meet requirements from the Terran Dominion for a dedicated ground attack aircraft for counter-insurgency operations. The Banshee was an entirely new design; adapting an existing design was unlikely to be satisfactory. After much experimentation, the Banshee was in use by the Dominion by 2502, and within the same year, the Kel-Morian Combine. It has proven very successful in service.

Initial deployment within the Dominion was disappointing. The aircraft was judged as too inflexible, and many were relegated to minor roles with backwater militias. Over time, ease of interstellar deployment, the ability to deliver strikes over difficult terrain, and the addition of the cloaking device, led to more widespread deployment within the Dominion. The Banshee gained a reputation as a Dominion terror weapon due to collateral damage caused in urban combat (a result of the craft's poor guidance systems for its backlash rockets). Guerilla and resistance forces also found the Banshee useful against the Dominion. Banshees are used as light-infantry support, and can operate with Vikings as air cavalry.

Despite its original purpose as a counter-insurgency weapon, the Banshee went on to be used against protoss, zerg, and terran front line forces. Little can be done to alter the public's negative perception of the Dominion, but it has nonetheless gained a permenant place in its airforce due to its low cost and easy maintenance.

Raynor's Raiders gained access to the craft during the Second Great War. By the time of the Defenders of Man Insurgency, the Umojan Protectorate had access to Banshees as well.

After the End War, Dominion engineers have made critical upgrades to the banshee's twin VTOL turbofans, enabling superior stability and performance when paired with the new vertical stabilizer in the rear of the craft.

Game Unit
Banshees can quickly destroy buildings, even powering through anti-air defenses, and are strong against heavy armored ground units like the, , and colossus. Other races should deploy specialized anti-air units such as corruptors and phoenixes to keep them in check. Ground unit counters include s, thors, s, stalkers equipped with blink, and psionic storms.

In the Wings of Liberty single-player campaign, Banshees can be upgraded to fire their missiles in a straight line, doing splash damage to units in a line similar to the hellion or lurker. They can also be upgraded to consume half of the energy while cloaked, letting the Banshee remain cloaked longer.

Banshees bank on turns like some other air units.

Wings of Liberty Campaign
Banshees are unlocked by playing the mission "Supernova". Their cloaking ability is automatically researched.

Co-op Missions
Banshees are available to Jim Raynor in Co-op Missions. Nova gains access to advanced Covert banshees, with enhanced health and abilities.

Nova Covert Ops
Banshees are available to Nova starting on mission "Trouble in Paradise". Infested banshees are encountered in the mission "Night Terrors."

Development
In the game engine as early as 2006, the Banshee was one of the first terran units conceived for StarCraft II, replacing the Wraith. It was made to be both similar and different to the Wraith, the key difference being the nature of their attack. As many cloak detector units are aerial, this would prevent the Banshee from attacking the units which presented the greatest threat to it. As such, the Banshee fulfills the role of a base raider of a "combined-arms" terran force. Visually, it hardly diverged from its original conception.

In early builds, the Banshee delivered an area of effect attack, which was removed March 2008. The area of effect attack returned in the single-player campaign in the final product.

In addition the Banshee had three unused upgrades; Cloaked Damage, Distortion Blasters and Distortion Thrusters. Distortion Blasters enabled the Banshee to deal 25% more damage, while Distortion Thrusters likewise increased the base movement speed and acceleration by 25%. Both upgrades took effect only while the Banshee remained cloaked. Cloaked Damage has no effect in-game as it remains incomplete. The banshee was also to have an Apollo Reactor upgrade that increased its energy.

The original portrait was female, but was replaced by a male as of April 2009. By June 2009, the portrait was female again but at some stage, switched back to being male. However, with the release of the StarCraft II beta, the portrait had again gone back to being female. In addition, a variant Banshee profile was available for players in the StarCraft II beta, used instead of the in-game one. The portrait was later updated.

Quotations

 * See: StarCraft II Banshee Quotations

Heroes of the Storm
Banshees can be summoned by Jim Raynor in Heroes of the Storm.

Known Squadrons

 * Dusk Wings
 * Night Wolves

Known Variants

 * Covert banshee
 * Infested banshee

Known Pilots

 * Captain Brach Treicher