Class Alpha drone unit

Class Alpha drone units are drones from the 2007 movie franchise in the live-action film continuity family.

Drones have often been used on Cybertron for manual labor. It was Megatron who first put drones to use in the military when he had drones upgraded and refitted for combat. The Class Alpha drones are combat-ready and capable of flight.

Dreadwing was once a Class Alpha, but is now a warrior in his own right and has been put in charge of the drone army.

Fiction

IDW Transformers movie comics

Many years ago, Class Alpha drones were the workhorses of Cybertron's military under the command of Protector Megatron. They defended the cities of Trypticon and Simfur when aliens from the Eshems Nebula suddenly attacked. Defiance issue 1 When Megatron declared his military rule and led an attack on the aliens, Alpha drones made up the bulk of the Cybertronians forces, until Dreadwing botched an maneuver and half of the drones were destroyed. Defiance The drones were absorbed into the new "Decepticon" army when Megatron declared Optimus Prime's followers as traitors. During the subsequent civil war, Alpha drones in their thousands were destroyed by the better-skilled, independent Autobots, but often, sheer numbers would overcome Autobot tenacity and courage. The drones were also used to help build the mighty starship Nemesis, and were among the troops loaded onto the ship when it left on its mysterious mission. Defiance issue 4

A fleet of Alpha drones were present at the Battle of Tyger Pax, managing to kill at least one Autobot in Bumblebee and Arcee's squad. Most followed the survivors down into the AllSpark chamber, but were presumably destroyed when the Autobots brought the place crashing down. Prime Directive #1

NOT AS PLANNED.

When Starscream's Allspark failed, Dreadwing revealed he had used his massive drone army to take over the Cybertronian Decepticons, and, seemingly resentful of having been left behind when Starscream's pursuit craft was launched, tried to use his troops to take down Starscream's team. However, Starscream and his loyal soldiers proved a challenge, and the Autobots managed to deactivate the drones. The Reign of Starscream #5

Toys

Transformers (2007)

• Dreadwing (Deluxe, 2007)
  • Japanese ID number: MD-15
  • Accessories: 2 "flame" missiles

The Dreadwing toy could stand in for any Class Alpha drone.

Dreadwing transforms into a modified MiG-29 "Fulcrum" fighter jet (with a VTOL fan and what looks like to be an undercarriage sensor pod). He's the Decepticon version.

His exhaust flames serve dual purpose as firing missiles in both modes. In robot mode, these represent the flamethrower attack from the video game. His chest also has a spring-loaded Automorph gimmick, opening up and revealing more robot parts.

This mold was later used to make Overcast.

Trivia

• The subtle differences between Dreadwing and the Class Alpha drone units are an appearance of purple bits on the drone commander, more spiky head chevrons, and something resembling eyebrow articulation that is absent in the drones. One must be able to express all those emotions when thinking and independent, apparently.
• The Class Alpha drone units were named as such in the bonus material of the The Reign of Starscream trade paperback.

External links

• Dreadwing at TFU.info