In order to jumpstart their battlemech design program in 
3014, the DSC Armory senior staff laid out plans for a new 
medium workhorse mech to be developed for the coming 
year.  Specifications called for a a mech capable of 
engaging enemies and varied ranges as well as performing 
more mundane garrison and security operations.  The 
result was finally unveiled in early 3019 as the ARD-6U 
Arondight medium battlemech.

Capabilities:
The Arondight was not an attempt at a decisively superior 
medium battlemech.  Rather, it was designed to work well 
in a variety of roles in a combat unit.  Thus, designers 
chose to mount a GM 200 fusion engine to push the 
Arondight up to speeds up to sixty-five kilometers per hour. 
 While this is not as fast as many larger medium 
battlemechs, such as the Wolverine, or Griffin, it keeps the 
Arondight's speed equal to many lighter medium designs 
that were it was intended to operate with, including such 
designs as the Vindicator, Centurion, Enforcer, and 
Hunchback.  To add to mobility, the new production DSC 
Mercury Jets were installed.  Though they are only 
experimental in all test runs so far they have performed as 
expected.

The weapons suite installed on the Arondight is not quite 
impressive, but what it lacks in sheer power it makes up 
for in versatility.  The GM Whirlwind autocannon has been 
adapted for the Arondight to carry into battle on its right 
arm as the primary armament.  Other autocannons were 
tried but conflicts between shipments and availability 
became issues as other mechs in the weight class use the 
popular Armstrong J11.  GM Whirlwinds are not quite 
common, however, as much of the production line is 
monopolized by industries manufacturing the GM 
Marauder.  Backing up the long range autocannon are a 
pair of very reliable Defiance B3M medium lasers.  In all 
field tests their performance have been nothing short of 
stellar on the ARD chassis.  Complementing the medium 
lasers are shorter ranges are a pair of Harvester 20k short 
range missile 6-packs.  Designers wanted to provide a 
decent short range punch for the Arondight so research 
was done in reference to the short range firepower of 
smaller mechs and it was found that large SRM packs 
were a good source of damage if unreliable at times.  The 
missile packs themselves are a bit fragile at best.  In the 
worst case scenario, missiles have been known to jam in 
the feed mechanism and detonate as the batlemech is 
jarred from combat damage.  Designers have been 
working to sort out the problem and it is even rumored that 
the Harvester 20k will be abandoned in favor of a 
comparable Holly SRM pack.

Deployment:
Currently a few specially produced Arondights are 
deployed for field testing in mixed medium lances across 
the Inner Sphere.  The future of the new battlemech is 
uncertain at this time as no major power have expressed 
any significant interest in a new design from an upstart 
battlemech firm.