| The War of the Alliance definitely proved one thing about stnadard Gears: they were completely unprepared for attacks by aircraft and other airborne units. The harsh Terranovan weather and the city-states' excellent defenses had long since reduced the importance of air power in the Terranovan armies, leaving them vulnerable to whatever air assets the CEF forces managed to put and keep in the air. Since there was a decided lack of anti-aircraft capability among Gear units, a field modification kit was quickly designed to help deal with this renewed manace. The kit included a sensor upgrade and some new weapons, both of which were calibrated to take into account the higher speed and trajectory of their intended targets. One of the first Gears scheduled for modification was the venerable Jager, simply because the simplicity of its system and the resulting ease of modification -- not to mention its widepread distribution throughout the southern forces -- would make it quickly available to front-line units. Though field technicians lauded the ease of installing the modification kit, the additional electronics unfortunately created some problems for the Jager's cooling system, which was never designed to handle so many circuits packed into the small electronics bay. The high-speed autocannon caused heat problems of its own, since extended firing affected the stability and accuracy of the barrels. Both problems were later partially solved, but a Red Eye pilot must still be careful.
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