YQ-400 Monitor droid patrol ship

A product of the jointly funded design team of Loronar and Corellian Engineering Corporation known as The Nerfworks, the YQ-400 Monitor Droid Patrol Ship was designed to work in areas where high docking fees and trade tariffs provided most of a system's profits. Its primary job was to detect, locate and follow ships entering the system, although the lack of hyperdrive limited the ship to local areas only.

Designed for light patrol duty in well-traveled peaceful systems, the YQ-400 Monitor did not carry enough armaments to stop serious smugglers or pirates, nor was it smart enough to serve in a military capacity. It did however, work as a watch ship, most commonly in systems with heavy commerce and shipping, where crewing enough ships to cover all possible approach vectors was financially prohibitive.

Standard programming stationed the YQ-400 in a predefined vector in the outer reaches of a system, where its use of only passive sensors made it difficult for other ships' sensors to spot. Upon detection of another starship within its vicinity, the patrol ship would report the contact to spaceport control & hail the approaching craft. The YQ-400 would then 'monitor' the ship in question by following it & reporting periodically on its location until directed otherwise by spaceport control.

The droid patrol ship was programmed never to fire on a ship unless attacked first. While this gave an unfair advantage to hostile ships, it kept the Monitors from accidently attacking friendly ships.