The Confederation of Worlds considers the SHD-3C Shadow Hawk to be perhaps the most important of its mech designs. It was the first machine to be singled out for redesign with recovered technology (though not the first to have an upgraded version produced - that honor went to the WSP-2C Wasp, because the Wasp was little changed and its redesign process went more quickly than the larger and more complex Shadow Hawk's).
The reason for the high valuation of the Shadow Hawk is that there is a large gap in the Confederate battlemech production capabilities between the 45-ton Vindicator and the 80-ton Victor, filled only by the dubiously valuable Cataphract and the Shadow Hawk. Though the Victor and Stalker can cover for the lack of high-end heavy designs, only the Shadow Hawk is available to fill the roles of hard-hitting medium and fast heavy.
Because of this, the new Shadow Hawk was engineered - critics say over-engineered - to be a vastly more dangerous mech than the SHD-2H had been, a mech capable of prevailing in one-on-one fights with mechs as much as twenty tons heavier. This was accomplished by using much advanced - and expensive, both to build and to repair - technology in the mech's engine and frame, which nonetheless left it no faster or more durable than the 2H. The weight savings, however, allowed the Shadow Hawk's weaponry to be upgraded across the board. The Martell laser in the forearm was replaced with a much heavier model that vastly increased the range and power of the weapon. The Marklin SRM rack in the head was upgraded with Streak technology. The Holly LRM rack was the least changed - the only modification (and one of marginal value) was the addition of an Artemis system to guide its missiles.
The largest change to the weapons systems was the replacement of the Armstrong J11 autocannon with a massive and powerful Zeus Slingshot Gauss Rifle. It was the weight of the Gauss that necessitated the switch from the standard CoreTek fusion engine to the lighter and much more expensive Hermes XL. The promise of the range and firepower of the Gauss on a medium mech
Because of the design's relative newness, no variants of the SHD-3C yet exist. However, two other Shadow Hawk designs were submitted to the CHC when the inital determination of how to upgrade the Dunianshire facility was made. These two designs were never produced in any numbers, but prototypes were built, and the fate of the prototype machines - whether they will be refitted as SHD-3Cs or 2Hs, mothballed, scrapped, or put into service as is - is, as yet, unknown.
The two rejected designs shared several traits; the only really significant difference, in fact, being the choice of main gun. Both were powered by the same standard CoreTek fusion core that had powered Shadow Hawks for centuries, and their projected price tags were, accordingly, far lower than the SHD-3C's, with its expensive XL engine. Both increased the Shadow Hawk's limited jump range to a full 150 meters. Both, like the SHD-3C, used Endo Steel frames and double-strength heat sinks, and, like the SHD-3C, upgraded the SRM rack with Streak technology. Both designs left the reliable Holly LRM rack and Martell medium laser untouched, and added CASE to protect the reloads for both the Holly and Marklin missile racks.
The SHD-3A Shadow Hawk was Armstrong's offering. It was the most similar to the original SHD-2H, in that the 2H's Armstrong J11 autocannon was simply swapped for a new Armstrong U5 of similar caliber and increased firing rate. Another ton of autocannon ammo was added to feed the gun's increased appetite, and CASE was added to protect those reloads as well.
Parti-Kill's offering was the SHD-3B Shadow Hawk. Its closest relative was the Draconis Combine's PPC-carrying SHD-2K variant, or, more accurately, the Dark Knight Legion variant of the Kurita variant that retained the jump capability at the price of heat, which was also called "SHD-2K", despite the subtle differences. Instead of an autocannon or Gauss rifle for the main gun, the SHD-3B carried a Parti-Kill Extended Range PPC. The more weight-efficient weapon allowed it to carry additional heat sinks to handle the weapon's massive heat, and beefed up armor, mostly on the legs. The improved armor came very near to selling the design, but yield problems left doubts as to whether the Parti-Kill fab would be capable of producing the advanced particle cannons in the numbers necessary. These problems were never resolved. The Manticore tanks built at the Dunianshire facility, in fact, still carry standard Parti-Kill cannons.