Combine City Scanner

The City Scanner, also known as Scanner Type I and often referred to simply as Scanner, is a lightly armored, flying

security camera used by the Combine to monitor City 17's (and possibly other cities) residents. Its Synth counterpart is the Shield Scanner.

Scanners are equipped with a searchlight and a camera used to take photographic images. The flash emitted when taking an image can temporarily blind a person, even when not looking directly at the flash. The scanner also has a spotlight mounted on its top, which is used for illumination and can move independently from its source.

Scanners are powered by a single Combine battery, which can occasionally be salvaged from a destroyed unit and reused for the HEV Suit. Scanners are lightly armored and can be destroyed easily by gunfire, impacting against walls or being hit by objects. A critically damaged scanner will usually attempt to kamikaze dive into its attacker, while spinning and emitting an alarm.

As the name implies, Scanners are generally used only in cities and are rarely encountered anywhere else. They are commonly seen patrolling City 17's Canals, searching for refugees. Other applications include reconnaissance and searching for wanted individuals. Scanners help by locating targets and alerting other nearby Combine units. During emergencies, Scanners can be mass-deployed in thousands from the Citadel, to perform a city-wide, and possibly out-of-city search such as when Gordon Freeman was detected in City 17.

Interestingly, it appears that parts from a salvaged City Scanner were used in one of the more recent additions to Dog; both machines have a similar frontal design, though Dog's face possesses three face plates while Scanners have four.