Generally the words scout mech and tough do not go into the same sentence. However, when Clan Diamond Sharks engineers sat down it was their goal to create a tough resilient mech that could be a scout, and offer battle armor support against the hordes of IS infantry commonly found on the battlefield. The project was dubbed Cockroach after the nearly indestructible insect that survived everything humans have done to eradicate it.

Tough and easy to repair the Cockroach seems destined to have nine lives taking punishment that would leave many higher tech clan omni mechs of the same weight in the scrap yard. The heart of this survivability is in the compact gyro Clan Diamond Shark techs installed. While weighing more than a standard gyro the, compact is smaller making a critical hit harder to achieve for enemy pilots. The Cockroach also makes use of a reliant standard fusion engine to save room and space in an already cramp chassis. The space saved with the use of a compact gyro and standard fusion engine was given over to the use of both ferro-fiberous armor and an endo-steel chassis to save weight for weapons and armor.

The Cockroach carries 100 percent of its theoretical armor giving the mech a long battlefield life for a scout/battle armor support mech. The weight savings allowed for the installation of jump jets to further add to the Cockroach's survivability. However, the installation of the jump jets caused the mech to loose out on valuable heavy hitting weapons. The current design only mounts dual heavy machine guns and a heavy medium and small laser for offense/defensive systems. Originally the Cockroach was to be given an AMS system but due to weight considerations the Clan Diamond Shark engineers chose a decidedly off beat weapon system in two single shot grenade launchers. While the grenade launchers do offer the pilot a choice of ammunition types in chaff and anti-personnel rounds depending on what the pilot may encounter during their patrol, they only offer one shot.

Opponents to the design point out the lack of a heavy weapon, while others point to the cockpit as being critically flawed. In order to save weight the engineers decided on using a dangerous weight saving measure in the compact cockpit. The first problem with the smaller cockpit it it will hamper the piloting ability of the mechwarriors who use it. The second problem of using the smaller cockpit is an ejection system cannot be mounted in the mech, instead a pilot must remain conscious enough to escape a crippled Cockroach via an escape hatch.

Currently the Cockroach has no known production variant. However, some pilots have taken the initiative and usually swap out the dual grenade launchers for an additional heavy medium, or extended range medium laser housed in the right torso. The Cockroach to suffers from heat, but it does provide the mech with a stiffer punch against enemy mechs and vehicles.

Currently thanks to the Cockroach being a quad design and having none of the flexibility of a omni-mech Clan Diamond Sharks has had a rough time selling the mech. However, Clans Hell's Horses and Goliath Scorpion have purchased some for evaluation. It is also known that Clan Wolf did capture a star of Cockroachs when they won a shippment of mixed mechs during a raid.