Mantis Scouts are unarmed, but equipped with Afterburners. They are the first source of Afterburner Blueprints for new players.
Found on planets:
They are armed, Because of this, they will retreat if they are attacked (While also attacking you should you get close) and will use their Afterburner. This makes them very hard to catch, unless you have an Afterburner of your own. An easy way to destroy them is to make them afterburn, or ab, into a wall and get stuck. Then you can close in and kill them.