ME-MAS-61 'Grizzly Armor'
Our lack of proper vehicular armor has been a detriment to our forces for far too long, and now we will address this with the Grizzly Armor. The Grizzly Armor can be more or less summed up as a vastly upscaled Bear Armor, to the point where we can no longer classify it as power armor, but as a vehicle instead; a Mechanized Assault Suit. The Grizzly is large, and its pilot resides in the control pod in the Suit's chest; it's large enough where it'll likely have to crouch to work its way through excavator tunnels. The pilot wears a special suit hooked up to the Suit's control system, translating the pilots movement to the Suit in a manner similar to the Bear Armor (although with 100% less worry of accidentally mulching the pilot's limbs!).
The arms are modular for their armament, although the 'off hand' arms usually have a hand on them; Arm modules include a Bumblebee; a massive Shield much like our Bear Troopers wield for the 'off hand'; and a smaller buckler to allow the arm to still perform semi-intricate tasks easily. All modules other than the Shield and Cannon possess a Velociraptor Autocannon or vehicle ICE Thrower as well for anti-infantry use. Said weapons modules come with an autoloader, meant to load shells in from frankly quite massive clips which themselves can be reloaded by the 'off hand'. There's also a rocket arm loaded with SARUKH compatible rockets as well.
Armor wise, the Grizzly features a heavy duty 100mm on the frontal chest plate with 75mm on the sides and rear of it, protecting the pilot well; and the rest of the Suit features 75mm frontal armor with 50mm side and rear. The armor is made from Manganese Steel much like the Tiger Armor and Bear Armor, which is naturally electrically resistant as well as incredibly hard. Of course, it also features an 'undersuit' consisting of a loose mesh of copper cables, leading down to contact the ground from the feat. This undersuit is to provide a path of minimal resistance in order to ground incoming lightning through a path that doesn't include the pilot or any delicate systems. The Shield module also possesses a similar defensive backing, routing the lightning down to a conductive spike on the bottom of the shield.
The powerplant of the Suit is a GOFAST using engine/generator for ease of refueling in the field, and the limbs are powered by a combination of electric engines and hydraulics.
Finally, their are no direct viewports, instead the 'head' of the Suit possesses the end of a fiberscope, the output of which is displayed towards a helmet the pilot wears; granting them vision while not having a glaring weakspot in the chest pod's defenses.
Design: ME-MAS-61 'Grizzly Armor'Hard: (1+2)-1 = 2: Utter Failure
It turns out that making what was essentially a greatly upscaled set of Bear Armor is much harder than originally expected.
The problem is mostly in the use of Electrogel. It was the main catalyst of our success in the Bear Armor project and essentially allowed us to skip plenty of effort. The Electrogel in the suit both served as a battery and a kind of neural system for the armor. With only minor tweaking and effort from us, pressure applied on Electrogel translates
directly into the corresponding Electrogel-Motor movement, which uses that pressured Electrogel for its power. The more pressure applied, the more power sent to the motor.
It allowed for a (relatively) remarkably easy path towards power armor.
Now, with Grizzly Armor, Electrogel just wasn't as suited for the task. The greater power requirements and movement towards treating the suit as more of an independent vehicle instead of an extension of the pilot just didn't work as well as we would like, so we implemented a GOFAST engine powering electric motors in the limbs. We still used Electrogel in the pilot's "motion suit" in an attempt to capture movement, but that evidently didn't work too well. Conventional non-Electrogel motors simply don't work as needed and often than not grossly over-translate signals sent to them.
We got very little done in other parts of the project. All we have now for our efforts is a nonfunctioning prototype "skeleton" and motion suit. We intended to get the movement working first then branch out to finish the rest of the project, but that evidently didn't end up as desired. We can work off of this nonfunctioning skeleton or just try again later with knowledge of what
not to do.
Still, though. The rest of the Design Division along with our counterparts in military command are excited about Grizzly Armor in the future.
Especially when they know what the end product will look like, thanks to Engineer Andrea.Transport Capacity: 2/1 (1/2 Oil Imported)
Resources: 4 Ore,
2 OilWeapons- "Stalwart" Rifle: A semi-automatic rifle with mediocre accuracy at Long range and good accuracy at Medium (and useless accuracy further).
[Cheap] 1 Ore - "Heartstopper" Pistol: A 2-round semiautomatic pistol semi-accurate up to Short range. Has enormous stopping power. Pride of the Merethan army.
[Cheap] 1 Ore - UF-AC-41 Velociraptor: This autocannon is a revision of AC18, with several improvements. The gun is a little more tolerant of different ammo weights and the shells have been modified so that mixed ammo belts are possible. The use of more advanced materials has allowed some parts to become lighter, while a heavier bolt and stronger spring allows a rate of fire of 750 RPM, with a final gun weight of 48kg. In infantry use, it has noticeably more recoil, but this is less of a concern on vehicles.
[Cheap] 3 Ore
- AS-AC18: An advanced primer ignition autocannon, which ignites cartridge primers before the round is fully chambered. It fires the new, large, 20x100mm round, fed from a top-mounted 25 round C-shaped magazine with a powerful spring, usually armor piercing, about 600 times per minute. The weapon is quite large with a simple action but heavy barrel, weighing over 40 kilograms, and it requires being mounted to a carriage, foundation, or vehicle to fire with accuracy, although recoil is reduced by the nature of its action. It is dependent on a careful balance between the force of the shell and the force of the action, which means that different ammo types cannot be interchanged without recalibrating the gun. It has a terrifying ability to punch through armor and emplacements. Lighter materials have slightly decreased the weight from the previous 40kg.
[Cheap] 3 Ore
- UF-MRL-40 'SARUKH': The Sarukh is a multiple rocket launcher, which fires rockets one meter long to deliver 6kg warheads at a maximum range of 12000 meters. The rockets have impressive destructive power, compared to shells they do not need thick metal casings, so most of the weight of the rocket is either warhead or propellant. The rockets are launched electrically off of rails, and the rails are in a 4x2 array. The rockets can be fired all at once, but it takes about four minutes to reload the whole launcher, so the sustained rate of fire is not better than regular artillery. However, a rocket array is extremely light compared to a cannon, and can move very quickly, firing all at once and retreating before fire is returned from the enemy. Accuracy is poor compared to shells; to reliably hit a single target with a volley they should be used within 8km. Currently available as a truck trailer.
[Expensive] 1 Ore, 3 Oil
- ICE Rocket: A rocket for the Sarukh equipped with an ICE non-explosive warhead. Instant lethalities within 5m, very high fatalities within 10m, serious injuries (and occasional fatality) along with (usually temporary) vehicle non-operation to 50m. The cold dissipates quickly outdoors.
- ICE Thrower: A 20m-ranged pressurized ICE thrower that can rapidly cool an area in front of the operator to (eventually) lethal levels or outright kill/severely harm those directly hit by ICE. The ICE doesn't naturally react until roughly 10m out from the barrel, though it can hit other things in its way and react with whatever it hits. Prolonged use is discouraged, due to close proximity with ICE and ICE-affected areas being very dangerous even with the extensive insulation operators wear.
[Expensive] 2 Ore, 3 Oil - AS-RPG28 A: A rocket-propelled grenade, fired out of a launch tube. The grenade itself consists of a conical shape with a narrow tube of propellent out the back, and twisted fins in the middle of the tube. The launch tube is 3cm wide, a meter long and the rocket fits in up to the fins, and is just a metal tube with a handle. To ignite the propellant, soldiers remove a pin, on the rocket, which is first clipped by a short chain to a trigger on the handle. The tube itself and each grenade each weigh 3kg. It is accurate enough to hit a tank out to almost 100 meters, after which it drops quickly. Rockets are available with warheads based on each type of grenade, including a HEAT conical shaped charge.
[Cheap] 2 Ore, 1 Oil - ME-GVM-61 "Penguin": A 33cm diameter 3.5m long black and white missile with long and stubby wings. Controlled remotely via an embedded television camera, and contains basic onboard transistor-based guidance allowing for a relatively straight course when jammed. Two missiles are carried in basic launcher trucks. Has a range of 50 km and a lethal radius of 50m; it can fit an ICE warhead or a HE warhead.
[Expensive] 3 Ore, 3 Oil - M3 Sorraia GPMG: A 7.62mm machine gun fed from a belt. 50-round belts can be strung together for extended fire or stored in a belt box attached to the Sorraia, which for practical purposes is similar to a magazine. It uses a recoil action, and is configured to fire around 800 rounds per minute, achieved with the help of a muzzle booster (which looks like a flared end on the barrel). Weighs 22 pounds. Comes with a bipod, or tripod for emplacements. It uses copper heat sinks, which are now shrouded. It has a changeable barrel, which is necessary for emplacement use. It is effective to about 800 yards when mounted.
[Cheap] 2 Ore
Armor- Standard Uniform: A plain blue featureless uniform. The blue's mild enough that it doesn't really stick out.
- Tiger Infantry Armor: Infantry armor made of a forged manganese steel alloy. All of the armor plates are relatively thick for infantry, and the full suit weighs in at 36 pounds. The helmet is particularly thick, and fits round and close around the head, low over the eyes and down to the neck. It can be attached with a face mask, which allows a wide but very narrow viewing slit, while covering the neck. The breastplate is curved outwards for optimal armor angle. The backplate is thick, but flat. At the waist these plates end and there are flat curved single-piece taces to protect upper legs, below the knee the armor has no coverage. Pauldrons allow comfortable shoulder motion, and upper arms are covered by round fitted plates to the outside of the arm. While lower arms and legs, and sometimes gaps around the shoulders are exposed, most parts of the armor will stop a pistol bullet at point blank. The breastplate and taces will stop rifle bullets at all but very close range. The armor is tiring and cumbersome, troops cannot effectively crawl and kneeling is difficult, as is aiming down rifle sights while using the mask.
[Cheap] 3 Ore - ME-PA-59 'Bear Armour: "Infantry" armor based off of the Tiger suit. Boasts full body coverage, albeit with fairly frequent gaps in the joints; armor toughness is identical to Tiger Armor, with insulating fur inner lining. Armor plating is semi-manually removed from the outside through a series of switches to enter/exit/perform maintenance, and the suit must have its Electrogel very routinely replaced to maintain full charge. Lasts 16 hours of consistent high-power use, but use is carefully rationed due to no tracking of the charge. Embarking/disembarking from the outside takes about 30 seconds, and disembarking without assistance takes a few minutes. It stands at [~7 ft/~2m] tall, and uses a smallish bulletproof glass visor for limited visibility. Pilots boast slightly increased speed and slightly decreased agility (but same strength) over regular unarmored individuals while in the Armour, twice the strength of average soldiers, and have their skin dyed blue from the Electrogel. Has mounts for a WALK-TALK and larger ICE Thrower tank, and a velcro strip in the helmet for maximum pilot comfort. Contains advanced shock/recoil-dampening capabilities in gauntlets.
[Cheap] 4 Ore, 2 Oil - Bear Armour Shield: A
slab of metal shield roughly the size of a riot shield, made completely out of fairly thick metal, for wielding in one hand of a Bear trooper. Limits visibility and two-hand operations' effectiveness (such as reloading), but doesn't significantly restrict mobility and can be used with weapons such as the Stalwart easily.
Underground Vehicles- UT-60 Excavator: A tracked medium-sized heavily-modified tunnel boring machine, most notably using GOFAST-fuel. Can go down to Moderate and Shallow depths, moves at Very Slow speeds while underground and at Moderate speeds aboveground. Possesses limited (but notable) agility underground. Contains space for 6 soldiers and small amounts of equipment of the equivalent amount of cargo in the back, in addition to the 2 crew in its cockpit. Light armor. Equipped with the ME-SM-57 'Earth Ear' for basic subterranean navigation.
[Expensive] 3 Ore, 3 Oil; Provides 1 Ore.
- ME-CM-56 'Instant Roads': A very fast-acting sprayable concrete mixture very useful for reinforcing tunnels when sprayed by trailers hooked to a Burrower. Has to be re-applied occasionally to maintain integrity. Allows for use of Burrower tunnels for force movement and logistics.
Provides 1 TC.
Air Vehicles- UFAF-F-41 Lightning Streak: A single-engine jet fighter, with a large aT-J20 jet taking up most of the fuselage. The aT-J20 is a low-bypass turbofan; some of the air taken in by the compressor blades passes around the engine core and is not combusted; the bypass system provides useful cooling. The Lightning Streak has a relatively fat fuselage, which widens out in the middle after the intake and narrows again at the exhaust, there there is a rudder and two tail wings directly on the fuselage. With the round glass canopy (using 15mm of heavy laminated glass) the aircraft has sort of an egg shape, with thin swept wings. The wings have no bomb mounts and are as light as possible for speed and maneuverability, it is armed solely with three AC41 Velociraptor cannons in the nose above the intake, with somewhat limited ammo. It also includes airbrakes on the body near the tail, and hydraulic controls. Since it was designed as an absolutely dedicated fighter the speed and maneuverability are remarkable.
[Very Expensive] 5 Ore, 4 Oil - ME-LRMA-60 "Blizzard": A two-engine jet "Long-Range Multi-Role-Aircraft" based off of the Lightning Streak that uses a 4 "X"-shaped wing configuration via the "Tereshkova Effect" for slightly increased aerodynamics, improved redundancy, and greatly improved coolness. Its two aT-J60gi ICE "freezing stovepipe" ramjet engines allows it to be a fair bit faster than the Lightning Streak. Has one large GOFAST tank and a small STABIL-ICE tank allowing for Long range. Equipped with 4x Velociraptor autocannons, 4 ICE missiles, and 1 tonne of bombs.
[Very Expensive] 5 Ore, 4 Oil
Navy- UFN-CA-41 Catraphract: The Cataphract is a cruiser built to rival Cannala's ships. It is armed with 3x3 150mm gun turrets, each using a fully electrified loading system based on the moderately-performing Overcompensator, except that the 60kg shells are moved in one piece. Each gun can fire 8 times a minute. It has an armored citadel with 300mm of nickel-steel armor (Heavy), and a torpedo belt as well. The deck is also heavily armored, at 120mm (Light) to defend against plunging fire, plus an extra splinter deck. The turrets are similarly armored. There is a central director in the con tower which controls all the electrically-driven turrets, though there is no advanced firing calculator. Additionally there are three turrets with two bumblebees on each side of the ship, capable of firing on aircraft or ships, and miscellaneous autocannons wherever there is room. It is powered by oil-burning steam turbines, and there are a lot of them though with its considerable armor it only musters moderate speed.
[Very Expensive] 5 Ore, 4 Oil - ME-DDG-61 "Chillwind": A Guided Missile Destroyer equipped with a 2x-Bumblebee turret, eight Velociraptors divided amongst both sides of the hulls, all slaved to a 150km aircraft/30km ships radar system. Uses a Mostly Vertical Launch system to house 40 Penguin missile launch tubes - 20 each side - angled 30 degrees down vertically. Crew and equipment requirements mean that only four missiles can be launched and guided at a time. Has a very thin metal hull covered by Pykrete and crisscrossing pipes of STABIL-ICE to keep the Pykrete layer cool and supposedly repair any damage, though it proves ineffective at damage repair and the STABIL-ICE often runs out quickly enough such that a Chillwind's first engagement is usually without any Pykrete armor still intact.
[Expensive] 3 Ore, 3 Oil
Other- GOFAST-Fuel: A special type of more energy-dense and stable fuel. Greatly increases fuel efficiency of anything it's in, doesn't require an oxidizer, and can rarely leak out of compromised containers.
Adds 1 Oil to cost. - MXETE: Discrete transistor digital mainframe computer - 2 MHz CPU, 4 Mb of magnetic drum long-term memory, and an operating memory of 1200*32 bits. Takes up an entire (very big) floor on the Design Division and creating another one is immensely impractical. Punch card input, with a tightly-packed light matrix called a "screen" for output.
- WALK-TALK: The Wireless Audio Local Kommunicator-Transistor Assistance Lowers Kost Radio. A small hand-held two-way transistor radio. Production is hampered by the ever-persistant Union of Electronics Workers, making it Complex.
[Expensive] 1 Ore, Complex - Electrogel: A very thick blue gel that creates and transmits electrical current corresponding to the amount of pressure applied to it. Comes with the "Electrogel Motor" - a very small motor with embedded Electrogel that works with power corresponding to Electrogel pressure. A patch of Electrogel can last roughly 8 hours when powering its corresponding motor nonstop at max power.
- UF-SM-57 'Earth Ear': A set of small attachments to be put on all available sides of a subterranean vehicle. Vibration pings allow it to present a map of "where stuff is" and "where stuff isn't" via a very basic 3D projection in a small gas-filled glass cube. Only useful at recognizing the terrain and notable landmarks, and has a range of 10km in every direction from the device. An increased resolution and the ability to detect movement between scans allows it to detect the movement of reasonably large forces (allied or hostile) and flash relevant sectors red in the display.
- GASOLINE: The Great Acoustic/Seismic Oil Location Initiative and Extraction device, which fits onto an Earth Ear systems allowing for relative easy surveying of underground oil deposits. Merethan regulation forbids surveying underneath Mereth for alleged safety reasons, meaning oil found as a result of GASOLINE has to be imported using our transport capacity.
Provides 1 Oil (Import)
- ICE (Intense Chemical Endotherm): A chemical that very quickly reacts with the air to massively reduce heat in the surrounding area, often to the point where nearby things are frozen (ones in the epicenter frozen brittle), vehicles disabled or destroyed, and people killed.
- STABIL-ICE: A variant of ICE that relies on an added catalyst to only react when it's above a target temperature, specified during synthesization of the STABIL-ICE. Useful for ice cream and also maybe cooling of machinery and the like. Tends to slowly decay over time in storage, making it unsuitable for anything that can't expect routine maintenance.
Infrastructure- Division of Unusual Chemistry: A fully funded department & lab under the Design Division specializing in more unusual chemistry.
- M.A.G.M.A.: A giant borehole made and maintained using Excavators, Bear Armour, Earth Ears, and many more instances of our tech. Uses ad-hoc STABIL-ICE cooling systems fitted onto Bear Armour and excavators to maintain suitable temperatures. The deepest borehole in the world, and brings up notable amounts of ore from existing land.
Provides +1 Ore
- Embassy "Vast Underground Forenian Embassy": An extensive and mildly luxurious underground Forenian embassy dug underneath around the center of Mereth using improvements in excavation technology designed 100% solely for civilian use and definitely nothing else.
Author
Topic: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1965 - Final Design Phase) (Read 82259 times)