Esprit Industries Leclerc V Main Battle Tank

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The Leclerc V is the standard MBT used by the French Army and some European corporate militaries. It is the most state of the art in combat firepower despite it's introduction in the early 1990s. It is fully capable of engaging targets on the move, and protect itself with it's own suite of armor and weaponry.

Unlike most tanks nowadays, the Leclerc V uses the tracked system of propulsion. More costly than a wheeled vehicle, yet cheaper to operate than a thunderbird, it is still very maneuverable on the ground. The vehicle seats only three people, with the driver on the left front, with the TC on the right turret side, with the gunner on the left turret side. Each crewmember is seated in a crash cage designed to protect them from obstacles, should they ever be a problem. Each crewmember has full environmental sealing, with cabin overpressurization for NBC environments and is fully rigged. A fully "tropicalised" version is available for an additional 1,000,000¥, which allows unrestricted use in desert and similar environments. The modification adds 2,000 kilograms to the weight of the vehicle. The fuel tanks also incorporate self-sealing capabilities to allow it to not "brew up" during a battle. It mounts the latest composite armor combined with the capability to enhance the protection by mounting ablative armor. The designers also included the new Smart Materials to improve the capability, as well as lessening the weight of the vehicle. It also retains mobility by incorporating an amphibious system designed not to leave the LeClerc V swamped when crossing rivers.

The Leclerc V also comes equipped with a full suite of fire control systems to make it an accurate tank. The Felix FCS made by Thomson-CSF ensures first round hit probability with the L55 railgun. It also features ECM and ECCM systems also by Thomson-CSF. This gives it impressive electronic warfare capabilities in that environment. A Commanders Independent Sight (CIS) allows "hunter-killer" operations to be performed, with the commander looking in one direction, while the gunner looks in a different area. It has full thermographic and low-light capabilities. Defensive systems include a Galix V multi-role grenade launcher. Capable of firing standard smoke grenades, as well as a suite of anti-personnel grenades should it operate in an infantry-rich environment. It comes equipped with an Air-Timed Grenade link combined with a rangefinder to allow accurate suppression of this threat. The Galix V has bins for each launcher to allow the crew to select the load appropriate to the mission. As an afterthought, the rear of the turret can accommodate the new CIWS systems currently being introduced on the market. It can mount the Alliant Techsystems Freewill system, as well as the Arena IV system. Due to the CIS, the CIWS system can be raised if needed and the situation permits to clear this. It is also designed to include the Battletac system, to allow commanders to know where exactly they and friendly elements are. Included in this package is the revoulutionary Battletac FDDM. Other passive measures include thermal baffles to reduce the thermal profile as well as shaping to reduce the radar returns.

The tank is armed with the Esprit Industries L55 120mm Smoothbore Railgun. It is the current design offered by Esprit to equip and specifically designed for the Leclerc V. It can fire a wide variety of munitions, from standard penetrators to high explosive rounds capable of defeating all known threats, as well as a white phosporous round for marking targets. It also fires two specialized rounds developed by Esprit, one with the help of Matra BAe Dynamics. The first round is the L26 "Beehive" round. When loaded into the chamber, the round can be fuzed to explode against infantry targets. Once it reaches it's point, it explodes, showering infantry with enhanced fragments designed to penetrate the plethora of body armor now issued to troops. The second round is the Matra BAe Dynamics L554 RLGM. It is simply an anti-tank missile that is fired from the L55. While not as effective as the other rounds, it gives an additional punch by extending the effective engagement range. The tank also mounts a coaxial 7.62 x 51mm machine gun, as well as a mount for another weapon on the commander's cupola. If you need firepower, the Esprit Industries Leclerc V is the choice.

Handling	Speed	Accel	Body	Armor	Sig	Autonav	Load	Cost
4	700	17	9	25	6	4	205*	17,204,500¥

Seating: 1b + 2b
Access: 1 hatch + 2 hatches
Economy: 0.3 km per liter
Fuel: Diesel (7,500 liters)
Cargo: 2 + 4 CF
Sensors: Military II (9)
ECM/ECCM: Military II (9)/Military II (9)
Other Features: Rigger Adaptation, EnviroSeal (gas), 3 x Crash Cages, 60 man-hours life support, Ablative Armor Capability, Galix V SPS (see below), Signature Improvement (2, Stealth Shaping), 3 x Datajack Ports, Level 10 Gunnery Recoil Adjusters, Battletac Integrated, Level 3 Amphibious Package, Laser Designator, Battletac FDDM.
Armament: Large turret mounting one L55 120mm railgun, with 40 rounds ready-to-fire. One coaxial MMG with 600 belted rounds. One pintle mount in the commander's cupola, the pintle mount is anti-aircraft capable. Optional mounting for ArenaIV or Freewill CIWS systems. The mount raises up to allow clearance for the commander's sight.
Weight (Combat): 30,435 kilograms (32,435 kilograms for tropicalised version).
Variants:
Saeder-Krupp: Mounts the ArenaIV CIWS system, and does not usually mount the ablative armor. They use the tropicalized version throughout the force.
France: Mounts the Freewill CIWS, and usually does mount the ablative armor.
*Load can be increased to 1,100 kilograms if the ablative armor is not mounted.

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Esprit Industries Galix V Self-Protection System

Mounted on the rear of both sides of the turret, the Galix is a two barrel 20mm, and 40mm tubed grenade launcher capable of firing the current range of grenades available on the open market. Each tube is fed by a 20 round bin for the 20mm tubes, and a 15 round bin for the 40mm launchers. It can be activated by a switch in the commanders position, or mentally through the rigger gear. It has a coverage of the sides of 90º to the front of the tank. It comes in a variety of styles to accommodate it to different vehicle types.

Type	Weight	Availability	Cost	Street Index
Galix V	200*	15/2 weeks	100,000¥	2

*Weight is for the complete system including ammunition.

The system has four bins each side, two for 20mm grenade ammunition, and two 15 round bins for the 40mm launchers. Use standard grenade rules. It requires three Complex to replace the ammunition bins.

Esprit Industries L55 120mm Smoothbore Railgun

Designed for the Leclerc V, the L55 is the main armament of the tank. It is a long, 52 caliber barrel that has a thermal sleeve combined with a muzzle reference system mounted over the barrel to ensure the barrel does not warp to cause any inaccuracies. The sleeve also protects the surrounding area from any electromagnetic surges generated from firing the weapon. It comes equipped with an autloader system as part of the complete unit. Seperate ammunition bins are attached to for ammunition. It can fire the wide variety of ammunition that is available for such a weapon. L22 APFSDSDU, L33 TCHEAT (Tandem Charge High Explosive Anti-Tank), L26 Beehive rounds, and the L554 RLGM.

L55 120mm Railgun:

Type	Ammo	Mode	Damage	Weight	Availability	Cost	Street Index
120mm Railgun	special*	SS	special*	5,500	GM's Discretion	500,000¥	GM's Discretion

*The weapon is fired from two bins, one ready-to-fire, and one in the hull. It requires 10 Combat Turns for the autoloader to transfer the hull ammunition to the turret. Ammunition space is .25 CF per shell. The turret bin holds 40 rounds ready-to-fire, and the hull also carries 40 shells. Selecting a different round requires a Complex Action. Selecting aa round other than what's loaded requires two Complex Actions. It has a velocity of 4,000m per phase. The weapon has a recoil modifier of +4 per round. Note that when the barrel is damaged (GM's Discretion) severely, the stored energy in the barrel explodes. Damage is 40D and is reduced by 2 per meter. The weapon itself needs 2 CF for the capacitors to fire the weapon. Firing the weapon can be accomplished every other Combat Turn.

L55 Range Table:

Short	Medium	Long	Extreme
5m-5 km	5,001m-8 km	8,001m-11 km	11,001m-15 km

Ammunition available:

L22 APFSDSDU (Armor-Piercing Fin-Stablized, Discarding Sabot Depleted Uranium) Round:

The standard tank killing round for the Leclerc V,it is quite simply a large depleted uranium sub-caliber dart fired from the L55. Damage is automatically armor piercing. However, reduce the target's armor value by 75% due to the superior penetrating capabilities.

Type	Damage	Weight	Availability	Cost	Street Index
APFSDSDU	30D	40	28/2 mths	2,000¥	5

L26 Beehive Round

Essentially a large, 120mm Shotgun, and is air-timed to burst at the optimum point. When the round reaches it's designated point, it explodes, sending AP flechettes (equivalent to APDS rounds) in a 360º radius. Damage is reduced by 1 per meter.

Type	Damage	Weight	Availability	Cost	Street Index
Beehive	22D	30	20/1.5 mths	2,250¥	5

L33 TCHEAT (Tandem-Charge High Explosive Anti-Tank) Round:

Designed to counter the prevalent use of ablative armor, this is a round that has two shaped charges. It is effective against lighter vehicles that do not require the power of a precious penetrator.

Type	Damage	Weight	Availability	Cost	Street Index
TCHEAT	Special*	35	20/1 mth	2,100¥	4

*22D against targets without ablative armor, 20D against ablative armored equipped targets. It is armor-piercing.

Matra BAe Dynamics L554 RLGM (Railgun Launched Guided Missile) Round:

Designed for precision strikes, and for other targets, the RLGM is a tandem charge, high-explosive missile. It is laser guided to it's target, and can execute a pop-up attack against the target. It is launched straight from the L55, and has a Sabot with static shielding to protect it from the surge that the railgun creates when firing. When selected and loaded, the L55 enters a "low" setting when firing this round. This is to prevent the missile from "overshooting" the target. Muzzle velocity is 2,000m per phase. However, the boost that the railgun provides gives it additional punch, and better a better engagement range than using a round. This can accept firing data from other friendly units.

Type	Damage	Weight	Availability	Cost	Street Index
L554 RLGM	20D*	35	30/1 mth	4,000¥	5

Short	Medium	Long	Extreme
5m-7 km	7,001m-10 km	10,001m-15 km	15,001m-20 km

*The warhead does 20D against non ablative armored targets, and 18D against ablative armored targets.


Ammunition Tracking Sheet)

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Thanks to Sebastian MAGENOT for helping me with some French for this file...

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