Designation: VHT-3 Hoplite Veritech Hovertank

I. Dimensions:

II. Type:

• VHT-3: One person, three form Veritech combat mecha.

III. Service History

IV. Propulsion:

• 4 x P&W HJ-900 hover jets, max. output 51 kN of ground-effect thrust each.
  Peak hovering performance at 1 meter altitude.
• Multiple gyroscopes for stability and attitude adjustment in zero gees.
• Powerplant: 2 x RRL-2 Miniaturized Protoculture-cell energizer
• Fuel Capacity:
  • 6 Standard Canisters of Protoculture.

(In spaceborne operations)

• 2 x TurboUnion ATF-380 miniaturized fusion plasma-air/reaction mass intermix ramjets, attached to the rear of the mecha. Max. thrust, 86.2 kN ea, for up to 70 seconds.

V. Performance:

A. Hovercraft Mode:

• Max speed: 210 kph
• Max sustained hover altitude: 2.6 m

B. Guardian Mode:

• Max running speed: 20 kph

C. Battloid Mode:

• Max running speed : 95 kph.

D. General:

• Protoculture supply: 200 hours operational use.
• Delta-v (spaceborne operations): 0.55 kps

VI. Electronics:

Radar tracking:

• Westinghouse TPG-144 X-band pulse-doppler phased array medium-range radar with battlefield surveillance mode

Optical tracking:

• Phillips AllView II multi-band digital spherical camera system, for medium range all attitude infra-red imaging, optical and ultra-violet band detection and tracking in Battloid mode.
• Thomson LT-9 multi-frequency laser ranger and designator.

Tactical Electronic Warfare System (TEWS):

• Selenia GroundWarrior Mk. 9 active/passive sensor jammer.

VII. Armament:

Cannons:

• 2 x Oerlikon PP36 triple-barrel 36mm plasma pulse cannon (arm mounted, used mainly in Tank mode, though available in Battloid as well). The weapon fires bursts of plasma annihilation discs, the typical energy expended in a burst is 5 MJ.
  Enough plasma for ten bursts is stored in a plasma bottle, and the mecha can generate 20 seconds worth of plasma per minute. The cannon is powered directly from the protoculture cells of the vehicle.

Gun pods:

• 1 x Mauser EU-11 28mm laser gun pod; firing 110 rounds per minute in full automatic mode, or once per trigger activation in semiautomatic mode. Cannon fires 12.5 MJ pulses in each mode.

Miscellaneous:

• 1 x CVR-3M/F personal armor worn by the pilot. 
• 1 x pilots' personal sidearm. Typical issue for Navy pilots is the M29 revolver or M39 Mesa Eagle automatic, both chambered in .44 Magnum; however, junior and senior officers have their choice of sidearm which can include a number of civilian firearms.
• 1 x ASK-09 aviator survival kit carried in the compartment under the seat. This kit contains a twenty-day supply of emergency field rations, water purification tablets, and sidearm ammunition.

VIII. Armor:

The armor on the Hoplite is the current state-of-the-art development in low-mass composite-materials Chobham plating that became the standard for all Terran mecha after its application to the VQ-6A Vandal. Aside from the respectable protection provided against projectiles, missiles, and other kinetic weapons, this armor is also resistant to plasma globes (annihilation discs), lasers, and to a lesser extent, particle guns. This is owing to the fact that the armor can flake off and evaporate in layers under fire from such high-energy weapons, taking much of the weapon's energy and converting it into the latent heat of sublimation in the armor.

The armor stops all small arms, heavy infantry weapons fire, and light mecha-mounted weaponry, and provides good resistance to medium mecha-mounted weaponry, such as the Valkyrie's 55mm APFSDS round, and poor resistance to heavy mecha-mounted weaponry, such as the VHT's 105mm smoothbore shells.

The main cannon and tri-cannon are mounted in armored housings on arms that have a thicker armor, and are often used to parry incoming fire. Here the armor resistance is better than that of almost any other mecha, except the HWR series Destroid.

The armored pilot compartment is proof against all shrapnel and environmental hazards, but can not withstand any strikes by shells (at non-perpendicular angles) larger than 30mm. Unfortunately, severe performance and reliability problems with the VR systems caused the pilot compartment to be removed from the tanks, even in combat.

When equipped with the armored pilot compartment, the Hoplite provides full protection from nuclear, biological, and chemical hazards, using an overpressure cockpit environment activated by radiation and hazardous chemical sensors, or manually when biological warfare conditions are anticipated. The internal consumables supplies can provide atmosphere for eight hours maximum.

IX. Development:

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