Introduced in 2602, the CHP-1N Champion is a heavy BattleMech designed to be fast and maneuverable, with an array of weaponry to give it good combat flexibility. Weighing in at 60 tons and with a top running speed of 86.4 kilometers per hour, the Champion was intended to fill the roles of a heavy reconnaissance and strike BattleMech. The 'Mech also often serves with main-line units in more general combat roles.
         Though many have criticized the vehicle as over-engined, oversized, under-gunned and too costly, the Champion's consistently excellent performance has made it popular among its pilots as well as MechWarriors who serve alongside it.

         The Champion's mass makes it a heavy BattleMech, but it has feeble weapons and light armor for this weight class. However, few of the more heavily armed and armored heavy BattleMechs can match its speed and maneuverability, and thus its higher survival rate. To achieve this speed advantage, the Champion uses a VIar 300 fusion engine that masses nearly 20 tons, one-third of the Champion's overall mass.
         Critics claim that a medium 'Mech in the 50- to 55-ton range can move at similar speeds with a smaller engine, leaving room for much more weaponry and armor. Earthwerks Incorporated bid for the same contract with a proposal for the GRF-3N, a modified version of its 55-ton Griffin, to achieve the same performance as the Champion at notably less cost. But Bergan Industries, manufacturer of the highly successful Locust, lobbied so intensively that its Champion proposal ultimately won out with an order for 200 machines.
         The original Champions included an improved missile fire-control system known as Artemis that improved the accuracy of its Harpoon missiles by up to 50 percent. However, as with most advanced weapons of the Star League era, the technologically impaired Inner Sphere of the Succession Wars could not maintain the Artemis, and no functional versions appear to remain in existence.
         The Champion's weapons array consists of one Mydron Model B autocannon, one Harpoon-6 short-range missile launcher, a pair of Magna Mark II medium lasers, and two Martell small lasers. Though it carries extra ammunition, the Champion sometimes must withdraw from combat early or close quickly to engage targets with its SRM and lasers. The 'Mech's greatest weakness may be its tendency to run somewhat hot in heavy combat, mostly because its manufacturers installed low-efficiency heat sinks to reduce the machine's overall cost.