Well, as promised, this is the second installment of Rumbler Week, and here we see a Victor-class Autonomous Armored Vehicle, designed to supersede the venerable Echo Class. More than twice the mass of the Echo-class, it is the largest and most ambitious military Rumbler design yet put into production, with firepower approaching that of an entire armored cavalry squadron. In addition, it is the most recent attempt by the defense conglomerate Nordyne Defense Dynamics to re-establish control of the arms market in the UNA.
Nordyne originally produced the first Rumbler designs in the early 1980’s, the Alpha and Bravo classes (the Alpha-class was a testbed and never entered mass production). However, the Rumbler type was quickly adopted by the O.V. Consortium, which used its broad access to the U.S. and Mexican computer and automotive industries to rapidly outpace its competitor, producing the Charlie, Echo and Foxtrot classes of Rumbler which were the standard designs used by the UNA militaries between about 1987 and 1995. As the Echo and Foxtrot classes began to age, however, the Security Council issued a requirement for a new Rumbler design to replace both classes, and Nordyne saw an opportunity to retake the initiative in AAV design. After a very contentious bidding process, Nordyne won the contract to provide twenty new Victor-class AAV’s to replace the Echo and Foxtrot vehicles then in service.
The Victor’s design is very clearly meant to show up the OVC classes, primarily by doubling the armament of those vehicles. It also includes a new kind of protein-wetware computer system based on a self-replicating organic compound called “8-8 Mitochondric Ribotransistorase,” which supposedly increases memory density by mimicking amino acid structures. So far, four of the planned class have been completed, two of which were assigned to Africa.
So far so good, folks! More Rumblers tomorrow!
Twice the size of echo class… And Echo was already too big IMO… 🙂 *sigh* But they look impressive though. 🙂
Also I can’t help but notice the main hull of this Rumbler somewhat resembles a ship. And I suppose that was intended, because the size of this thing is comparable to a navl destroyer class and the main gun is worthy a nival lineship class. 🙂
Besides this armor placing provides better effectiveness (if I remember this right the first realworld tank implementing such concept was IS3 soviet heavy tank ( http://otvaga2004.narod.ru/publ_w4/is3/06.jpg ).
And on the side note – if we compare the barrel size and pover-armor size as they are on the ficture, the caliber looks way more than 20”. More like 60” to me… 🙂
Yes, the Russian deigners of the 1940’s and 50’s got very good at building tanks, and they were among the first to realize how effective properly sloped armor could be at deflecting and stopping shells from penetrating to the interior of a tank. And yes, I did want this larger one to look more like a ship, as I considered it something like a “Land Ironclad,” only on steroids. As to the size and mass issues, I think that my statistics, though they seem authoritative, are terribly under-sizing these vehicles compared to their appearance in my sketches. So to you and the other gearheads out there, let’s just say that these stats are what UNA Security is willing to let me print – the actual numbers are classified. 😉
–M
I thought the infantryman looked so small because of the perspective. Anyway, yes, that is a monster, but by no means unbuildable. See the P.1000 Ratte– impractical for the war starved 3rd Reich, but probably practical for a major industrial power like the UNA, especially if technological revolutions improved construction, propulsion, etc. It seems like some accommodations have been made to certain problems that come with the size. For instance, note the large surface area of the tracks compared to a normal tank scaled up to that size, or the fact that this tank has 6 independent treads instead of two. Still, the lack of a good SAM system baffles me. Does the UNA expect to operate in an environment of complete Air Superiority?
Pardon me for asking a dumb question, but when was “Part 1”? I’ve been through the whole comic and I can’t find it! 🙁
see laser projectors. air superiority? shouldnt need it with lasers driven by computer command. depends on the freedom given to the computer. if its got the ability to fire as the enemy appears as opposed to letting them fire first, then any planes that crest the horizon shouldnt live long enough to acquire, fire, and escape. plus, so long as threats appear one after the other and the lasers can stand repeated firings without overheating, targets should be downed before any become a true threat. swamp the systems thou, and the two lasers will be overwelmed. dosnt matter how fast the computer is. a secondary weapon system that can double as air-defense or anti-armor would be nice. maybe swap the missile system for a mortar tube, and an air-defense missile battery?
Have you read all the way through yet? Mike can’t hit aircraft with his lasers–see when the MiG 29s landed bombs in his deck even though he shot down artillery shells.
Also, the Victor has 3 lasers, not 2. I find it interesting that they are the same model as found on Mike, though, considering that this is a later generation of vehicle and I would expect laser technology to progress rapidly.
Yeah, lasers are very vulnerable to aerosols and reflective chaff. Plus the Federates have very good pilots. Good enough to evade lasers, maybe not. But, well, you know.
–M
oi, well that was some foreshadowing
For some reason, it amuses the hell out of me that the Victor Class is Canadian. I mean it made sense to me before that Mike was American built, since we all know the American’s hardon for automated combat drones and HUGE tanks to intimidate/compensate with. But for some reason, seeing that the bigger, scarier, better armed replacement is made in Canada made me laugh my ass off
Thanks for the comment! A major Canadian arms manufacturer seems a bit off the beaten path, huh? Well to be honest, I also found the idea amusing, but also kind of cool. Up until the 1950’s, Canada was on a trajectory to be a really major world military power, securing the Atlantic, flying missions over Europe and Africa, storming Juno Beach; Canada was a major partner in the Manhattan Project, and was pursuing its own nuclear program, though a series of electoral turns and major policy shifts led to Canadian disarmament and their rejection of weapons of mass destruction (much to their credit, in my opinion, but I won’t go there for now). I like turning the expected on on its head, so it seemed to me an interesting idea to take a country and citizenry who are stereotypically characterized in the United States and elsewhere as quite, polite and unassuming and make them into major interventionist military hard-asses, rivaling the United States. And in the process, they rand into a divide which led to the separation of Quebec as an independent republic. The CO of 6-Commando, Colonel Haulley, is a Canadian, by the way – he’s from Toronto.
–M
So the data here is a disinformation. 🙂 And actual caaliber of the main guns may be different (larger!)
That was a misstake japaneese made with their lineships. They intentionally hid the planned data for hull armor and weapons of their linesips. And even let out some disinformation with lowered information. They thought that it would make real ship power be a surprise for the enemy.
But in real encounter went right the opposite way. The enemy did not know the real power of the ship and so did not hesitate to attack. And effectively drowned both lineships.
In real nival combat moral superiority is as important as gunpower superiority… if not more important.
As por laser point defences: The actual laser technology has a BIG drawback. Do ou see how the beam is glowing in the midair? It is a dissipation by dust and even air molecules. Thad dissipation eats a lot of beam energy and thus limits the effective range of laser within atmosphere. Maybe a few hundred meters.
Theoretically if you send a constant beam though the same area, the air there gets hotter and less dense and that will decrese dissipation and let a more effetive use of laser. But it is really hart to hit a plane if you use a beam that has to be held still for several seconds before it can do harm.
🙂
Disinformation – let’s go with that. Not “Mr. Average messed up his numbers by making a wildly inaccurate estimate.”
By the way, you’re going to like Thursday’s post, I think. So tune in.
–M
Were the laser blisters inspired by the ones seen on landships in Heavy Gear?