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To: Rca2000
M35 Prominent Main Battle Tank.

The M35 Prominent is a heavy 95 ton tank designed to fight against entire Commonwealth tank squads and win. Its layout is unconventional, with the engine to the front and the crew compartment and turret in the center and rear. This was done to improve survivability incase of a hit on the front quarter. The turret is unmanned, with the crew seated in the centermost of the tank. There is access to the turret through a series of blast doors incase of an ammunition stoppage. This design also means that the turret has a lower profile. There exists room for six passengers through a heavily armored hatch in the rear. The passenger compartment is self contained and can be used for extra ammunition as well. Access to the passenger compartment is available through a series of blast doors. The tank is protected by 1.2 meters of armor, which is even around the hull, providing equal protection for all sides and the top and bottom. Modular armor plates can be attached to provide additional protection and can be changed in the field easily. The tank's sheer mass and low profle has the benificial side effect of not being easily overturned by the blast-wind of a nuclear detonation and is naturally protected against NBC weapons. The Prominent development team was and still is led by Commandant Dina Tal.

It is armed with an M274 140mm electro-thermal cannon system as its main weapon and a 35mm M32 coaxial cannon for softer targets. A sub-turret has a dual 15mm machinegun system for anti-infantry defense and a light laser for defense against missiles and aircraft/spacecraft. Hardpoints exist for various rockets and missiles, while the turret features a 90mm mortar system for light fire support. The treads were designed in such a way to have redundancy. Its quad tread system has four clusters of two treads to a cluster. The whole tank can operate on just four treads if one from each cluster were destroyed. While this tread system is complex and requires a lot of maintenance, it has saved lives by allowing the tank to escape an otherwise crippling blow.

The M35 is currently being upgraded to the Mk. 4 configuration. Among the upgrades is a retractable mast-mounted sensor system that will allow it to survey the area while in a hull down position. An improved fire control to allow it to use the main cannon against dropships, strike ships and assault landers (which are incredibly resistant to conventional anti-aircraft weapons due to their sheer size and mass). A new suspension system will reduce strain on its treads, allowing for reduced maintenance downtime while a faster auto-loader will increase the M274's rate of fire to one shot every two-point-four seconds.

730 posted on 11/19/2005 3:26:11 PM PST by Paul_Denton (The U.S. should adopt the policy of Oom Shmoom: Israeli policy where no one gives a sh*t about U.N.)
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To: Rca2000

I forgot to state that it is powered by an air-indepedant system. Not too much different than what some modern non-nuclear sumarines use in real life. All the vehicles in my novel (includng mechs) use air-independant systems because not all planets have oxygen atmoshpheres (many planets have no atmsphere at all).


731 posted on 11/19/2005 3:36:25 PM PST by Paul_Denton (The U.S. should adopt the policy of Oom Shmoom: Israeli policy where no one gives a sh*t about U.N.)
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