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m-216_paxton

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M-216 Paxton​

The M-216 Paxton is the Main Battle Tank used by Union forces on the homeworld.

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With military forces more often finding themselves in Urban battlespaces, the M-216 is optimized more for Urban combat with a multitude of weapons suitable for engaging targets up close and around difficult terrain. The vehicle also has much heavier armor on the top, sides, and rear than most other MBTs.

History

The M-216 Paxton is the latest 'Main Battle Tank' produced for the American Union. It was advertised as a cost cutting measure that could be produced in large numbers on earth and further standardize American Union forces by being produced on site in systems like New Texas and Hawking. This wide-scale production would lead to the vehicle being widely deployed not only on Earth, but throughout the Human Sphere.

The vehicle would ultimately sit out of the majority of combat engagements during its time in service as there were no major conflicts between nations up until 2321 when the New Years Revolution broke out. The tank itself was far too heavy to effectively be transported between star-systems, so American Union forces would simply leave them behind to guard local bases or transfer them to local security forces.

Despite the wide-deployment of the vehicle. It ultimately developed a reputation as a quiet worker, a thing that would ultimately do the job well but wasn't particularly flashy or interesting.

Layout

The Paxton has a fairly standard layout for a tank, with an armored crew pod at the back of the vehicle, and systems located in the forward 2/3rds of the vehicle. A fully automated turret is situated on top.

Internally the crew section has a minimal amount of manual controls, and relies mostly on a combination of VR headset and work-terminals for control of the vehicle.

Armor

The Paxton is an extremely heavily armored vehicle, including a heavy glacis plate, thick side and rear armor,additional armored side skirts and an armored plow, top armor, and even mine-protection wedges. The vehicle turret has less armor than the vehicle itself, but is still protected above and beyond what most vehicles are equipped with.

This is further backed up with numerous passive and active defensive systems.

Sensors


The Paxton is armed with a wide range of sensor systems that feed into the ship's systems, providing the crew with a range of fully-automated responses to a range of threats.

Radar


The role of the Main Battle Tank has generally included the expectation that the tank is able to take on any threats that come its way. This includes airborn and low orbit threats which necessitated the inclusion of a fold-down radar array capable of tracking targets at extreme distance.

Defensive Radar


The turret of the Paxton houses six radar systems spread along the forward arc that provide a 260 degree bubble of coverage, and are primarily used as part of the vehicle's active protection system. Much like the main radar system these are often disabled to either save power or to reduce the vehicles emissiveness.

Optics


The Magnetic Assembly's combined Optical and Thermal cameras are situated all over the Paxton, providing weapon-specific views, controllable views from the corners of the vehicle, and a telescoping poll mounted

Terrain-penetrating radar


Located behind the dozer-blade system of the vehicle is a Terrain penetrating radar designed for detecting explosives or other hazards located underground and in front of the tank.

Weapons

120mm Rail Gun


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Main Cannon raised for anti-orbit attacks

The main weapon system of the Paxton is a 120mm railgun, capable of firing a variety of projectiles at high speed including rocket-assisted rounds designed for anti-orbit duty. This cannon is fed by the vehicle's own power system and a 40 round auto-loader located at the rear of the turret. The feed system loads the round from underneath, requiring the cannon have minimal elevation before it can be reloaded, reducing its fire rate against targets overhead as compared to those on the same level.

40mm Grenade Launchers

The Paxton carries 6, 8 barrel, 40mm grenade launchers with 5 rounds stacked per tube. These usually carry a mix of smoke and high explosive rounds used as part of the vehicle's active protection system.

20mm Cannons

Located on either side of the top of the turret are two 20mm cannons that can be operated by either of the crew members.

Small-Lasers

Projected from the optics located around the tank. The Paxton's small lasers are suitable for starting fires, damaging small drones, or blinding the sensors of incoming weapon systems at short range.

Support Vehicles

Micro-Drone Hanger

The underside of the Paxton houses a small drone hanger that can deploy can-sized small drones with their own optics that are suitable for scouting the immediate area.

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