Iron Armory "Storm Tiger" Tank Destroyer:

"Damn that cannon is big"

--Exclamation of a unknown trooper when first
seeing the Storm Tiger's Cannon

"Big, Bad, that is how I would describe the Storm Tiger. Sure, the main gun requires what seems like forever to reload but watch when a enemy robot gets blown in half in one shot and you will be a believer too."

--Sgt Mickey London, commander 'Death Blow', an MTK-12
attached to 'SteelKnights' mercenary company. .

When Iron Armory found the plans for various United States tanks, they also found designs for what they thought was an American tank killer was American but actually was from the German World War Two Sturm Tiger bunker buster. Still, the massive gun fascinated both designers and executives alike and they decided to design a tank killer based on the design. The redesigning process was massive and in reality, the designers virtually created an all new design. The appearance remains very similar to the German World War Two Sturm Tiger but is a modern tank in all aspects. The designers adopted the name of "Storm Tiger" for their new design.

Production was begun on a new line in the Iron Armory facility for the new design but sales were disappointing. Still, the massive firepower interested some buyers and Iron Armory has made some profit from the tank destroyer design. Most buyers purchase the combustion or electrically powered versions due to them being far less expensive than the nuclear powered version. The design was produced before Iron Armory began using fuel cell systems and the new system has not been introduced for the Storm Tiger. There appear to be no plans to introduce fuel cell systems for the design and it appears that Iron Armory may be considering phasing out the design in favor of the new "War Tiger" tank destroyer. Iron Heart Armament introduced a tank destroyer as well called the “Iron Axe” and while most Iron Armory products are superior to Iron Heart designs, there is much question with the Storm Tiger. Luckily for the Storm Tiger, the Iron Heart facilities were captured by the Coalition soon after production of the new design was begun. The Storm Tiger was introduced about fourteen months after the original Iron Armory Abrams with an 80 mm hyper velocity rail gun. The original Abrams has now been superceded by a newer and slightly larger version of the tank.

Due to the tank destroyer no mounting a turret, the vehicles can carry massive armor compared to many tank designs and has greater production compared to the redesigned Abrams produced by Iron Armory. The design of the Storm Tiger and the Abrams do share some components and allow for simpler production. Some of these components include the fusion power system on fusion powered versions of the Storm Tiger. The electrical system on electrically powered versions of the Storm Tiger uses banks of highly efficient batteries and the combustion powered versions of the Storm Tiger uses a high efficiency gas turbine which normally burns diesel fuel or kerosene. The gas turbine can even burn gasoline or alcohol derivatives. The suspension is fully modern and has wider tracks for better support and traction. Due to the much higher power to weight ratio of the Storm Tiger, it is much faster than the old German design which inspired it although it is slightly slower than the versions of the Abrams Battle Tank produced by Iron Armory. Electronics on the Storm Tiger are similar to those carried on other Iron Armory designs and are generally very good and far superior to those carried on Iron Heart designs. Crew includes a driver, commander, and two gunners. One of the gunners controls the main weapon while the other controls the second weapon systems except one pulse laser which is controlled by the commander.

The main gun of the "Storm Tiger" is a 15 inch (38 cm) heavy rocket launcher or mortar which does massive damage to whatever it hits. Each round is too heavy to be handled at any rate of speed without an automatic loader and the cannon / rocket launcher has a rate of fire of only four per minute even with the automatic loading system. Each round is massive and a total of only fifteen rounds are carried. One other weakness is that the main weapon has very limited traverse, only ten degrees to either side. As well, the main gun can only angle up to eighty five degrees. The range of the rocket is longer than the range of most projectiles and some Storm Tigers have been used in the role of artillery. There are plans for the development of an extended range guided munition with a range around ten to twelve miles. Another warhead being considered is a discarding sabot round of incredible velocity. In addition to the 15 inch rocket launcher, the tank destroyer mounts two pulse laser mounts and two variable missile launchers. Both of the pulse laser mounts are mounted on the top of the tank destroyer with one being controlled by the tank destroyer's commander and the other being controlled by a secondary gunner. There has been some consideration given to replacing one of the Cupolas lasers with an automatic grenade for greater damage but it has not been fitted to any production models. Some crews have replaced one of the lasers with grenade launcher but it is still uncommon. The variable missile launchers are mounted with one on each side of the hull and are available as mini-missile launchers, short range missile launchers, or medium range missile launchers. Most experts will state that the missile launchers get used for tank busting more commonly than the heavy rocket launcher due to the rocket launcher limited rate of fire. As an additional level of self defense, the tank destroyer carries a smoke dispenser. Like on other designs, there has been strong consideration for using anti-laser aerosol grenades.

Model Type: I.A. MTK-12
Vehicle Type: Tank Destroyer
Crew: Four (Driver, 2 Gunners, and Commander).

M. D. C. by Location:

	15 inch (38 cm) Heavy Rocket Launcher:	250
	Cupolas on Top (2, Left and Right Side):	80 each
	[1] Cupola Rapid Fire Laser Cannon (2, In Cupolas)	50 each
	Variable Missile Launchers (2, Sides):	50 each
	[1] Smoke / Gas Dispensers (2):	20 each
	[2] Main Body:	780
	[3] Tractor Treads (2):	150 each

Notes:
[1] These are small and difficult targets to strike, requiring the attacker to make a “called shot,” but even then the attacker is -4 to strike.
[2] If all the M.D.C. of the main body is depleted, the vehicle is completely shut down and is unsalvageable.
[3] Depleting the M.D.C. of a tread will immobilize the tank until it is replaced. Replacing a tread will take 1D6x10 minutes by a trained crew (two replacements are carried on board) or three times as long by the inexperienced. Changing the tread is only advisable when the vehicle is not under attack.

Speed:
Ground: Cruising speed on land is 60 mph (96.9 kph) on roads and 52 mph (83.7 kph) off road maximum. The vehicle is designed to traverse virtually all terrain and can climb at up to a 60% grade although at a much slower speed (About 10% of maximum road speed). It can also climb barriers and ford trenches. The vehicle can also handle side slopes of up to 30%.
Underwater: Can be equipped with snorkel to run underwater down to 15 feet (4.6 meters)
Maximum Range: With gas or electric, 250 miles (402 km), with fusion, effectively unlimited.

Statistical Data:
Height: 10 feet 2 inches (3.1 meters)
Width: 12 feet 3 inches (3.7 meters)
Length: 23 feet 6 inches (7.2 meters)
Weight: 78 tons (70.7 metric tons)
Power Source: Combustion, Electric, or Nuclear (Should have an average lifespan of 10 years).
Cargo Capacity: Minimal, enough for equipment with crew.
Black Market Cost: Internal Combustion powered sells for 3.7 million credits, Electrical engine version sells for 5.7 million credits, and fusion with 10 year life sells for 35 million credits. Deduct 200,000 for early models which have not been refitted.

Weapon Systems

15 inch (38 cm) Heavy Rocket Launcher: Mounted in the front of the vehicle and is fixed forward with only a limited traverse. The barrel can traverse from side to side up to 10 degrees and can elevate up to 85 degrees. The rocket inflicts massive damage but has a very limited fire rate and a small payload. The cannon / rocket launcher is fired by the tank destroyer's primary gunner. Rocket launcher has a special auto-loader system. Iron Armory is considering developing an extended range guided projectile for the heavy rocket launcher which would allow for greater range. Cannon rounds are laser guided and being able to fire at targets more accurately. One of the new warheads being considered is a heavy metal penetrator for anti-tank use.
Maximum Effective Range: 5,905 feet (1.1 miles / 1,800 meters) for direct fire and 19,650 feet (3.7 miles / 6,000 meters) for indirect fire.
Mega Damage: 6D6x10 for Armor Piercing to a 8 feet (2.4 meters) blast radius and 1D4x100 for Plasma to a 40 feet (12.2 meter) blast radius.
Rate of Fire:Once per melee.
Payload: carries 15 rounds.
Rapid Fire Machine gun Style Laser Cannons (2): A light laser designed for anti-infantry and anti-aircraft use that allows for all the bursts available to a machine gun except full melee. One gun is controlled by the tank destroyer's commander and the other is controlled by a secondary gunner. Later versions of the Tank destroyer have lasers which can be controlled from within the tank destroyer but the gunners on early versions were exposed. Many older models have been upgraded with this feature as well with most crews preferring the new mounts.
Maximum Effective Range: 3,000 ft (914 m)
Mega-Damage:
Rate of Fire: Equal to combined hand to hand attacks of gunner
Payload: For Combustion or Electrical versions: 600 shots. For fusion: unlimited shots.
Variable Missile Launchers (2): Mounted on either side of body. Vehicle can be constructed with one of three different type of missile launchers. The type of launcher is normally built onto the vehicle at the factory and would take a mechanic about 8 hours to switch from one launcher to another.
1. Medium Range Missile Launchers: Longer ranged than the other launchers but less missiles are carried. Usually used for long range bombardment or anti-aircraft roles.
  Maximum Effective Range: Varies with missile types, medium range missiles only (See revised bomb and missile tables for details.)
  Mega-Damage: Varies with missile types, medium range missiles only (See revised bomb and missile tables for details.)
  Rate of Fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), four (4), or six (6) missiles.
  Payload: each launcher carries 3 medium range missiles for a total of 6 medium range missiles. Carries 6 medium range missiles as reloads inside vehicle
2. Short Range Missile Launchers: More commonly carried for use against incoming missiles and aircraft with a shorter range than medium range missiles but more can be carried.
  Maximum Effective Range: Varies with missile types, short range missiles only (See revised bomb and missile tables for details.)
  Mega-Damage: Varies with missile types, short range missiles only (See revised bomb and missile tables for details.)
  Rate of Fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), four (4), six (6), or twelve (12) missiles.
  Payload: each launcher carries 6 short range missiles for a total of 12 short range missiles. Carries 12 short range missiles as reloads inside vehicle
3. Mini Missile Launchers: Mostly used for short range bunker busting and against other armored vehicles. Much shorter range and not independently guided although more mini-missiles are carried than short range missiles.
  Maximum Effective Range: Varies with missile types, mini-missiles only (See revised bomb and missile tables for details.)
  Mega-Damage: Varies with missile types, mini missiles only (See revised bomb and missile tables for details.)
  Rate of Fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), five (5), ten (10), or twenty (20) missiles.
  Payload: each launcher carries 10 mini-missiles for a total of 20 Mini-missiles. Carries 20 mini-missiles as reloads inside vehicle
Smoke Dispenser (2): Mounted on either side of the tank destroyer and launches smoke grenades. While other types of grenades can be used, they have been rarely carried. Recently, there has been consideration for the use of prismatic aerosol and decoy grenades to help protect the vehicle against lasers.
Effect: Creates a cloud of smoke 40 ft (12 m) in diameter. Other special effects per grenade type
Rate of Fire: Two per melee
Range: 1,200 feet (365 meters)
Payload: Carries 12 smoke grenades per launcher.

Sensory Equipment:

Radio/ Video Communications: Long range, directional, has a range of 500 miles with short range directional radio of 5 miles.
Laser Targeting System: Range is 2 miles and gives +1 to strike with long range weapons. Not applicable to hand to hand
Combat Computer/ Targeting Computer: Assist in the tracking of targets.
Radar: 50 miles, can identify 96 targets and track 48 as low as 500 ft. Same as robots Maxi-Radar.
Full Life Support: Protects pilot and tank from heat and radiation and gives a breathable atmosphere inside the tank.
Spotlight: Range: 600 feet (182.9 meters)
Thermo-Imager: Range: 2,000 ft (609 m). Finds the infra-red radiations of things that are warm. Also enables pilot to see in smoke, shadows and darkness.
Nightvision Optics: Range: 2,000 ft (609 m). Uses light amplification to make a picture. Emits no light but will not work in absolute darkness. System can be dazzled by sudden bright lights but does not physically blind the pilot.

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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