File:020056
Tank Heavy Cannon ROVER series Heavy Weapons Platform
Designation: T.H.C.: Tank Heavy Cannon
Primary Weapon: Heavy Armor Piercing Cannon
Basic Ammunition Load: 30 Advanced Anti-personnel Penetrator Rounds
Standard Armor Load Values: 90 Frontal Armor, 75 left side armor, 75 right side armor, 60 Rear armor, 60 under-carriage armor
In Service: July 25, 1999 to September 9th, 2001
Movement System: Duraplex caterpillar treads linked to GenDyn 1000 series armored vehicle powerplant
Comments:
The Tank Heavy Cannon series of robot tanks were quickly supplanted by the Tank Rocket Launcher series of drone combat units during the early stages of the First Alien War. This series was used mostly for the testing of the Mk 2 Artificially Intelligent Tactical Computers which were eventually recognized as sentient beings by the United Nations Resolution of 2009 paving the way for the first autonomous AI "citizens".
File:020247
Tank Rocket Launcher ROVER series Heavy Weapons Platform
Designation: T.R.L.: Tank Rocket Launcher
Primary Weapon: Predator Wire Guided Anti-tank Missile Launchers, Duel Configuration
Basic Ammunition Load: 8 guided anti-tank missiles, 4 per launcher
Standard Armor Load Values: 90 Frontal Armor, 75 Left side armor, 75 right side armor, 60 Rear armor, 60 Under-carriage armor
In Service: March 14, 1999 to August 2, 2014
Movement System: Duraplex caterpillar tread driven by GenDyn 1000 series MK II armored vehicle power plant
Comments:
The outstanding Tank Rocket Launcher HWP was the successor to the original series of support ROVER tanks used by XCOM during the first month's of the war. Utilizing the newly field tested LOGIC Artificially Intelligent Photonic Processor, the Tank Rocket Launcher became the favored weapon for dealing with Alien Terror assaults and large landing/crash sites. Most often deployed with Heavy Weapons and Strike & Reconnaissance
team's during the war, this remarkable weapon system distinguished itself both in endurance while under fire and in the amount of firepower it could direct onto multiple alien targets.
Unfortunately, with this firepower advantage came several disadvantages. The standard TRL HWP had a maximum standard ammunition load of only 8 predator missiles which could not easily be replenished in the field and were often difficult to replace under fire. However, even after the introduction of the faster and more ammunition efficient "Hover" tank HWP's, the TRL series HWP remained a faithful standby for most XCOM combat units and remained on active duty in a number of capacities long after the end of the first alien war.
File:024089
Tank Laser Cannon ROVER series Heavy Weapons Platform
Designation: T.L.C.: Tank Laser Cannon
Primary Weapon: SML-90 Air Cooled Heavy Infantry Laser
Basic Ammunition Load: Quadra 14 regenerative energy source, unlimited ammunition.
Standard Armor Load Values: 90 Frontal Armor, 75 Left side armor, 75 right side armor, 60 Rear armor, 60 under-carriage armor
In Service: April 20, 2001, to October 14, 2022
Movement System: Duraplex caterpillar tread driven by GenDyn 1050 series MK II Mod 1 armored vehicle power plant
Comments:
The Tank Laser Cannon series remains an extremely useful addition to HWP technology in general and was one of the units used during the Cydonia Operation due to it's replenishable ammunition supply and it's versatility. Whether deployed as a sentry to guard vital XCOM installations or
acting as a complement to a recon or heavy weapons unit no other HWP offered this level of performance until the advent of hovertanks.
File:089235
Hovertank Plasma Cannon HOVER series Heavy Weapons Platform
Designation: H.P.C.:Hovertank Plasma Cannon
Primary Weapon: XR-10 Modified Plasma Accelerator Cannon
Basic Ammunition Load: 255 rounds elerium-115 based accelerator slugs
Standard Armor Load Values: 90 Frontal Armor, 75 Left side armor, 75 right side armor, 60 Rear armor, 60 under-carriage armor
In Service:January 2, 2002, to December 12, 2026
Movement System: Eight gravitic lift generator's emplaced in independently manueverable armored nacelle's powered by MK I Mod 1 elerium gravitic reactor pile.
Comments:
The Hovertank Plasma Cannon HWP is arguably the most versatile of all Platforms in the series, mounting exceptional ammunition load and firepower for it's size coupled with superior maneuverability due to an elerium based gravitic hover system. Even after the end of the First Alien War, this unit served in a number of fire support and armored strike capacities before the ever dwindling elerium stock-piles forced a decomissioning of such fighting vehicles.
File:089791
Hovertank Blaster Launcher HOVER series Heavy Weapons Platform
Designation: H.B.L.:Hovertank Blaster Launcher
Primary Weapon: Vehicle Mounted, Guided Anti-matter warhead projector
Basic Ammunition Load: 8 waypoint guided blaster shells
In Service: May 5, 2002, to December 12, 2026
Movement System: Eight gravitic lift generator's emplaced in independently manueverable armored nacelle's powered by MK I Mod 2 elerium gravitic reactor pile.
Comments:
The last true Heavy Weapons Platform produced near the close of the First Alien War combined devestating and accurate firepower with superior movement capability. This quality proved very useful during the Cydonia Assault operation but these capabilities also doomed this HWP series to relative obscurity in terms of production. The sheer destruction this capable machine possesed made it generally unusable in packed civilian areas where blaster based weaponry could potentially be as lethal to allied civilians as alien invaders. The relative scarcity of elerium after the war also limited post-war production and the Heavy Weapons Platform Program was suspended indefinitely on December 12th, 2026 and remained dormant until Coelecanthe underwater construction vehicles were converted to combat use as SWS's at the outbreak of the Second Alien War.
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