Designation: Tactical Power Armor (Queadlunn-Rau)

I. Dimensions:

Length :	10.8 m
Width :	18.4 m
Height :	16.8 m
:	15.9 m (without antenna)
Weight :	32.5 metric ton

II. Type:

• One man aerospace/ground combat mecha.

III. Propulsion:

• Engines:
  • Two plasma-shock expansion thrusters in the back, output 260 kN.
  • Two auxiliary reaction thrusters in the feet, output 100 kN.
  • Assorted secondary thrusters.
• Fuel: multiple protoculture canisters.

IV. Performance:

• Speed : 1160 kph (at 12000 m)
• 176 kph (running)
• Ceiling : 50000m
• Combat radius : total delta-v 4.7 kps
• Protoculture supply : average operational life 15 days continuous use.

V. Sensory Systems:

• Long range spherical radar system
• Thermo-imager
• Night vision optics
• Telescopic optics (x10 magnification)
• Laser tracker/designator
• Low power broadband sensor jammer.

VI. Armament:

Cannons:

• 2 x 3 PL-3 : a pulse laser with a laser pulse of 3.5 MJ. Can fire once every second.
• 2 x 1 IC-H (40 rounds each) : Impact Cannon, Heavy. As the light impact cannon, but fires one 79.2 mm diameter shell rather than a stream of small shells. Firing rate 120 shots/minute.

Missiles:

• 2 x SL-21 : Circular launcher for Maggot Universal Dogfight type Missiles (UDM) . Carries 21 missiles ready for launch in individual tubes. No reloads.
• 2 x SL-21a : Circular launcher for Maggot missiles. Can carry 21 missiles ready for launch; a version of the SL-21 with one reload for all tubes.

VII. Armor:

Armor will stop all grenade/shell/mortar fragments, energy beams and solids originating in hand-held weaponry. Poor resistance against weaponry as mounted on combat mecha, but still much better than that of the Officer Pod armor. Full nuclear, biological and chemical warfare protections.

VIII. Development:

The final, and very probably most effective and finest Zentraedi mecha was the Queadlunn-Rau, literally the "Heavy Power Armor". Used almost exclusively by the female Zentraedi air corps, this battle suit was the last of the Zentraedi mecha to be developed, created after initial combat experience with the Disciples of Zor and the Invid showed that the PBS was less suited for commando raids. This mecha was used in that role because it was the best available at the time, but as it was originally intended as an ground Cavalry mecha, it performed badly against airborne Invid or spaceborne Battlepods and Invid. What was needed was a mecha with the highest possible speed, a very heavy punch, excellent capability as a dogfighter and performance identical to the PBS on the ground. Basically, what was needed was a five-legged sheep. The designers started with an PBS armor, then added additional engines for near-Mach speeds in an atmosphere and the highest thrust-to-weight ratio in space. Unfortunately, the engines required were very large, and this caused increased suit size, which in turn required larger engines and so forth, until the TPA was as massive as a Regult Pod. Additionally, the power demands of the suit itself made any large energy weapon impossible, and thus the TPA received its unique weapons fit. To retain some ammunition-independent weapons, the designers installed three pulse lasers of relatively low power in each arm. These weapons, even if all six were fired together, drew less power than a single PB-10. Despite this the average protoculture cell duration on the TPA was the lowest of all Zentraedi mecha. The single heavy projectile chest-cannon of the PBS was doubled. However, as these two cannons were usually fired together and the ammunition supply was not increased, the battlefield duration of this weapon was not improved in this larger mecha. The heaviest punch of this mecha rested however in its 126 Maggot missiles. These missiles were as effective against ground targets as they were against airborne targets. However, the Zentraedi tended to launch typically one or two dozen of them in one salvo, restricting the supply to about 8 salvos. Almost as an afterthought, the TPA mounted the heaviest armor of all Zentraedi mecha. Concluding, the TPA was the fastest, toughest and hardest-hitting of all Zentraedi mecha, paying for this in combat endurance and powercell usage. Given its commando mission profile however, it was the best mecha for the job. This suit was expensive to construct, and though plans existed to re-equip many units (including CAS and Cavalry units) with this mecha, only the more elite commando forces received it before the Robotech Empire fell.

See additional design notes.

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Copyright © 1997, 1995 Robert Morgenstern, Peter Walker, Pieter Thomasson
Last Updated: Tuesday, January 6, 1997 10:22 AM