"Flying Raxx" GG-23
IS TW non-box set
30 tons
BV: 173
Cost: 821,000 C-bills
Derived from a star league era heavy lift VTOL, the GG-23 (commonly called the Flying Raxx in reference to the famous pack animal) was devised in 3025 as part of an LCAF experiment in creating airmobile battlemech units. With a lift capacity of 45 tons, a GG-23 and its supporting ground crew could load a Hatchetman in under a minute, transport it at high speed to its target, and quickly land and drop it off. This gave attached mech (or armor) forces strategic mobility unmatched by most forces on the battlefield.
However, the limitations of the program ultimately led to its cancellation. Though a persistent urban legend blames this on the inability of the GG-23 to carry the assault mechs so popular among Lyran troops, the truth is that on an insterstellar scale, the extra logistical tail of permanently attached VTOLs and support troops greatly complicated assault operations for smaller units, while larger units found that dropships could duplicate most of the same capabilities without adding to their existing logistical load.
Even so, the GG-23 proved to not be a total loss. Its heavy lift capacity made it ideal for logistical and support duties alongside the more familiar Karnov. It also proved popular with garrison and militia troops on the fringes of the Protectorate of Donegal, primarily in a support role, but occasionally serving as it was originally intended as a rapid deployment element for scattered militia troops.
The capabilities of the GG-23 were well illustrated during a raid on the world of Strandfontein. Something of a resort world in the Star League era, the rugged, undeveloped world was still a relatively poorly defended concentration of wealth in late 3026 when Redjack Ryan's pirate band came to the world. Landing deep in the mountainous, trackless wilderness of the western continent, Ryan believed his mobile battlemechs would be able to strike targets all over the world from their landing zone with impunity. He failed, however, to account for the ingenuity of the local militia, who utilized four recently delivered GG-23s and other civilian support VTOLs to move a battery of light artillery and nearly a regiment of experienced mountain troops and other light infantry to a mountain redoubt barely six kilometers from Ryan's dropships. With militia forces shelling the landing zone, Ryan ordered his mech forces to dig the militia out by direct assault. After seventeen hours of pitched battle that saw seven pirate mechs crippled and over three hundred casualties among the defending militia, the pirates gave up the assault, having failed at every turn to reach the artillery at the top of the mountain. His losses mounting and ships at risk as more militia were airlifted to the area, Ryan's pirates left the world with nothing to show for their efforts.
Variants:
The original GG-22 was developed at the end of the 27th century and featured slighty more armor protection, as well as a more powerful fusion engine. This version possessed only two lift hoists, limiting its maximum load to 30 tons. The depredations of the succession wars led to a downgrade of the design at the start of the 30th century, seeing the fusion engine and a small amount of armor removed to accomodate a less powerful combustion engine. It was from this downgrade that the GG-23 was developed, installing a smaller engine in exchange for the third lift hoist. Though the GG-22 has been out of production since 2926, examples can still be found scattered across the Commonwealth.
Movement: 9/14 (VTOL)
Engine: 130 ICE
Internal: 15
Armor: 40
Internal Armor
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Front 3 10
Right 3 10
Left 3 10
Rear 3 8
Rotor 3 2
Weapon Loc Heat
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Machine Gun FR 0
Ammo Loc Shots
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Half Machine Gun Ammo BD 100
Equipment Loc
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Lift Hoist RS
Lift Hoist LS
Lift Hoist FR
Carrying Capacity:
Troops - 1.0 tons
