(apparently lost in the server change, now reposted since it is distantly tied to the Terran Hegemony Military of "And I Feel Fine")
Army Ant AAT-1R
IS TW non-box set
20 tons
BV: 377
Cost: 1,513,800 C-bills
One of the earliest examples of a battlemech infantry carrier, the Army Ant was developed during the Star League's golden age as a potential replacement for conventional vehicle based infantry carriers. Prior attempts had focused on transporting infantry internally, and in every case this method proved untennable. The high internal heat of a typical battlemech, the cramped quarters, and the rough ride resulted in wholly unacceptable levels of attrition even before reaching a deployment zone, and the mechanics of successfully deploying from a ten meter battlemech held their own challenges for all but the most elite infantry forces.
The Army Ant sought to overcome both of those problems by completely foregoing internal transport in favor of an externally mounted cargo pod, the Field Transportable Troop Pod (or FTTP). This lightly armored, armed pod had space to carry a full platoon of foot troops, and could be transported and dropped off in a favorable position by its carrying Army Ant, which would then either remain to provide additional support fire, or move on to other missions. When the infantry were needed elsewhere, the Army Ant could recover the pod and move on.
Though innovative in concept, execution left something to be desired. Field testing showed that deployment of the pod and its associated infantry forces matched expected parameters, (though the pod, essentially a ten ton petrochemical powered wheeled trailer, compromised stealthy operations to a degree), recovery proved difficult to impossible to accomplish in a timely manner when under fire, which could result in a portion of the unit, or even the entire infantry force being abandoned in desperate circumstances. Though intended to replace the standard APC, many commands found it much more expedient to use an APC to simply tow the Pod off the battlefied rather than expend the time to have the battlemech connect and lift it to place.
In the end, the Army Ant failed as an infantry carrier, however both it and the FTTP managed to find their niches in the armies of the Inner Sphere. The FTTP was produced in vast numbers across the Inner Sphere, where it was attached to existing APC units as a cheap way to boost their transport capacity. As for the Army Ant, the same design traits that were intended to make it a capable infantry carrier actually made it a capable rough terrain cargo transport, able to move ten ton loads of cargo at a reasonable speed over terrain too difficult for typical cargo trucks. As such, thousands of Army Ants were produced for the SLDF's logistical command, where they worked alongside industrial class loader- and cargomechs.
The Exodus and the Succession Wars essentially rendered the Army Ant extinct. Most of the Army Ants that accompanied the SLDF into exile were claimed by the Pentagon Civil War, and even those that survived were deemed useless and scrapped by the nascent Clans. In the Inner Sphere, Army Ants suffered a similar fate, either destroyed in combat or stripped to keep more combat oriented machines functioning.
Variants:
During the darkest days of their respective wars, both the Pentagon Powers and the Successor States found any sort of battlemech too valuable to "waste" in rear area duties, and as a consequence, most of the last Army Ants to exist were refitted for combat rolls. In both cases this took the form of removing the lift hoist for additional weapons. The common load among the Pentagon Powers saw the hoist replaced with a battery of sixty deadfire rockets, while Inner Sphere powers armed their Army Ants with a set of missiles or lasers, depending on equipment availability. The result was a deceptively well armed machine able to (occasionally) take light opponents by surprise.
Movement: 6/9
Engine: 120
Heat Sinks: 10
Gyro: Standard Gyro
Internal: 35
Armor: 64/73
Internal Armor
--------------------------------------
Head 3 8
Center Torso 6 8
Center Torso (rear) 2
Right Torso 5 7
Right Torso (rear) 2
Left Torso 5 7
Left Torso (rear) 2
Front Right Leg 4 7
Front Left Leg 4 7
Rear Right Leg 4 7
Rear Left Leg 4 7
Weapon Loc Heat
----------------------------------------
Medium Laser CT 3
Machine Gun CT 0
Ammo Loc Shots
----------------------------------------
Half Machine Gun Ammo RT 100
Equipment Loc
----------------------------------
Lift Hoist RT
FTTP
IS Introductory Box Set
10 tons
BV: 94
Cost: 57,400 C-bills
Movement: 0/0 (Wheeled)
Engine: 10 ICE
Internal: 5
Armor: 40
Internal Armor
--------------------------------------
Front 1 8
Right 1 8
Left 1 8
Rear 1 8
Turret 1 8
Weapon Loc Heat
----------------------------------------
Machine Gun TU 0
Machine Gun TU 0
Ammo Loc Shots
----------------------------------------
Half Machine Gun Ammo BD 100
Troops - 3.0 tons
