Created when the fusion plant line suffered a disruption, this experimental version of the well-established Patton tank was a classic case of feature-creep. At first, it was meant to simply evaluate the possibility of fuel-cell engines on ammunition-heavy designs. Then a MML-9 copied from captured Blakist hardware, with a hand-made Artemis IV fire-control, was added alongside a LB 10-X autocannon. The reduction in armour load was solved by changing over to expensive Heavy Ferro-Fibrous armour - 10.5 tons of the stuff. Topping the technology sundae was an anti-missile system sourced from who-knew-where. CASE protected all the ammo bins.
A straight upgrade in weapons range, versatility and accuracy from the original, it was nevertheless over half a million C-bills more expensive than the base model, and the advantages of the LBX over the Patton Ultra were considered to be not worth the loss of damage. The MML, while able to load a wide range of missiles, could only actually utilise the Artemis system with specialised and expensive ammunition. Even the engine came under fire for being a step backwards, reattaching the engine to yet another supply line, never mind that it was a regenerative model that could be recharged from any other fusion-powered vehicle or BattleMech.
It never made it to full production, though some Lyran planetary militia placed orders that were honoured after the Jihad.
Patton (FCX)
Mass: 65 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Motive Type: Tracked
Rules Level: Experimental Tech
Era: Clan Invasion
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-X-E-A
Production Year: 3072
Dry Cost: 3,206,225 C-Bills
Total Cost: 3,366,725 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,077
Power Plant: Resurrection 260 Fuel Cell Engine
Cruise Speed: 43.2 km/h
Flanking Speed: 64.8 km/h
Armor: Heavy Ferro-Fibrous
Armament:
1 LB 10-X AC
1 MML-9 w/ Artemis IV FCS
1 Machine Gun
1 Anti-Missile System
1 Unknown CASE
Manufacturer: Defiance Industries
Primary Factory:
Communications System: TharHes Muse 60Kb
Targeting and Tracking System: TharHes Mars6 Alpha
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard 35 points 6.50
Engine: Fuel-Cell Engine 260 16.50
Cruise MP: 4
Flank MP: 6
Heat Sinks: Single Heat Sink 1 0.00
Control Equipment: 3.50
Lift Equipment: 0.00
Turret: 2.00
Armor: Heavy Ferro-Fibrous AV - 208 10.50
Armor
Factor
Front 45
Left/Right 41/41
Turret 44
Rear 37
================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Spaces Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anti-Missile System FR 1 1 0.50
LB 10-X AC T 2 1 11.00
MML-9 T 5 1 6.00
Artemis IV FCS T - 0 1.00
Machine Gun T 0 1 0.50
CASE BD - 1 0.50
@LB 10-X (Cluster) (10) BD - 0 1.00
@LB 10-X (Slug) (20) BD - 0 2.00
@MML-9 (LRM Art-IV) (13) BD - 0 1.00
@MML-9 (SRM Art-IV) (11) BD - 0 1.00
@MG (1/2) (100) BD - 0 0.50
@Anti-Missile System (12) BD - 0 1.00
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 7 Points: 11
4t 3 2 2 0 3 0 Structure: 4
Special Abilities: AMS, CASE, EE, TUR(3/2/2, SRM 1/1/1, LRM 1/1/1, IF 1/1/1), IF 1, FLK 1/1/1
