Most famous for its phenomenal capability for blowing past all budget projections without slowing down, the Comet is one of the Federated Suns' latest combat vehicles. Originally intended as a low cost, basic vehicle useful for garrison formations and other second line units, the Comet is a victim of both the AFFS' unceasing demands for the latest in weaponry, as well as the perceived need to differentiate it from long established budget vehicles like the Myrmidon. The basic concept is sound. A medium sized vehicle with heavy armor, a minimal logistical tail, and a respectable armament based around a single heavy weapon. The Comet is able to tick all of those boxes. However, from the beginning the vehicle's critics often pointed out that these specifications already fit a number of existing designs (the Myrmidon being a particularly favorite example), and called into question the need for an all new platform to fill the same role.
Forced to justify the program's very existence, designers countered by casually disregarding the "low cost" and "basic" parts of the equation and began packing their tank with technology. For a main gun, the Comet uses the latest re-engineered laser technology, tying it to an advanced targeting computer (and throwing in a small pulse laser for anti-infantry work). The advanced electronics don't stop there. In anticipation of the massed tactics common to the tank corps, the Comet also mounts a boosted C3 system to coordinate the highly acurate fire of several units. On top of this is an Angel ECM system offering aditional offensive and defensive capabilities. All of this is protected by a thick skin of heavy ferro fibrous armor, which is arguably fortunate, as the additional electronics caused the pricetag to nearly double over original projections (though the designers are quick to point out that there are few, if any, cheaper ways to get the Comet's particular set of technology into the field).
Even with the rapidly climing pricetag, the Comet has proven a capable medium tank, though perhaps not the second line vehicle it was originally intended to be. Though the Comet's offensive punch is a little light, the combination of the main gun's accuracy and the ability to coordinate targeting data among multiple units is surprisingly lethal, and especially effective against the many different Combine combat platforms known to utilize hardened or reflective armor. As such, Comets are being shipped out as quickly as practical to forces desperately trying to hold back the Combine juggernaught.
Variants:
The deployment of a Master version of the Comet was a foregone conclusion, given the relative lack of available platforms utilizing the Boosted C3 Master Computer. The incorporation of a Master system in a Comet proved surprisingly painless, requiring only removal of the small pulse laser and its associated heat sinks and supplemental targeting equipment, though the high pricetag of the master system only led to further criticism.
Theoretically intended to answer these complaints, the Cruiser Tank variant drops the costly boosted system and ECM completely for a larger powerplant. Though the result should have been the least expensive model of the group, a last minute design change saw the secondary pulse laser removed yet again, this time for a supercharger that would boost its already considerable mobility, along with the cost per unit. Even so, the Cruiser variant of the Comet is quite popular with its crews, if not the bean counters.
Comet Medium Tank
Base Tech Level: Experimental (IS)
Level Era
-------------------
Experimental -
Advanced 3145+
Standard -
Tech Rating: F/X-X-X-E
Weight: 50 tons
BV: 980
Cost: 3,835,750 C-bills
Movement: 4/6 (Tracked)
Engine: 200
Internal: 25
Armor: 208 (Heavy Ferro-Fibrous)
Internal Armor
---------------------------
Front 5 50
Right 5 42
Left 5 42
Rear 5 32
Turret 5 42
Weapons Loc Heat
--------------------------------------
Large Re-engineered Laser TU 9
Small Pulse Laser TU 2
Equipment Loc
---------------------------------------
Targeting Computer [IS] BD
C3 Boosted System (C3BS) [Slave] BD
Angel ECM Suite BD
Comet Medium Tank (Master)
Base Tech Level: Experimental (IS)
Level Era
-------------------
Experimental -
Advanced 3145+
Standard -
Tech Rating: F/X-X-X-E
Weight: 50 tons
BV: 964
Cost: 7,543,750 C-bills
Movement: 4/6 (Tracked)
Engine: 200
Internal: 25
Armor: 208 (Heavy Ferro-Fibrous)
Internal Armor
---------------------------
Front 5 50
Right 5 42
Left 5 42
Rear 5 32
Turret 5 42
Weapons Loc Heat
----------------------------------------------
Large Re-engineered Laser TU 9
C3 Boosted System (C3BS) [Master] FR 0
Equipment Loc
------------------------------
Targeting Computer [IS] BD
Angel ECM Suite BD
Comet Medium Tank (Cruiser)
Base Tech Level: Experimental (IS)
Level Era
-------------------
Experimental -
Advanced 3145+
Standard -
Tech Rating: F/X-X-X-E
Weight: 50 tons
BV: 1,071
Cost: 5,918,750 C-bills
Movement: 5/8(10) (Tracked)
Engine: 250
Internal: 25
Armor: 208 (Heavy Ferro-Fibrous)
Internal Armor
---------------------------
Front 5 50
Right 5 42
Left 5 42
Rear 5 32
Turret 5 42
Weapons Loc Heat
--------------------------------------
Large Re-engineered Laser TU 9
Equipment Loc
------------------------------
Targeting Computer [IS] BD
Supercharger BD
