Skagkatt Assault Tank SAT-000
Mass: 95 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Motive Type: Tracked
Rules Level: Tournament Legal
Era: Age of War/Star League
Tech Rating/Era Availability: D/C-D-C-A
Production Year: 3037
Cost: 2,534,513 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,074
Power Plant: Pitban 285 I.C.E.
Cruise Speed: 32.4 km/h
Flanking Speed: 54.0 km/h
Armor: AmberStar Slab Standard Armor
Armament:
2 Coventry Star Fire LRM-15s
1 Defiance B3L Large Laser
2 TharHes 4 Pack SRM-4s
1 Vehicle Flamer
Manufacturer: Odin Manufacturing
Primary Factory: Orestes
Communications System: COMTEC 302
Targeting and Tracking System: TargeTracker Elite
Overview:
The Skagkatt was an attempt by Odin Industries to pull off a miracle twice. Odin Industries was one of the Free Rasalhague Republic's largest producers of military materials. They provided both mechs and tanks to a Republic government that needed as much firepower as possible as quickly as possible to guarantee the independence of their new realm.
When the FRR declared its independence from the Draconis Combine in 3036, Odin had been responsible for taking tooling and technical support from the Lyran Commonwealth and adapting the Rommel heavy tank into something that could be domestically produced. The resulting vehicle, the Axel, proved to be a good fit with the FRR's needs. It provided the punch and armor of a heavy mech at a fraction of the cost.
In 3037 they tried to do it again. During the days of the Star League, Odin had been responsible for the manufacture of the Puma Assault Tank. That tank had almost single-handedly put the tank as a concept back on the map after being nearly wiped out by the phenomenon that was the Battlemech.
It became the mainstay of SLDF Armored Divisions, and allowed the Star League the power of an assault platform at a lower cost and a higher production rate than was possible with a battlemech. Though it would never be as tough as an assault mech, it game SLDF commanders a valuable option when such a mech simply was not available.
With the Skagkatt Odin hoped to do something similar. Though capable of producing battlemechs, Odin's primary factories on Orestes were at the time only capable of mech construction in the light and medium tonnage ranges. The Puma would be a perfect solution to the FRR's firepower problem
Capabilities:
The biggest problem with resuming production of the Puma was the engine. The massive Pitban 285 fusion engine that powered the Puma was not available to the nascent Republic. Engineers instead were able to source a domestic diesel turbine engine to power the tank.
This of course had some drawbacks. For one, the fusion engine was capable of providing a level of power that the internal combustion design was simply not capable of without the use of power amplifiers. Second, the integral heat dissipation properties of the original power plant were one of the things that allowed it to cope with the huge amount of heat generated by the main gun. Lastly, the diesel turbine was simply much heavier than the original power plant, and so changes would have to be made.
Some changes were easy to make. The centerpiece of the Puma had been its massive Donal PPC. That weapon was no longer an option for the Republic, who had lost access to particle cannons manufactured in the Draconis Combine. Though they tried, they were unable to source the weapon from other producers at a price they were willing to pay.
So, the main weapon was changed out for a Defiance B3L heavy laser. This weapon was inferior to the original in every way except for the ones that mattered. It did less damage and had less range. However, it was lighter, generated less heat, and was much easier to source.
Other changes were less obvious. The lack of the integral cooling of the fusion engine meant that the twin medium lasers and the small laser were removed altogether. To compensate, a second quad-tube SRM rack was installed to retain some of the shor0ranged punch. Engineers felt that the original Puma's magazine was sufficient to supply both weapons, so a twin-feed system was adapted so they could share ammunition storage.
The flamer was retained, though it was changed to one with a fuel reservoir rather than using plasma from the fusion bottle. It was also moved to be co-axial to the laser in the turret so as to give it a greater field of fire. Both long-ranged missile racks were downgraded to 15-tubes, fed with three tons of ammunition between them. They were also re-positioned so that both could be brought to bear on a single target at once.
Lastly, the armor was vastly reduced. The larger and less powerful engine meant that a full two tons had to be removed from the design in order for it to retain cross-country mobility. This last change was particularly controversial, as the original Puma's armor was considered to be a bit light during the days of the Star League.
Battle History:
The Skagkatt was never produced in large numbers. It was a crash project designed for wars that never really came. It mostly found itself pushed to the Coreward parts of the Republic, were it was largely used to stave off pirate raids.
At that it was actually quite good. It had enough durability to stand toe to toe with most of the obsolete and poorly maintained mechs that Pirates were likely to posses. It had the range to threaten them at significant distances and enough armor to get close enough to bring its shorter ranged weaponry into play.
Almost all Skagkatts were lost during the invasion of the Clan because they were so popular along the periphery border. While more than a match for run of the mill pirates, they had the bad luck to be powerful enough to be a priority target for a Clan invasion force. They lacked either the speed to run away, or enough armor to stand up to powerful Clan weaponry.
Only a few known Skagkatts remain. Two remain in the service of mercenaries, who were able to purchase several that were surplussed by the Republic shortly before the arrival of the Clans. One example remains in a museum commemorating the Battle of Tukayyid, as it was in use there by the local planetary militia.
One more is said to be in storage at Odin's plant on Orestes. It is unknown if this example survives, or has been scrapped by the Ghost Beat Astech team that helped upgrade the facility to serve the Ghost Bear Dominion. The Dominion itself shows no interest in the tank, and little enough in its Star League predecessor.
Deployment:
Ultimately the Skagkatt would see little service. Warming relations with the Combine, and good relations with the newly formed Federated Commonwealth gave the Kungsarmee the breathing room required to build its army to necessary levels without the need to deal with constant external threats. Good relations with ComStar gave the Republic access to contracts with Terran firms that buoyed their manufacturing. Odin moved on to other projects after only a few years.
Following the arrival of the Clans, the Skagkatt would be replaced by the tank it had attempted to emulate. Odin re-started production of the Puma with ComStar's assistance and would continue to produce that tank until the consolidation of the Republic into the Ghost Bear Dominion.
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard 50 points 9.50
Engine: I.C.E. Engine 285 33.00
Cruise MP: 3
Flank MP: 5
Heat Sinks: Single Heat Sink 8 8.00
Control Equipment: 5.00
Lift Equipment: 0.00
Power Amplifiers: 0.50
Turret: 1.00
Armor: Standard Armor AV - 152 9.50
Armor
Factor
Front 37
Left/Right 30/30
Turret 30
Rear 25
================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Spaces Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 LRM-15s FR 10 2 14.00
2 SRM-4s FR 6 2 4.00
Large Laser T 8 1 5.00
Vehicle Flamer T 3 1 0.50
@LRM-15 (24) BD - 0 3.00
@SRM-4 (25) BD - 0 1.00
@Vehicle Flamer (20) BD - 0 1.00
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 5 Points: 11
3t 4 4 2 0 4 0 Structure: 5
Special Abilities: EE, TUR(1/1/0), SRM 1/1/0, LRM 1/2/2, IF 2
