Kookaburra Support GEV
Mass: 45 tons
Movement Type: Wing in Ground Effect
Power Plant: Fuel Cell
Cruising Speed: 64.8 kph
Maximum Speed: 97.2 kph
Armor: BAR 6
Armament:
1 Arrow IV
Manufacturer: Michaelson Heavy Industries
Primary Factory: June
Communication System: Unknown
Targeting & Tracking System: Unknown
Introduction Year: 3073
Tech Rating/Availability: E/X-X-E-D
Cost: 1,790,031 C-bills
Overview
The "Kookaburra" support vehicle is an ersatz modification made to the Michaelson Heavy Industries Mallard light cargo GEV. This modification was made by forces on Armington in 3073 to allow the Kookaburra to serve as a stand-off attack vehicle for use against pirate DropShips and ground force formations. Few were built, but they performed admirably during their short time of service to the Malagrotta Cooperative.
Following the departure of the Crucis March Militia from the then Malagrotta Combat Region, the newly founded Cooperative had a problem. They had very little in the way of domestic weapons production, and a need to fight off an increasingly threatening rash of pirate raids. Planetary militias often found it necessary to modify civilian vehicles for use in war. Perhaps the most successful of these modifications was performed by the Armington planetary militia. Armington was a planet with a large number of wide expanses of water. While this meant fewer places for an enemy DropShip to land, it also meant that providing reinforcing units to a facility under attack was particularly difficult. Ground-effect aircraft had become popular as a way to move goods on the surface of the planet, and so one of these vehicles would inevitably be chosen as the platform for a rapid-response unit.
Capabilities
The Kookaburra is a remarkably effective vehicle, for all that it is simple. It uses as its base the Michaelson heavy Industries Mallard ground-effect vehicle. The mallard was well liked for its long range and cargo capacity.
The Kookaburra retains the long range, but trades the cargo capacity for a salvaged Arrow IV missile system recovered from what the Crucis March Militia left behind upon their departure. This gives it a hard hitting weapon with long range, allowing it to attack from well outside of the effective defensive envelope of most landed DropShips. To allow for the use of this massive weapon, basic targeting and tracking hardware was added, as well as facilities for the personnel required to service the weapon. As the Mallard's hull was not designed for the additional personnel, gunner spaces were quite cramped and personnel were selected in part for their diminutive stature.
Deployment
The local Armington militia had several Kookaburras built around the military doctrine of harassing pirate forces immediately upon landing. It was theorized that pirates would be less likely to attempt an extended engagement if the DropShip they required to leave the planet were to find themselves under threat within hours of landing. Accordingly it was planned that squadrons of Kookaburras would be stationed near as many strategically important sites as possible. As the Mallard was a well known and readily available platform, putting meaningful numbers into the field was largely delayed only by the refurbishment of Arrow IV launch systems and training in their use.
History
The doctrine of accelerated confrontation nearly worked. Work began of Kookaburras approximately six months after the Malagrotta Cooperative's Declaration of independence. Three were completed within the first year of independence, just in time for a raid by a pirate force based around a Leopard class DropShip. Armington militia forces were able to bombard the DropShip from beyond the pirate's effective range, using local security forces as spotters. This pirate force appeared to be unaffiliated with any of the larger groups in the area, and it lacked aerospace support. Accordingly they found themselves unable to threaten the Kookaburras harassing their landed DropShip and were forced to withdraw.
While initially this success seemed to prove the viability of the concept, the arrival of a well-equipped force of the Death's Consorts pirate band in 3075 showed its flaws. Against the well-equipped Consorts the Kookaburras proved to be extremely vulnerable to aerospace forces. Despite some early damage done to a Consort Union-class DropShip, the Armington lost two entire squadrons of Kookaburras to a single enemy Lucifer
Type: Kookaburra
Chassis Type: Wing in Ground Effect (Medium)
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Advanced)
Mass: 45 tons
Battle Value: 506
Equipment Mass (tons)
Chassis/Controls 13
Engine/Trans. Fuel Cell 9
Cruise MP: 6
Flank MP: 9
Heat Sinks: 0 0
Fuel: 4
Armor Factor (BAR 6): 26 1
Internal
Structure Armor
Value
Front 5 9
R/L Side 5/5 6/6
Rear 5 5
Weapons
and Ammo Location Critical Mass (tons)
Arrow IV Front 7 15
Arrow IV Thunder Ammo (5) Body 1 1
Arrow IV Ammo (5) Body 1 1
Cargo
None
Notes: Features Amphibious Chassis and Controls Modification, Communications Equipment (1 ton)(1 ton), Basic Fire Control(1 ton)
