Pangolin UCV
Mass: 10 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Motive Type: Wheeled
Rules Level: Advanced Rules
Era: Age of War/Star League
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/E-F-D-A
Production Year: 2764
Cost: 221,375 C-Bills
Battle Value: 172
Power Plant: Pitban 20 Fusion Engine
Cruise Speed: 43.2 km/h
Flanking Speed: 64.8 km/h
Armor: Mercury Weave Ferro-Fibrous
Armament:
2 Flame Tech K-135 Vehicle Flamers
1 McArthur Anti-Missile System
1 Infantry Bay (1.0 tons)
Manufacturer: Buhallin Military Products
Primary Factory: Dieron
Communications System: SP/2 HAYOT
Targeting and Tracking System: Baltex K580
Overview:
The Pangolin Urban Combat vehicle was a specialized armored personnel carrier
manufactured for the Star League by Buhallin Military Products of Dieron. It
was a response to a request by the SLDF for a vehicle that would allow a squad
of infantry to operate in an urban environment in relative safety.
From the start Richard Cameron's ascension to First Lord brought problems with
it. His attempted issuance of Executive Order 156 and subsequent dissolution of
the High Council strained and nearly broke relations with the Great Houses of
the Inner Sphere. His relationship with Stefan Amaris caused many to distrust
him and ultimately would lead to his downfall. Lastly, the Taxation Edict of
2763 would bring tensions with the Periphery states to the boiling point.
The SLDF at the time was run by officers who saw that rough times were coming.
These various stresses meant that a larger enforcement role would likely be
necessary. They needed to make preparations for such conflicts.
While their battlemech technology was quite advanced compared to that of other
realms, infantry technology had remained much the same inside the SLDF as it
had been outside. While the SLDF had invested into some advanced technologies
to fight in urban warfare they were largely devoted to urban assault. They had
very few assets that could be used for pacification and enforcement.
The SLDF had used tracked and wheeled APCs similar to those of the other
nations in those roles. Following the response to the Taxation Edict the
decided to leverage their technology advantage to give their infantrymen an
advantage.
Few Pangolins were ever built. They had yet to gain formal acceptance as a
standard issue vehicle before the outbreak of the Amaris Civil War. Following
the destruction of BMP's facilities on Dieron during the 4th Succession War
they were thought to be lost to the galaxy for good.
Capabilities:
Buhallin Military Products responded to the request with a vehicle that used advanced
armor technologies and active defense to give the SLDF infantrymen an edge.
Their design would mass the same as the standard wheeled APC that the SLDF had
been using as a squad-level transport for some time.
The SLDF required that the new design be capable of supporting the same 7-man
squad as their existing platform. BMP was able to accommodate this requirement
with ease. They were even able to retain a very similar seating arrangement to
vehicle already in use.
The Pangolin would be considerably slower than the standard issue wheeled APC
in use by the SLDF. It was slightly better armored, making use of advanced
Mercury Weave Ferro-Fibrous armor. BMP had experience with this armor already
due to its use on the Turhan Urban Assault vehicle, and both they and the SLDF
were comfortable with its use.
The power plant would be a 20-rated fusion engine, one of the smallest in use in
a combat vehicle. This tiny but mighty power plant would allow the Pangolin to
carry a turret armored and capable of 360 degrees of rotation.
The equipment this turret carried was of particular importance, While machine
guns were the traditional infantry support weapons used by the SLDF, BMP pointed
out that a paired set of vehicle flamers would allow the Pangolin to be far
more useful in a crowd suppression role. They would be fed by a quick-detach
reserve tank that could be filled with incendiary fuel, riot control foam, or
simply water.
The most advanced piece of technology on the Pangolin also resided in the
turret. A McArthur anti-missile system protected the vehicle from
shoulder-fired SRMs. These missiles were very popular tools for terrorist and
rebel organizations to use against SLDF armored vehicles. It was hoped that the
AMS's inclusion would give an SLDF infantry squad an edge in the event of a
full-scale uprising against the lawful authority of the SLDF.
Battle History:
Few Pangolins were produced before the Amaris Civil War. Those that did enter
service were largely similar to the pre-production candidates.
Overall, the Pangolin proved to be quite popular with the infantry forces of
the SDLF. They provided superior protection to the standard SLDF armored
personnel carrier. While slower overland, the close-in nature of urban combat
mitigated their lack of speed.
Their service time was not without incident. The anti-missile system was loved by the
Pangolin's crews, but it was never intended for use on a ground vehicle. By
default the McArthur AMS would detect incoming projectiles as threats at far
lower velocities than it should have. This would sometimes lead to an
un-calibrated system responding to false positives. This could have disastrous
consequences.
In one incident on Alpheratz during the Amaris civil war a relatively peaceful
protest was showered with fire when a Pangolin's AMS interpreted a firework
fired over the vehicle by a protestor as an incoming missile. Dozens of
protestors were killed or injured in the incident.
Deployment:
An initial production run of Pangolins was done in 2764. These were put through SLDF
trials and were granted the status of pre-production vehicle later that year.
Several of them were sent with Alexander Kerensky during his ill-fated trip to
the periphery following the New Vandenberg proclamation of 2765.
It was unknown what happened to those vehicles until 3060, when a small Outpost
Castle Brian was located underneath an industrial park in New Vandenburg City.
This particular Castle had been a repository for equipment intended to help
re-pacify the planet following a successful negotiation between Kerensky and
the Planetary militia. The widespread uprising that followed the failure of
those negotiations quickly cut the SLDF off from the castle and it was not
discovered before new construction caused it to be partially excavated.
Small numbers of Pangolins were constructed by BMP and provided to the SLDF.
The invasions of Operation CHIEFTAIN meant that BMP's more popular product, the
Turhan, was their production priority. Only a few hundred Pangolins were
produced before the plant's destruction in the early stages of the 1st
Succession War.
Variants:
The simplified version of the Pangolin produced by the Concordat uses a simpler
armor compound. Overall it provides less protection than the original SLDF
version, but allows it to be produced on a more limited technology base.
The Concordat was not capable of constructing the advanced anti-missile system
mounted in the turret. In most cases a unit purchased from Kali Yama in the
Free Worlds League is substituted instead.
Following the outbreak of the Jihad the Concordat found itself unable to source
the AMS from Kali Yama. Until a replacement provider could be found several
Pangolins were built that replaced their AMS with a trio of Vehicular Grenade
Launchers. Taurian doctrine for these vehicles equipped two of these with smoke
grenades, and one with a fragmentation grenade in case of close- assault.
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard 5 points 1.00
Engine: Fusion Engine 20 1.00
Cruise MP: 4
Flank MP: 6
Heat Sinks: Single Heat Sink 10 0.00
Control Equipment: 0.50
Lift Equipment: 0.00
Turret: 0.50
Armor: Ferro-Fibrous AV - 44 2.50
Armor
Factor
Front 12
Left/Right 8/8
Turret 9
Rear 7
================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Spaces Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anti-Missile System T 1 1 0.50
2 Vehicle Flamers T 6 2 1.00
Infantry Bay (1.0 tons) BD 0 1 1.00
@Anti-Missile System (12) 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: 1 Points: 2
4w 1 0 0 0 1 0 Structure: 1
Special Abilities: AMS, ENE, TUR(1/0/0)
