Improvements? [Opens HM:A] Hmmm.... Well, for starters, we strip out the base chassis' five spare DHS, add in another two tons of fuel for 50% more legs, and layer on three more tons of armour for an 84/65/55 layout, which renders the spaceframe immune to Clan medium-laser TACs across the nose or wings. The result has thirty-nine tons of pod-space - let's see what we can do with that, shall we? }:)
This one doesn't have the same raw punch as the original, true, but it has a little more reach, the truly long-range weapons are heat-neutral, and when you get into the dogfight, all three pulsers can run simulatenously without any problems. }:)
Not an alpha-baby, by any stretch, but as long as you use the appropriate weapon for the range (PPC or Ultra-cannon, not both together) you'll stay in the green, and the Streak-to-MPL conversion? Well, as was noted during the Hydaspes column, MPLs are a match for (S)SRM-6s heat-wise, and have both the twin advantages of a -2 BTH bonus and generating their heat in a predictable fashion. Not a small concern, I should think.
This one suffers a little, unfortunately - losing the integral heat-sinks for armour bit deep into this one's spare room, so you lose a quarter of your ammunition and the MPL aft, but you keep heat-neutral on your forward alpha-strike and you can still snipe like the lamest of campers. :D
See? That's much better all around: the LRMs and ERLL are nastier on the approach run (at -6 heat); trading in the ERMLs for the LRMs and adding the Class-20 is heat-neutral at close quarters, and even if your ammo runs out, your energy weapons are sufficient to let you shoot your way out of the furball if need be.
Okay, you've lost the sheer smashing power of dual ATM-12 racks, but now you can actually use the one you have and you've got at least a token back-scratcher weapon for when the pests interceptors start getting too thick. And even a single rack's worth of HE-ATMs is going to do a pretty fair job of clearing out the other guy's sinuses for him. }:)
