Şoarece Superheavy MBT

Şoarece.jpg
Şoarece Superheavy MBT
Production information
Manufacturer Earthwerks-FWL Inc., Keystone
Production Year 2881[1]
Mission Main Battle Tank
Type Tracked
Technical specifications
Mass 175 tons
Armor standard armor
Engine fuel cell
Speed 33 km/h
Armament
BV (2.0) 2,285[2]


Description[edit]

The Şoarece was an experimental superheavy combat vehicle produced for the Free Worlds League in the early decades of the Third Succession War. The design was commissioned by then-Captain-General Philippa Marik in 2881. It was envisioned as a low-cost, highly survivable design that could engage BattleMechs and equip the League's depleted defensive formations . It would be over two decades (2904) until the final form of this design was settled, by which time it had become a mammoth of a tank.

The Şoarece was put into limited production at the Keystone factory, but barely a hundred units had been produced when the League captured Shiro III and with it Grumman Amalgamated's Ontos Heavy Tank production facility. With access to the Ontos, a smaller and ultimately superior combat vehicle, the demand for the slow and ponderous Şoarece fell off. Production ceased a few years later.[3]

Weapons and Equipment[edit]

Originally designed as a heavy-hitting armored vehicle, the Şoarece sports three classes of Autocannon for its principal firepower, all mounted in the turret. The Smoothie-2 Light Autocannon serves as anti-aircraft weapon, while other, larger Class 10 and 20 autocannons serve as the tank's offensive punch. All three cannons have generous amounts of ammunition, which allows the tank to stay active on the field in a prolonged fight. It also has a front-mounted machine gun to serve as its principal anti-infantry weapon.

For economic reasons, the tank's power plant is a 350-rated fuel cell engine, which propels the mammoth tank to a maximum of 30 km/h. The vehicle's hull is protected by 40.5 tons of standard armor.[3]

Variants[edit]

No proper variants of the Şoarece tank are known.

There was an early prototype of the Şoarece project called "Soarecar". Arguably an early predecessor rather than a variant, his mundane vehicle had very heavy armor but only a pair of Class 5 autocannons as its weapons. The Soarecar was judged underarmed by the LCCC, heralding a development cycle of two decades that ultimately resulted in the 175-ton Şoarece. ("Soarecar" was original project name before it was renamed to Şoarece—"mouse"—as a pun by the engineers).

Design Quirks[edit]

The Şoarece MBT features following Design Quirks:

It also features limited amphibious equipment.

Notes[edit]

  • The original Soarecar, named in honor of Helios' chariot, was reportedly renamed Şoarece ("mouse") as a pun by the Romanian-speaking engineers when repeated revisions of the design made it ever heavier. However, Romanian was described as a dead language as of 2988, lost to living tongues "less than a century after the accords established English as the Free Worlds League's official language".[4]
  • Around the end of World War II, Germany had famously developed a superheavy tank weighing 188 metric tons, which they dubbed "Maus" ("mouse").

References[edit]

  1. MUL online date for the Şoarece Superheavy MBT
  2. Soarece Superheavy MBT profile on Master Unit List website listing bv(2.0)
  3. 3.0 3.1 Experimental Technical Readout: Succession Wars, Volume 1, p. 14: Şoarece superheavy MBT
  4. House Marik (The Free Worlds League), "Dead Languages" box, p. 11 (PDF edition)

Bibliography[edit]