SturmFeur

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SturmFeur Heavy Tank
Production information
Manufacturer	Trellshire Heavy Industries
Mission	Fire Support
Type	Tracked
Cost	2,395,288 C-bills
Technical specifications
Mass	85 Tons
Armor	ProtecTech 6
Engine	225 InterComBust I.C.E.
Speed	km/h
Crew	4
Armament	2 SturmFeur Long Range Missile Launchers 2 MiniGuns
BV (1.0)	N/A
BV (2.0)	N/A

Description

The SturmFeur is the largest missile-carrying tank available in the Inner Sphere. Mounting a huge number of long-range missile racks, this heavy tank is capable of disabling or destroying any known vehicle. The SturmFeur was commissioned by the LCAF, which wanted a vehicle that could support other units without having to worry about being attacked. They also wanted the tank to have indirect fire capability so that it could fire over obstacles such as hills or trees The first SturmFeur rolled off the assembly line in 3018. It boasted enough missiles to support almost any number of units within range and a new radar guidance system that guaranteed superior indirect fire capability.

Capabilities

The SturmFeur went through many design changes before the current model became standard. The problem with other designs was that some of the missiles would collide when all were fired at once. Some of the solutions tried were rotary missile packs and vertical launch-tubes, but these also suffered from the mid-air collision problem. The final solution was a combination of missile-fire strips and a new terminal guidance system. One missile rack was mounted facing up and slightly forward in the right and left rear top deck of the tank. The new guidance system launched the missiles straight up and then arced them toward their target. The other missile rack was mounted in the turret, firing on a much flatter arc. This guaranteed that there would be no missile collisions. Mounted coaxially to the turret missiles are a machine gun and the SturmFeur HighLight tracking module with BlindFire Radar targeting system. The HighLight keeps track of each missile rack's target, no matter where it is. The BlindFire Radar system can track over 200 targets simultaneously, and is one of the fastest and most advanced units available. The only complaint SturmFeur crews have is that the vehicle's interior provides the four-man crew with no room to move. Each control seat is mounted on a rack that slides out of the sides of the tank. Once seated, the crewman straps in and slides the chair back into the SturmFeur. This means that the crew cannot move inside the vehicle, though the chairs do swivel to allow access to all the controls of a particular station. Although the SturmFeur is a heavy tank, it has a remarkably low profile. The missiles are mounted inside the vehicle with only their exit ports visible. The engine, loading equipment, and ammunition is stored between the missiles. The turret is the only external piece of equipment visible on the SturmFeur's boxlike chassis.

Battle History

The SturmFeur is a very new vehicle and has not seen much combat. However, there are a few reports of engagements with these tanks against other vehicles invading Steiner space. The SturmFeur's first combat run occurred on Hesperus II, a Steiner planet that still possesses a working 'Mech production facility. The world is heavily guarded to prevent a full scale attack, but one Marik faction believed that a small group could slip past the heavy defenses, land near the production sites, and steal as many 'Mech parts they could carry. The plan was to jump into the Hesperus system at a nonstandard jump point. The jump point that they choose was on the orbital plane opposite from Hesperus II, with the sun between the ship and prying Steiner eyes. The DropShip would then power down and wait until the planet had swung around the sun. When operating on low power, the DropShip would be all but undetectable to the Steiner defenses. Once Hesperus swung into position, the DropShip would make a low-power entry into the upper atmosphere and then land with its small 'Mech raiding force on top of the production sites. The raiding force consisted of four recon 'Mechs, two medium 'Mechs, one heavy 'Mech, and a few armored transports. The attack went exactly as planned, except that the raiders found more Steiner DropShips around the planet than usual. In order to avoid detection by the Steiner ships, the DropShip was forced to land about 30 kilometers off-target. What the Raiders did not realize was that the large amount of DropShip activity around Hersperus was due to the arrival of a shipment of SturmFeurs to reinforce the defense garrison. Ten minutes after the pirate force had landed, the newly landed SturmFeur groups were on their way to their new garrison positions. Moving cautiously and slowly toward the 'Mech production site, the Raiders made their way through a mountain range. They went two at a time, which allowed the other 'Mechs to provide covering fire. Fifteen minutes after the first Marik 'Mech made it to the edge of the mountains, a group of six SturmFeurs in the other valley detected them on remote radar sensors. The commander of the unit sped out on a skimmer to find out what was going on. When he saw the column, he immediately called down fire from his entire unit. The force was sent running back to their DropShip minutes after the attack started.

Variants

The SturmFeur is so new and specialized that there are no variants available. It is rumored that some SturmFeurs have been given to House Davion for experimentation, but that several were "lost" along the way.

References

• Technical Readout: 3026 - Page 76-77
• Technical Readout: 3039 - Page