Uniform Designation Protocols
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The Uniform Designation Protocols were a set of naming protocols for Clan manufactured military hardware.[1]
Contents
History[edit]
Serving from 2873 to 2891 and elected to try and stem the increasing tide of factionalism among the Clans, one of ilKhan Victoria Ward's most long lasting efforts was the Uniform Designation Protocols to unify the names given to vehicles and aerospace fighters newly manufactured by the Clans under commonly accepted themes.[1] The Protocol extended not just to new production but also existing hardware which was then renamed to match the required naming convention.[2] For some Clans this served as a means to refresh designs, for example Clan Smoke Jaguar who acquired the resources of Clan Mongoose following their Trial of Annihilation stridently refused to use equipment bearing the name of a defeated and thus unworthy Clan, the Protocol proving a useful means to excise such hardware of this "taint".[3]
Early Inner Sphere observers were unsure as to the reason for the common naming scheme, leading to assumptions that a single central authority built all Clan military hardware. It was only after the Great Refusal and Inner Sphere intelligence assets reaching the Clan Homeworlds was the truth discovered.[1]
Schema[edit]
Known elements of the Protocols include:
- Conventional vehicles: named after martial themed deities.[1]
- Conventional aerospace fighters: named after topics related to Alexander the Great.[1]
- OmniFighters: named after topics related to the Mongol Empire (particularly Genghis Khan).[1]
The Protocols apparently did not extend to similar equipment imported from the Inner Sphere via the Exodus and later via Operation REVIVAL; for such cases, the Clans generally used the same name for hardware of Inner Sphere manufacture as the Inner Sphere did. Also BattleMechs and OmniMechs are most notably excluded from the Protocol.