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HTMLized by Gustav Dahlström
An increasing number of vehicles are built out of special carbon/light metal
composites, cutting the weight of the frame but increasing the fragility of the
vehicle - while the composite members have great load-bearing strength they lack
the tensile strength to resist sudden impact. Although these frames and ram
plates aren't incompatible the combination is not recommended.
Steering and Handling - Today all four- and six-wheeled vehicles use a principle applied to armored cars for almost a century: Independent multi-wheeled steering. The wheels are controlled to work in concert with each other - when the front wheels are turned to the right, for instance, the rear wheels turn to the left. The maneuverability of this system allows vehicles to turn inside their own length, make extremely sharp turns and even pivot on one of their corners. Hardware upgrades may be added to the computer-controlled independent suspension to increase the level of control. The stateof-the art vehicle rarely deviates from the level attitude unless it's turning so hard that the tires on one side come off of the ground - 75 to 90 degree turns.
These steering systems are even capable of keeping the vehicle upright when the tires off one corner are lost, a remarkable achievement of balance. There is one drawback to the multi-wheel steering: Due to the pressure and angle applied to the front tires during steep maneuvers - the opposite front wheel is placed under the greatest stress of any tire during a sharp turn - they must be allowed freer angles of traverse. These angles are restricted by armored guards protecting the wheels, diminishing the handling ability. Rear wheels, relatively safe from such requirements, can have armored guards flared out over them like fenders.
Armor - Armor is applied in layered sheets attached or epoxied to the body of the vehicle. In the beginning armored cars incorporated armor as part of the frame; this was an over-expensive and time consuming process. Modern vehicles usually epoxy the armor directly onto the body, allowing for quick repair as well as savings of weight and cost.
Normally armor is a composite of Kevlar and rigid plastics, held together with a wire weave cast into the plastic. The combination is lightweight, strong, easily repaired and can be molded in many colors and into an infinite variety of shapes. It is even made into body armor, one of the first applications of the material.
Metal armor is a holdover from the 20th century that is experiencing a resurgence when combined with plastic armor. Once the metal armor was the body of the vehicle; now it is welded and bolted onto the body. Frequently metal-armored vehicles have a bloated look to them due to the spacing of the armor plates. Typical metal armor is composed of a steel alloy applied in double layered plates and conforming sections. There is a small space between the plates - anywhere from 2-lOmm - in order to more effectively deal with the Monroe-Effect HEAT warheads used by most explosive weapons. When the metal is laid atop plastic armor the plates are secured to the body via long bolts, resulting in the "ironclad" appearance often attributed to metal-armored vehicles.
Laser-resistant armor has long been a reality with large armored vehicles such as tanks and APCs, through the use of plastic-cermet armor, a combination alloy of metal and ceramics that act like plastics. The ceramics in the composite allow for greater tensile strength and heat-dispersal, rendering weapon lasers practically useless. (the explains the military reliance on projectile weaponry - lasers are used for targeting and "soft" targets, nothing more.) Due to the expense and rarity of this armor, vehicles must be content with ceramic chips embedded in the armor, thus reducing the power of the laser hit. "laser-reflective" metal armor sports a pattern of these chips - colored and polished to look like the base armor - to achieve the same effect.
The power plant is usually the simplest component of a vehicle. The power plant produces electricity chemically, using liquid oxygen and hydrogen fuel cells and heavy banks of capacitors for power storage. Only a small part of the vehicle's power is provided by the fuel cells, however; most of it comes from the power plant's flywheels.
The average cycle has one flywheel; cars have two to four; helicopters and oversized vehicles may have as many as eight. The average flywheel is 12" in diameter, sealed in a vacuum chamber and attached directly to a matching generator. When a car is started, the plant's capacitors are discharged to bring the flywheels up to maximum rotation (about 30,000 rpm) in roughly three seconds. The flywheels provide direct power for the generator, which powers the vehicle's motors and electronics and direct excess power back into the plant's capacitors. The power-regulating computers strive to keep the flywheels at a constant speed, draining power from the fuel cells and capacitors when high amounts of power are needed to exceed the plant's safe operating speeds or to fire lasers. Wheeled vehicles occasionally carry extra flywheels ("overdrive") for efficiency. Wheeled vehicles also have fully-regenerative braking systems.
Modern internal combustion engines are high-performance aluminum and ceramic thoroughbreds, using technology previously limited to expensive racers and exotic sports cars. Most gas engines are designed to drive the generator directly, bypassing the need for a transmission and drivetrain. Gas-powered vehicles utilize a single undersized flywheel to provide power for electrical systems alone most of the generated power is sent directly to the wheel/rotor/prop motors, allowing for high acceleration and little else. To power high-energy equipment (radar, lasers, etc.), an extra bank of capacitors (a laser battery) is required.
Oversized vehicles and cars designed for towing large loads will often have an extra-large generator/flywheel setup coupled to efficient, low-power/high-torque wheel motors.
Dashboard Controls - This category includes all hardware controls and indicators, including the wheel and the "dashboard" surrounding the driver. Gunner controls are similar except that the gunner has a stick rather than a wheel.
The steering wheel is a twin-grip wheel similar to the old airplane "yoke." Steering is accomplished normally with the wheel; the major differences from old wheels are the buttons decorating it. These buttons are switches for the activation of weapons and auxiliary systems. To activate a weapon or system the correct button is pushed.
The "dashboard" contains all indicators and switches not essential to combat. Indicators are provided for speed, power/gas gauge, damage lights, headlights, radio, weapons status, etc.
Heads-Up Display (HUD) Controls - Multi-stage visual view projected onto visors and windscreens. The most commonly used are the projections of rear-view cameras, replacing rear-view mirrors but in the same traditional rear-view location. In combat other HUDs come into play.
Activating combat mode brings up the Combat View, a panoramic 360 degree projection at the top of the front windshield showing all terrain and vehicles. Those areas considered to be a threat (other vehicles, computer-identified armed pedestrians, etc.) are highlighted in red on the projection, allowing for easy identification and aiming. This view is highly compressed and distorted in order to get all angles into the projection and is useless for maneuvering and driving the vehicle - this is why most vehicles still retain clear windscreens, since such screens can be made of armor material.
The final stage of the HUD controls is projected onto the inside of the faceplate of the driver or gunner. This HUD is minimal, containing a vehicle speed readout, a G-stress readout (indicating imminent loss of control at high levels) and weapon selector boxes. The center of the HUD is kept clear for navigation on the driver's helmet; the gunner's HUD center is used for targeting.
Driving the car is simple and straightforward. The car accelerates as the accelerator pedal is depressed and decelerates as the brake pedal is depressed. Steering follows the turn of the wheel - the wheel is not capable of being turned over 90 degrees and response to a slight turn is exaggerated.
Firing weapons is a different matter. Combat is fought at such speeds that fast reaction times are required for firing; there's no time to leisurely line up one's sights on the target. Combat becomes a four-step process: The choice of weapon is made by making eye contact" with the proper weapons selector box, generally projected in the upper left-hand corner of the faceplate HUD. This takes less than 1/s second on the average; many expert duellists clock in at less than _o of a second when selecting weapons. The gaze is then directed to the panorama projection and a similar "eye contact" is made with the target of choice. A silhouette of the target is then projected on the faceplate HUD and two sets of crosshairs line up on the target's image. When these crosshairs meet the weapon has locked on to the target and the driver or gunner presses the button on the wheel/stick, firing the weapon. The system is extremely fast, allowing acquisition and firing within one second.
Improved targeting computers can be acquired to enhance response time and accuracy (one and the same at common engagement speeds). The most expensive of these is the Cyberlink, which is actually a sophisticated targeting computer mated with special traverse servos that speed up weapon tracking.
Motorcycles use similar targeting systems with the panorama view projected onto the windscreen. They also have the panorama projected on their helmet visors, enabling them to select and fire weapons while looking away from the windscreen.
The most impressive electronics systems on the average vehicle are the target-tracking and identification systems. Developed from Strategic Defense Initiative designs of the late '90s, the tracking computers of each weapon account for at least 40% of its market cost. These computers use simple visual sensors to scan the area around the vehicle. Anything that matches a mobile or threatening profile is listed as a target. Even target-heavy situations can be handled; the system can identify and track over 40 targets - more expensive and sophisticated systems can deal with greater numbers. Prospective targets are presented for the human operator to pick from.
In order to minimize operator work targets are prioritized: Firing targets receive first priority, moving targets second and non-moving or non-firing targets third. In addition, the operator can delete targets from the scan, using a process similar to weapon-firing selection and just as fast. These deleted targets are replaced on the projection as soon as they move or fire.
The human operator is a necessity, for the targeting system is not discriminatory. left on its own a targeting system will fire on anything matching threat parameters - a close pedestrian moving towards the vehicle receives higher priority than a stationary one farther away pointing a bazooka at the vehicle! This is why ATADs fire at the first target to come within range, without determining the target's actual threat. Detailed threat-level computations require much more sophisticated programs.
Many additions are made for targeting systems, ranging from computer upgrades and replacements through augmented visual systems such as infra-red and radar to the epitome of currently available targeting technology, the Computer Gunner. And even the Computer Gunner lacks discrimination; it must be told what targets to shoot at.
The ultimate targeting systems still orbit the planet in the S.D.l. ASATs, guarding the world from strategic nuclear weapons. These near-Al machines can track and destroy over one million targets in one minute, targeting anything that bears the characteristics of a strategic missile. The system is not perfect, though, requiring human supervision. Every day SDICMD receives at least a hundred target clarification requests from the system as aerial vehicles with suspicious silhouettes come under the scrutiny of the lasers, masers and mass-drivers hovering in orbit. This points out the limitation of Al in current tracking systems: The SDI ASATs are capable of generalizing and tend to over-generalize.
The weapon itself is only a small part of the hardware mounted in vehicles. Over 50% of the mass of a mounted weapon is traverse, loading and cooling gear. Mounted weapons must be capable of switching their attitude and direction in fractions of a second to track their targets. In order to achieve this feat barrel lengths were dropped to mere millimeters beyond the firing chamber, allowing the weapon to pivot on its center of mass. The penalty for this near-instantaneous reaction time is poor muzzle velocity and corresponding low accuracy over range. larger vehicles such as military APCs and tanks haul long-barreled guns capable of hitting targets at over three miles away. This range is counterbalanced by the poor response and traverse time it takes time to swing the barrel mass around.
Cooling and loading mechanisms are also important pieces of weapons hardware, preventing the weapons from overheating themselves and surrounding machinery and reloading them automatically - the reloading equipment accounts for 33% of the weight of ATGs, TGs and BCs, moving massy shells into the gun at a rate of up to two per second.
Turrets are special additions to traverse machinery. The mass used by the turret installation is consumed by special rapid-traverse and counter-weight systems allowing weapons massing over 1/4 ton to be spun on their axes up to 180 degrees in a split-second. Counter-weights are necessary to neutralize the torque produced by the spin, otherwise the vehicle would be spun off course - particularly non-ground vehicles.
Machine Gun - A 5-6mm machine gun firing rifle charge rounds at a cyclic rate of about 1,200 rounds per minute. In use this figure is smaller, since the gun is not continually discharged. Most MGs use caseless-propellant rounds, although some use brass or plastic cased rounds. Cased-round MGs typically have a slower rate of fire, around 800 rpm.
Vulcan Machine Gun - A 5-6mm multi-barrel machine gun firing rounds identical to the MG but firing more of them. Typically VMGs have two to three barrels and fire at 2,000 rounds per minute, cyclic. VMGs always use caseless ammunition.
Autocannon - A 10-20mm cannon firing cased high-explosive rounds at a cyclic rate of 400-600 rounds per minute.
Recoilless Rifle - A 3Omm recoilless rifle, firing a 2-lb. high-explosive anti-tank fin-stabilized round in classic recoilless fashion. The muzzle velocity is low due to the lack of enough propellant to shoot the shell; the recoilless principle of 20% propellant to 80% backblast leaves the 21/2 lbs. of propellant too small for high-velocity. RR-armed cars can occasionally be identified by the "exhaust pipes" necessary for venting the backblast.
Anti-Tank Gun - A classic 3740mm projectile gun; the base design is over 120 years old. The ATG fires a 4-5 lb. cased high-explosive or fin-stabilized, discarding-sabot round at fair muzzle velocity.
Blast Cannon - A 6Omm recoilless rifle, twice the size of the standard RR. It has the same drawbacks and strengths as the RR.
Tank Gun - A short-barreled 75mm/3" cannon firing high-explosive or fin-stabilized discarding-sabot rounds. (Unscrupulous advertisers have billed it as a 105mm gun in the past. This is a falsehood.) The base design of this cannon dates back 150 years.
Gauss Gun - A mass driver firing small streamlined needles at high muzzle velocity and approximately 1,500 rpm. The needles are steel, carefully manufactured and machined to exacting tolerances. The low price of gauss gun ammo is maintained by the U.S. AeroSpace Force, which grows the ammo in zer0-gee on AS Force space stations and markets it planetside for a price which undercuts other manufacturers. The AS Force is the source for over 85% of gauss gun ammo.
Gauss guns have a silent operation and practically no signature (no flash, little sound). The needles in flight are not silent, making a distinct buzzing-ripping sound as they pass at supersonic speeds.
Grenade Launcher - An automated grenade launcher, firing 1_-lb. cased grenades with an auto-loading mechanism.
Flamethrowers - Little more than a pressurized fuel tank, a spark-point and an aimable nozzle, FTs and HDFTs are the ultimate in cheap weapons. They are limited by the range of the fuel projection and by their tendency to blow up if hit.
Rocket Weapons - High-explosive warheads riding quick-firing rocket motors. The only difference between weapons is size of rocket and warhead.
Rocket warheads tend to be burst-effect, high-explosive charges. Monroe Effect HEAT warheads can be fitted for additional armor-piercing ability at the expense of burst effect.
Rockets are shot from their tubes by engine ignition. launchers have the advantage of boosting their rockets out via magnetic or spring-loaded charge, improving accuracy.
Mini Rocket - A 20mm rocket.
Light Rocket - A 25mm rocket. This is also the size used by VLAWs.
Micro-missile Launcher - A ten-shot launcher for 25mm rockets.
Six-Shooter - A six-shot ripple-fire launcher using 25mm rockets.
Variable-Fire Rocket Pod - A 30-shot advanced ripple-fire launcher for 25mm rockets.
Medium Rocket - A 4Omm rocket. This is also the size used by LAWs.
Rocket Launcher - A ten-shot launcher for 4Omm rockets.
Heavy Rocket - A 67mm rocket. This is also the size used by bazookas.
Guided Missiles - These are weapons that use active guidance to their target rather than a simple ballistic path after aiming. The most commonly seen example is the laserguided missile, a rocket modified with maneuvering fins in the thrust venturi and a laser-seeker sensor on the nose. This missile follows a specific laser-paint bounce-back signal to its target and is very accurate.
The other guided missiles are different: The Wire-Guided Missiles are guided to the target, following it at the direction of a gunner. Radar-Guided Missiles follow the target directed by a radar unit inside the missile. Surface-to-air missiles track their targets with ultrasound. Once SAMs and air-to-air missiles were guided by heat-seeking sensors; the low heat signatures of present-day vehicles makes this impossible.
Wire-Guided Missile - A 67mm warhead mounted on a slow-burning rocket motor fitted with wings. The firer guides the missile's track via wires carrying guidance signals to the missile. All the firer has to do is track the target and the targeting computer aims the missile at the target. The drawback is that if the firer ever loses sight of the target the missile goes ballistic and crashes.
Radar-Guided Missile - A 67mm warhead mounted on a slow-burning rocket motor fitted with wings. The firer aims the missile at the target and locks the missile's radar onto it; the missile is fired and follows the target on its own. The drawbacks are a 120-yard minimum range and the ability of the target to jam the missile with EW or chaff. Faster wingless versions are available for air-to-air use.
Surface-to-Air Missile - An 8Omm warhead mounted on a fast-burning rocket motOr, guided by an ultrasonic projector/sensor which detects the disturbance in the air caused by aerial vehicles, particularly helicopters. Once within ten feet of the target the missile locks on with a direct sonar-bounce-back and impacts the target. Due to the high frequency of air disturbance close to the ground the SAM is virtually useless when fired at ground targets.
Lasers - Weapons of focussed light, lasers are the most high-tech weapon available to vehicles today. Derived from the SDI development experiments of the late 20th century, vehicle lasers are limited by the relatively small power outputs of vehicle engines and the short distances between their focussing lenses dictated by installation space. The total effect is a definite limitation on accuracy at range.
Most of a laser is power-transformation, focussing and cooling equipment. The actual "aperture" of the weapon is a small lens. Since this lens is all that has to be pointed, traverse mechanisms take up only a small proportion of the weapon. The most efficient type of weapon laser is the pulsed-beam, firing a series of pulses like a machine gun of light. Pure beam or pulse lasers waste much of their energy trying to cut through the gas vaporized off the target surface when the beam hits; the pulsed-beam allows the gas to thin before the next blast arrives. All weapon lasers use this principle; the only difference between lasers is size, power output and frequency (visible light, infra-red, x-ray). Only two lasers are different from the rest: The Targeting laser is a simple non-weapon beam laser and the Twin laser is a pair of pulse-beam weapons firing converging beams in unison. Pulse lasers pump more energy into the individual pulses and increase the interval between pulses, giving them a visible "strobe" effect.
Dropped Weapons and Streamers - Simple dispensers dropping or hurling a non-ballistic payload by gas pressure. The payload is the heavy and important part of the weapon; the launcher/dispenser is not. Payloads include paint or Oily lubricant (in bag or spray), caltrops, mines, endothermic ice-forming chemicals, flammable lubricants ignited by time-delay heat chemicals, smoke, flammable chemical clouds and explosives and even random junk.