HMV-01 'Hellhound' Heavy Tank

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Nation of Origin: Interstellar Republic of Singapore

Designer: Norzan Vikson

Manufacturer: Harvmord Industry Complexes

Weight: 70 tons

Armor: Enhanced Gigamite Armor Plating coated with several Aegis Energy-repellent layers. An energy shielding system can provide additional defense when needed. Alternatively a Kinetic Repulsor Module can be activated to repel solid projectiles away.

Power Plant: 2 SNEC Mark 4 Tokamak Reactors. One powers the tank's systems and propulsion, while the other provides hydrogen fuel for the Fusion Cannon.

Engine: ETM-05 Electric Turbine Motors provides top speeds of 60 KM/H on roads and 40 KM/H on rough terrain.

Armament: 1 250mm Hydrogen Fusion Cannon, 1 Quadruple 40mm Flak Turret, 1 RFM-2 Missile Pods, 2 60mm Autocannons and 1 90mm Light Railgun.

Ammunition Capacity (in order of above): Technically Unlimited, a total of 2000 rounds, 60 missiles, 60 rounds per cannon and 40 rounds.

Crew Number: 8 (1 Driver-Main-Gunner, 1 Engineer, 1 Communications Officer, 1 Vehicle Commander, 1 Flak Turret Operator, 2 Autocannon Operators and 1 Railgun Operator)

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Background: Advancements in technology over the decades prompted the Military to seek for a new weapon of more destructive potential. The creation of the Hydrogen Fusion Weapon technology in 2099 by the Beta Divsion of TRD facilities soon attracted the attention of some of the most high-ranking commanders of Central Command. The new weapon technology, which was a new take on plasma weaponry, impressed many and the creation of a tank that would be armed with such device was a promising endeavor. The Beta Division personnel constructed the Fusion Cannon, while the contract to design and build the vehicle itself was given to Norzan Vikson and his team from Harvmord Industry Complexes. A year later a working prototype was successfully built and was combat-tested in Camp Orion on Earth. Approval for mass production was immediately sent out under the designation of HMV-01 'Hellhound' and was classified as a Heavy Tank. Secretly manufactured in underground facilities on a few planets, especially on Earth, the Hellhounds were rarely deployed to avoid capture by the enemy and instead many of them were on Earth, waiting for their time. The presence of many powerful empires, both potentially hostile and friendly, in the Ancerious Galactic prompted Central Command to add a secretive department to the existing IRS administration there. Consisting of the top scientists, engineers and black ops commandos; this new department was to supervise the maintenance of the new shipment of Hellhound tanks as well as constructing more of them.

Roles and Tactics: Like most heavy tanks of the past, the Hellhound was meant to wreck total destruction at the frontlines and eliminate as much enemy assets as they can so that the main attacking force can proceed without much casualties. Hellhound tanks are often utilized to destroy enemy armored vehicles and crush through their defensive emplacements with their large array of armaments. They can also provide artillery support, taking out potential threats from afar. Like most tanks in the Singaporean arsenal, they are either organized in squads for a full-fledged armored assault or individually attached to infantry groups or mechanized forces for a Joint Attack strategy.

Armament:

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Armed with a serious amount of firepower, the Hellhound tank is prepared to face the toughest of enemies.

1) Hydrogen Fusion Cannon: This weapon was created by the Beta Division, who were the Autarch's science division that oversaw the development of the most advanced technologies. A new take on the plasma technology; the Fusion Cannon works by first obtaining a small amount of Hydrogen fuel and then launching it out via railguns, which at the same time also encases it within a bubble of stasis field to delay the fusion process of Hydrogen atoms. Once the shot hits its target, the stasis field ruptures and the fusion process resumes immediately, causing a nuclear reaction that devastates the target area or object completely. The amount of damage done can be adjusted by determining the amount of Hydrogen fuel used for the process. A small amount would result in a small nuclear explosion capable of annihilating tanks and whole buildings , while using the maximum amount of the fuel in the Tokamak reactor can ultimately destroy entire cities. 

2) Quad 40mm Flak Turret: Functions as the Hellhounds Anti-aircraft and anti-infantry complement as well as a missile defense system. The fast firing rate combined with the powerful 40mm APCR (Armor Piercing Cluster Rounds) devastates low-flying aircraft, infantry and lightly armored vehicles alike. The targeting computer, in addition to tracking enemy targets, can also detonate the rounds in mid-air to create a cloud of shrapnel that effectively destroys incoming missiles and damage anything that passes through it. This feature is also very useful in urban environments as it can be used to take out a large number of infantry in the streets or in structures. 

3) RFM-2 Missile Pods: A long-range missile artillery complement in addition to the Hellhound's direct-fire weapons. Though usually used against armored terrestrial targets, the RFM-2's versatile targeting system enables the crew to engage airborne targets effectively. Each missile comes equipped with standard HE munitions and a single one can heavily damage a medium-armored tank easily. The large amount of missiles available allows for a longer period of usage in precision mode, or used to saturate an entire area with firepower in order to cause widespread destruction and psychological trauma.

4) 60mm Autocannon: Mounted on each side of the tank, the 60mm Autocannon provides additional direct-firepower as well as a way to engage enemies at the flanks. Though not very powerful against most heavily-armored targets, it does provide a less power consuming edge against lightly armored vehicles and defensive emplacements. 

5) 90mm Light Railgun: Placed on the front of the chassis, this railgun provides additional frontal firepower. Though it is almost useless against moving targets as the gun cannot turn, it does provide an edge in siege warfare by helping a hand in destroying defensive emplacements and structures in front of the tank. The railgun also can destroy walls and other kinds of barriers. It shoots standard 90mm APHER (Armor-Piercing High-Explosive Rounds) but can be armed by other types of munitions as well.

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Armor: Constructed out of Gigamite, the armor plating can effectively shrug off small arms, explosive projectiles and missiles fire and the high melting point allows the metal to withstand lasers, plasma, microwave emitters and even anti-matter for a decent amount of time. Aegis Energy Repellent layers are electro-plated on the Gigamite to prevent such attacks from melting through the armor and can disperse these energies away easily. Additional armor packages may be mounted on the tank such as additional composites, conventional ERA and advanced Smart Armor or Repulsor Variant modules. The tank has an onboard Shielding system that produces a layer of energy around the tank to provide additional protection against projectiles and energy-based attacks.

Mobility: Though much slower than other tanks in the IRS arsenal, it still does have decent speed and can traverse harsh terrain easily as well as obstacles such as rubble with the installation of the Individual Wheel Suspension systems and shock absorbers.

Power Plant and Engine: A SNEC Mark 4 Tokamak power the tank through the nuclear fusion of pairs of Hydrogen atoms, producing a large amount of thermal energy that is then converted in kinetic energy of the dynamo, resulting in electricity which will then power the tank's systems and engine. When the Hydrogen fuel is finished, special air filters will then replenish the Tokamak with a new source of Hydrogen gas. This means the Hellhound can virtually operate atmospheric environments for forever, making refueling theoretically unnecessary. The Hellhound has a ETM-05 Electric Turbine Motor that moves the vehicles around, and it is widely respected as a reliable piece of engineering by both the vehicle crew and the maintenance personnel.

Sensory Equipment: The Hellhound houses some of the IRS's most advanced electronics and communication systems in order to properly wreck havoc for the convenience of the strike force. They need to be well-informed and updated on what's going on so that the IRS forces can achieve a swift victory over the enemy with minimal casualties. The tank has access to a constantly updating database to receive and broadcast vital information such as location of allied and enemy units, terrain and weather detail and mission objectives all present in a single virtual map. This allows it to coordinate and time attacks with other units so that the IRS can win the day quickly and without much casualties. The high band frequency antennas of the tank enables it to receive orders clearly from their commanders and this also allows the crew to respond to their allies' pleas of help immediately. With this fine example of telecommunication progress, the crew can also download and upload video and image feeds from the Integrated Intelligence Network (IIN) as well as from other sources. The Hellhound comes with two Artificial Intelligence programs, the General Military A.I (GM AI) and the Cyber Defence AI (CD AI). The first one basically oversees the smooth operation of the tank and can process and organize data from the IIN efficiently and then display them on screen for the crew to see and access. The GM AI also assists the crew in target acquisition and can automatically calculate and correct firing solutions, sparing the tank crew from such tedious processes. It can also take control of the weapons with the crew's instructions, automatically aiming the cannon, the 40mm Flak Turret or the RFM-2 Missile Pod according to its firing solutions and ensuring a near hundred percent accurate hit on target. While then the CD AI devotes its entire processing power in securing the tank's databases and communications from unauthorized access. It can also do the opposite to enemy units, hacking its databases and installing computer viruses to render their electronic advantages useless.