NationStates Jolt Archive


Hoth Manufacturing Releases HM90 Cerberus Main Battle Tank

The Hoth system
16-07-2005, 18:05
Hoth Manufacturing
Press Release
Hoth Manufacturing Headquarters, Apex, the Hoth system

Following the recent success of the Model G personal armor system, the Hoth Manufacturing system is beginning to expand its product line in a radical new direction with the development of a main battle tank. During initial research, the design crew aimed to create a craft that utilized new technologies to the maximum to create a truly formidable armored machine. The result was the HM90 Cerberus, and after extensive development and testing, it is now ready to be released onto the market.

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/9827/mbt19xc.png

The HM90 Cerberus carries a number of advances that make the HM90 one of the most innovative tanks ever produced. In addition, to nations that also utilize high-quality Hoth Manufacturing Model G Infantry Armor (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=431020), the HM90 Cerberus is even more useful, as it is designed to sync with the personal armor system provide additional benefits.

Though the tank’s armor arrives prepainted in beige desert camouflage, almost all parts of the tank are covered by a thin, transparent layer of OLED sheeting (shown as green in the above image). All over the body of the tank are placed 84 separate, independently powered OLED segments, designed to be easily replaced in the event of an attack that disables them. Camouflage textures can be uploaded to the tank’s central computer and then projected onto the external OLED sheets, providing adaptable camouflage. In addition, through a built-in media port soldiers or commanders can upload their own images, which the computer automatically turns into textures that can be used as camouflage. Furthermore, if your tank crew is equipped with Hoth Manufacturing’s Model G armor, they can connect the armorsuit to the tank and upload textures from their suit. Since the suit also includes a digital camera to turn environment images into camouflage, this allows soldiers to have their tank camouflage match their surroundings exactly and change it as the geography around them does.

The tank was also designed to be fully submerged underwater, and all parts are watertight to a depth of 21 feet. Built-in oxygen tanks can supply a five-man crew with enough air for about five hours.

The tank carries a unique armor system that uses both normal reactive armor and electric reactive armor to form a two-tiered defense system. Layered on top of the normal ceramic and metal composite armor are explosive charges, and layered on top of those are two electrically charged plates separated by a plastic insulation layer. When an explosive round hits the tank, two things happen. First, sensors detect the incoming round and activate the explosive charges. In the split second it takes to do that, the round impacts the armor, breaking through the first electrically charged section and the insulator, which touches the outer charged plate to the inner one. Immediately, a jolt of electricity runs through the round and damages it immensely, most often vaporizing the contents. Then, the explosive charge blasts outward, sending a blowback to the round that minimizes damage to the internal armor. This system ensures maximum protection for the crew inside.

However, the HM90 Cerberus goes further. With normal reactive armor, the system can be defeated by firing two rounds in succession- the first, though harmless to the crew, disables defenses while the second penetrates the armor. Hoth Manufacturing engineers have discovered a method to deal with this problem- directional charges. When, after disabling one round, the sensors detect another round incoming in succession, the system rotates all reactive charges in an area near the blast point towards the round’s trajectory and detonates them. Though because this is not a direct blast it is less effective than normal reactive armor, it can still significantly reduce projectile velocity and protect the crew inside from multiple rounds.

The Cerberus is outfitted with a 150mm main smoothbore cannon capable of firing a variety of ordnance, including HESH, HEAT, APDS, and ATGM rounds. Mounted on top of the tank are two main gun turrets, one facing forward and one rear. These include a built-in scope, but gunners wearing Model G armor can uplink their armor computer to the turret and have the scope appear in their HUD. In addition, on either side of the main turrets are two remote-controlled turrets, both designed to be operated simultaneously by a single soldier inside. Finally, the tank packs two grenade launchers, designed primarily for smoke grenades but also effective with other types.

All in all, the HM90 Cerberus is intended to be an all-in-one assault and defense vehicle and the backbone of the armor of any nation, whether aggressive or defensive.


Statistics:

Engine: 1500 hp
Weight: 74.5 tons
Length: 30 ft.
Width: 14.5 ft.
Height: 12 ft.
On-Road Maximum Speed: 40 mph
Off-Road Maximum Speed: 35 mph
Fording Depth: 21 ft.
Main Cannon: 150mm smoothbore gun
Other Weapons: 4x 7.62 mm machine guns (1 fore, 1 aft, 2 fore remote-controlled), 2x grenade launchers (smoke, tear gas, fragmentation)
Range: 420 km
Crew: 5

Pricing:

Single Tank: $14,500,000 USD
Includes: 1 HM90 Cerberus Main Battle Tank, 84 replacement OLED segments

((OOC: Please note that the image above was hand drawn by myself in MS Paint, a rather arduous task, and I would greatly appreciate if it was not reproduced, altered, or, most of all, used for a product image of another nation's tank.))
Joseph Seal
16-07-2005, 19:30
The nation of joseph Seal, impressed by your Model G Armor, would like to buy this tank.

50 Sets of 10,000. (575 billion)

Total: 575,000,000,000 USD

Money will be wired to you upon confirmation and receival of order. Thank you for making your fabulous weapons.

-Arfus Sealous: Emperor of Joseph Seal
The Hoth system
16-07-2005, 19:48
The Hoth Manufacturing Corporation has recieved and confirmed your order. The units requested are en route, however, due to the large amount and size of the shipment, it should take about 3 NS months to ship all of your order. The shipping process will be completed when we have confirmation of funds recieved. As always, we thank our allies and loyal customers at Joseph Seal for their purchase.

-Darryl Galvax, CEO
Joseph Seal
16-07-2005, 19:55
The nation of Joseph Seal would also like to once again purchase production rights for this tank. We are willing to pay just about any price, and if it exceeds our budget, we will pay the rest of the purchase through loans. We hope you will agree.
Space Union
16-07-2005, 20:17
If this is PMT: Very good design. Very sound.

If this is MT: I don't think you can get the holographic camoflage, as that is still years away. Currenlty hologram projectors need multiple lasers to create just a tiny picture. To camoflage something this big make this over 100 tons and huge!

Also the price is very, very, very low. It should at least be $12 million. $1 million tanks are not possible unless your corporation wishes to become bankrupt in the first 2 weeks of its life. You can't even get NS heavly armored cars that cheap.

Other than that, very good. :)
Joseph Seal
16-07-2005, 20:21
OOC: It's PMT, just like his Infantry Armor.
The Hoth system
16-07-2005, 20:38
If this is PMT: Very good design. Very sound.

If this is MT: I don't think you can get the holographic camoflage, as that is still years away. Currenlty hologram projectors need multiple lasers to create just a tiny picture. To camoflage something this big make this over 100 tons and huge!

Also the price is very, very, very low. It should at least be $12 million. $1 million tanks are not possible unless your corporation wishes to become bankrupt in the first 2 weeks of its life. You can't even get NS heavly armored cars that cheap.

Other than that, very good. :)

OOC: This is sort of early PMT, probably the technology level of 2010 or so.

About the image projection, it uses OLEDs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLED), or Organic Light-Emitting Diodes, a thin, flexible screen display material that shows an image similar to that of a television or computer screen, but much, much, much thinner. Although at present OLEDs are still a bit expensive to appeal to the mainstream market, they will eventually be used in large TVs, extremely small handheld devices, and even to turn t-shirts into mobile TV advertisements.

Regarding the price, you're right, it is pretty low. This is my first real foray into the world of armored vehicles, and I wasn't very familiar with pricing. I got this figure from looking at other threads around II, but in hindsight it is quite low. I'll adjust the figure to be a little more accurate.

Thank you for the compliments, as well. Like I said, this was my first stab at the world of tanks, and I'm grateful for your input.
Space Union
16-07-2005, 20:48
Okay, OLED now that makes sense. Yeah that is perfectly possible on an MT tech too. Glad to help, and my apologies, I thought it was MT ;)

By the way, great drawing :)
The Hoth system
17-07-2005, 00:00
Okay, OLED now that makes sense. Yeah that is perfectly possible on an MT tech too. Glad to help, and my apologies, I thought it was MT ;)

By the way, great drawing :)

OOC: Thanks. :D It could really be an MT or PMT vehicle, since all the technologies are availible in the modern age. However, both OLED technology and electric reactive armor are still generally in the protoype stage, at least compared to the scale of an MBT, and would be prohibitively expensive at current production levels. However- since this is NationStates and populations are so much more than modern Earth, it could be reasonably assumed that more widespread production would drive down prices.
The Silver Sky
17-07-2005, 00:05
OOC: One question, even with the OLED, wouldn't you still be able to see the shadow of the tank, and you'd see a sorta bubble where the tank is right?(since it's not perfect), and what happen if it gets dirty or gets damaged?
The Hoth system
17-07-2005, 00:44
OOC: One question, even with the OLED, wouldn't you still be able to see the shadow of the tank, and you'd see a sorta bubble where the tank is right?(since it's not perfect), and what happen if it gets dirty or gets damaged?

OOC: First of all, let me point out this is not Halo-style active camouflage, simply static camouflage that can be changed. Active camouflage would be useless on a tank, since its huge heat signature would give it away anyway. Also, the OLED segments are designed to be easily replaced and each tank comes with a replacement for each distinct segment.
Doomingsland
17-07-2005, 15:32
OOC:My only system that utilizes OLED optical camo costs somewhere in the area of 1.5 million USD, and its an INFANTRY suit. That OLED stuff really jacks up the price.
The Hoth system
17-07-2005, 16:38
OOC:My only system that utilizes OLED optical camo costs somewhere in the area of 1.5 million USD, and its an INFANTRY suit. That OLED stuff really jacks up the price.

OOC: First of all, this is designed to be a PMT model, in which OLED would be commonplace and thus cheaper. Second, due to the fact that it is now mass-produced by a number of nations in NS, including yours, which is not so in the real world, it can be assumed that prices would be far cheaper. And, I raised the price considerably. Also, I'm going to assume your infantry suit uses OLED active camouflage, which the tank does not.
The Celestial Swords
17-07-2005, 18:16
TCS would like to order 1000 Tanks.
The Hoth system
20-07-2005, 04:42
Celestial Swords, your order has been confirmed and will be delivered over a two-month period, pending the wiring of $14.5 billion USD.
The tokera
20-07-2005, 05:39
The Tokera would like to purchase 1000x HM90 Cerberus Main Battle Tank's for a total of $14,500,000,000

Great image , and I can see how hard it must have been to make the picture, Since I try to make pictures on MS paint but most of the time they dont turn out too good.
The Celestial Swords
20-07-2005, 05:46
Can we pay you over time?
The tokera
22-07-2005, 15:35
bump