M-44 Hammerhead

The M-44 Hammerhead Hover Infantry Fighting Vehicle is a light hover tank produced by Hahne-Kedar Industries and was in service with the Human Systems Alliance since 2184. It was originally meant to replace the M-35 Mako as the primary combat vehicle of the Systems Alliance, but proved more effective working alongside the Mako in combat. Combining it's speed with the Mako's power.

Dimensions

The Hammerhead has a length of 8.7 meters, a hight of 2.7 meters and a width of 5.2 meters. With a weight of 9 metric tonnes.

Chassis

The Hammerhead utilises a heavily modified version of the Mako's chassis and as such, it maintains the shark design, as well the two side hatches and a troop compartment capable of carrying a driver, gunner and 6 passengers. The only major modification to the toop compartment is the notch built into the centre of the nose to improve the depression of the roof mounted main gun. This effectively separated the driver and gunner positions.

In place of the Mako's 6 independent wheels, the Hammerhead uses 3 solid fuel rocket thrusters. One at the rear, built into the hull, and another on each side at the front, extended outward on hydraulic controlled maneuvering pylons for steering. These thrusters allow 120 km/h of motion in any direction and allow the vehicle to perform a 360 degree rotation in 4 seconds. Backup microthrusters guarantee foll mobility, even if 2 of the 3 main thrusters have been rendered non-functonal. These thrusters also allow the Hammerhead to airdropped, like the Mako, but allow the Hammerhead more control over it's descent. The thrust output can also be temporarily boosted to allow the Hammerhead to leap off the ground and into the cargo hold of a low flying ship. This descent control and method of recovery allows the Hammerhead to be easily deployed to or retrieved from places that the Mako couldn't.

In addition to the main thrusters, the Hammerhead also has two rear mounted H2/O2 thrusters, allowing it to hover at a top speed of 180 km/h

Power

The M-44 Hammerhead is powered by a small Hydrogen/Oxygen fuel cell, consisting of two electrodes -- a negative electrode (or anode) and a positive electrode (or cathode) -- sandwiched around an electrolyte. Hydrogen is fed to the anode, and air is fed to the cathode. A catalyst at the anode separates hydrogen molecules into protons and electrons, which take different paths to the cathode. The electrons go through an external circuit, creating a flow of electricity. The protons migrate through the electrolyte to the cathode, where they unite with oxygen and the electrons.

This process is relatively clean with the only byproducts being heat, water and electricity.

The Hammerhead contains a small Element Zero drive core. The drive generates dark energy by running an electric current through the Element Zero at it's heart. This dark energy flows to the mass effect field generators which convert the raw energy into fields for practical use.

Due to it's hover design, most of the Hammerhead's drive core output is directed to it's mass lowering fields, leaving little to power it's shields.

Defences

The Hammerhead's electronic countermeasures extend to laser detection, chaff, active thermal masking, and ground-penetrating weapons-sniffing radar. all monitored and controlled on-board Virtual Intelligence.

The Hammerhead is protected by 360 degree kinetic barriers, consisting of repulsive mass effect fields projected by tiny emitters.

To be as light as possible, the Hammerhead has weak kinetic barriers and is only lightly armoured with Ceramic-12 composite armour plating. Though this is offset by an automated repair program and back up systems, the Hammerhead still relies primarily on speed as it's main defence.

Armament

In order to keep the Hammerhead stable, the turret of the Hammerhead is only capable of pivoting vertically. Horizontal targeting is done by rotating the whole vehicle.

As the Hammerhead has no traction to counter the recoil of a conventional mass accelerator, the main gun in question is a retractable, automatic firing, Inferno Precision Kill Rocket(PKR) Rocket launcer, firing 1.2 rockets per second.