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JU-363 Simurgh (2053)

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Description

“The Army’s procurement office actually passed this up?!”
“Yes sir, they said it was under armed, and uhhh…not what they wanted in a light tank.”
“Is that so, hmm the Guard will take the entire lot…”
“Eh sir are you sure? It’s not even armed with a legacy gun!”
“Hah…have you seen what our boys down in the Motor pool did for the geryons over the years? Give it to them and they’ll turn it into a tank that the army will regret passing on!”


-Colonel Hildebrand, SSC National guard, upon watching a demonstration of the JU-363.

Overview

Officially the name of the JU-363 is pronounced “see-murg”. The creature for which the JU-363 is named is essentially a benevolent spirit in Persian mythology that is apparently akin to a phoenix with a far longer lifespan. It is said that the creature is sold enough to have seen the world destroyed and created numerous times and holds all the lost information of the ages. This naming convention follows the armed force’s habit of naming their vehicles for characters from Greek, Roman, Persian or Mesopotamian mythology. The National guard however when the do get an exclusive vehicle for their branch of service almost exclusively use the latter two naming conventions (Persian and Mesopotamian).

Names as side the Simurgh is a tank design that was rejected by the navy, army and marine forces for being too expensive, not possessing enough firepower or failing to meet specific criteria. Ironically neither branch of service seems to have bothered field modifications to address the issue and so the Simurgh was nearing the scrap yards when the Falkland Island’s crisis came up. The most common tank in use by the National guard at the time was the Geryon light tank which was a residual design left from the post world war two era. Essentially units such as the 29th were fighting with obsolete combat tanks against a comparatively more modern enemy force. The debacle of having the National Guard’s troops fending off Soviet assault forces with the tank equivalent to cardboard was too much of a political scandal to evade. Colonel Hildebrand himself finally got the funding allocations for new armored units and as always the other branches of service were looking to pass on their older vehicles. Perhaps fortunately for police and militia units, the Colonel had already been engaging in quiet talks with JU for possible acquisition of the 363. When the new funding came down the deal was finalized, and the National Guard took on ownership of the SSC’s first functioning hover tank. The one obstacle was to bring the vehicles up to standard by the guard’s standards.

Capabilities

The Simurgh is one of those tanks that in function is sure to cause a stir even when used on static display or in parades as it is the SSC’s first combat-ready hover tank. This is of course a sore subject for most of the military as it is well known the Soviets beat the SSC to a working model as the Battle for the Falkland Islands has proven. Despite this the two competing designs operate at opposite spectrums of tank design. The Simurgh is designated a light tank as it’s base weight is approximately 25.3 tons*, with it’s field standard armor kit added however it resembles a medium hover tank as it weighs 35.3 tons when ready for combat. Despite this the massive K-fusion engine is still powerful enough to propel the tank across all but the roughest terrain at absolute top speed of 209.97 miles per hour. It has been noted that without the speed governor installed and the armor kit reduced the Simurgh is capable of maintaining 242.19 miles per hour at a hover height of 12 meters maximum. That said the governor is installed for a good reason, and most vehicles except for couriers are speed limited to 205mph. The Simurgh’s method of hover is largely classified but it is clear that the vehicle still uses air induction and pressure systems with what appears to be a micro-thruster system for fine control over hover height and maneuvers. We can only assume the odd distortions seen under the vessel are a result of waste heat bleeding through the ducting systems from the reactor and not some new form of magnetic hovering.

As far as combat vehicles go, in its primary configuration with a full armor kit, the Simurgh presents a difficult foe as front, sides, rear and particularly the belly, deck and turret of the tank are well protected. It also should be noted that the turret is a proven model recycled from the Hydra Mark 1, with an entirely new aerodynamic mantlet and facing design to improve strength. The primary armament of this tank appears to include a 25mm COIL type energy weapon supported by a dedicated cooling system. Lastly as with the Geryon the Simugh replaces there are two V-A/18 legacy guns aboard the tank. One is mounted through the front of the tank and is controlled by the driver or sensor/communications crewman. The other legacy gun is mounted in a retractable pintle mount in the turret and tends to be used by the commander or gunner. It is thought hat there may be another weapons system aboard the tank because the above weight of the weapons listed seems to suggest a few spare tons. However given the unique shape of the turret it may be that the protective mounting makes up the difference.

*the weapon coolant system adds 0.3 tons of liquid weight.

Deployment

It is expected that this unit will absolutely replace all of the National Guard’s Geryon light tanks and see deployment wherever the National Guard might be. This fact and the habit of guard units to have some of the best and sharpest paint schemes in the military may rub some salt in the wounds of the rest of the military.
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