PVAD "Walrus" Amphibious Air Defense Vehicle.
The PVAD "Walrus" Amphibious Air Defense Vehicle is an screw-driven fighting vehicle capable of maneuvering water, snow, sand, ice, and mud with nearly equal proficiency. While slower and more lightly armed than most dieseltech tanks, the Walrus is a feared anti-air and anti-infantry platform fills a unique niche in the Petalcap Vale Department of Defense's doctrine.
Power Generation
The Walrus is powered by a large dieseltech engine which interfaces with the screws (see Propulsion) through, two separate continuously variable transmission systems to control speed, two separate gearboxes to control directionality, and a set of CV axles. This setup allows the driver to exert fine control over how the screws turn and, by extension, how the vehicle moves, allowing the Walrus to be surprisingly precise in its maneuvering.
Propulsion
The Walrus is propelled by a large pair of buoyant, counter-rotating screws. This unusual drive configuration has a number of advantages in the theaters where the PVDoD expects to use them, including the ability to move laterally and traverse water and snow in addition to more conventional terrain. The vehicle does struggle on rocky, uneven terrain, but these environments are more the purview of auto-armor or air assets already.
Weapons & Armament
The Walrus in its standard configuration is armed with two large racks of missle pods atop a turret which can be used against air vehicles as well as lightly-armored ground targets. A sponson on the turret houses a 20mm Grease Gun for protection against ground units.
Armor and defense
Though not as heavily armored as a traditional tank, the Walrus' armor is not insubstantial, allowing the vehicle to shrug off small arms fire. The Walrus does not have legs to cripple or treads to unseat; aside from hits to the comparatively small hypoid gear housings, damage to the screws themselves is often of minimal importance to the vehicle's overall mobility.
The Walrus' greatest defensive attribute is its ability to make use of terrain its attackers cannot. The vehicle can vary its height over the terrain by canting its screw drive mounts, allowing it to squat down for cover behind hills, snowdrifts, and surf. The Walrus can engage sea- and land-borne targets while itself remaining in whichever domain its targets cannot enter, maneuvering all the while.
Additional & auxiliary systems
As a vehicle meant for use in the chilling Caudal Tesseract and potentially over open water, the Walrus features water-resistant weather stripping, thick insulation, and an electric heating system in addition to the usual convective heating system. The cabin is more spacious than one might find in a regular tank owing to the fact that crews may be expected to live in the vehicle for an extended period of time during deployment. Rumors of a hidden coffee spigot are a popular joke among PVDoD soldiers, but few realize that such a module is actually under development at Vale Mechatronics for its potential morale benefits.
Hangars & docked vessels
The Walrus is designed to tow, and be towed by, other vehicles by dint of originally being an adaptation of a research and exploration vehicle for military use. The belly of the Walrus features a set of carbides and deployable trailer wheels so that it can be towed across flat terrain or open water when the screws are lifted out of the way. A set of three forward and three aft heavy eyelets allow for the attachment of towing lines or chains, while a winch at the rear allows the vehicle to pull things along without moving itself.
Class
Nickname
Walrus
Manufacturer
Owning Organization
Military Formation Usage
Rarity
Uncommon
Related Technologies
Complement / Crew
3 operators (commander, gunner, driver)
Cargo & Passenger Capacity
1 passenger (special operations/marine/sailor to be dropped off up to 1 additional Walrus in snow or 2 in water
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