Fenrir Dynamics GV-51 'Ravager'
That thing might be old. It might not have the latest high-tech guidance systems and weapons. But honestly? It doesn't need to. It's truly earned its name, and I don't think much can withstand its fury.
The Ravager, also known as the Tracked Assault Vehicle, or TAV, is a main battle tank used by the Vestan Ground Defense Force. The Ravager series is designed and manufactured by Fenrir Dynamics and is their second most successful military contract after the Warden.
Despite its shorter career than its lighter cousin, the Ravager has proved itself to be a reliable and enduring platform that has greatly learned from its predecessors. After almost forty years of service, and even after the adoption of the Monarch, the Ravager is still at the heart of the GDF's armored divisions.
History
Development
The development of the Ravager began in late 325, after the adoption of the Warden. While the latter fulfilled a wide variety of missions, it was less than ideal to field against armored formations, and as the designer of the Warden, Fenrir Dynamics was well aware this capability gap. As expected, the military launched the Tracked Assault Vehicle program in early 326, aiming to acquire an armored platform that could serve as the GDF's new main battle tank. After a lengthy development phase and trials, including several year-long pauses due to the military's budget constraints, the Ravager was officially adopted in June 348, with an initial order of 600 vehicles to be delivered for the 192th Unity Day parade.
Recent history
The Ravager served for the next forty years without seeing much use, only keeping up to date its most basic systems. It briefly saw action in the 379 Maian Insurgency, where it promptly crushed whatever resistance it met. Despite being a somewhat forgettable element of the military's ground forces, the Ravager is still the spearhead of the GDF's armored units and shows no sign of giving up its throne, not even to the Monarch.
Design
Unlike the Warden, the Ravager was designed for one mission only : ground combat supremacy. As a result, it represents an excellent balance of offensive and defensive capabilities, but its mobility and logistic footprint leaves much to be desired when compared to the Warden. Still, the military's defensive posture and the relatively few number of vehicles in service make these concerns of little importance.
Armament
True to its name, the Ravager's main weapon is the C78 115mm rapid-fire gun. With a rate of fire of twelve rounds per minute, an effective range of over seven kilometers and the capability to fire a multitude of projectiles, this coilgun can effectively engage any ground target with ease. The gun is mounted within the Ravager's turret along with its autoloader, sitting on top of its capacitor array and feeding from its rear ammunition rack. The Ravager can carry up to 44 rounds, housed in an isolated compartment equipped with blowout panels. These panels also act as hatches to manually reload the rack.
The Ravager is also armed with a coaxial "Shredder" machinegun, a Venom Remote Controlled Turret (also armed with a "Shredder" machine gun) and eight SGL52 52mm grenade launchers for close proximity area control.
Fenrir Dynamics
Unit cost
47.2 million PLV
No. Built
~52.000
In service
348-present
Mass
53.8 tons
Length
9.78m (gun incl.)
Width
3.61m
Height
2.9m
Crew
2 (Driver, Commander)
Passengers
7 passengers
Armor
Class V - Calfen-reinforced composite armor
Class VI - Non-explosive reactive armor
Main Armament
C78 115mm gun (44 rounds)
Secondary Armament
2x "Shredder" 8kJ machine gun, 8x SGL52 52mm grenade launchers
Propulsion
2*1000hp permanent magnet synchronous motors / 16 multi-vector maneuvering thrusters
Operational Range
370-850 km
Maximum Speed
91 km/h
Mobility
The Ravager's tracks are propelled by two 1000 horsepower permanent magnet synchronous motors derived from civilian industrial vehicles. An array of 16 multi-vector maneuvering thrusters are also installed to keep the vehicle from losing traction in low-gravity environments. The engines, as well as most other on-board systems, are powered by a miniaturized Oström reactor, providing more fuel efficiency than fuel cells at the cost of mass and size. The Ravager carries enough fuel to have an operational range of 370 to 850 kilometers, depending on the loadout and environment.
Despite these powerful engines, the Ravager's mass of nearly 54 tons only allows it to reach top speeds of 91 kilometers per hour on the roads of Vesta. While it can be increased slightly in low-gravity environments, the tracks and mechanical axles cannot handle much higher speeds without running the risk of breakdowns. Due to its mass, the Ravager also cannot be deployed by AC-56 crafts and instead relies on the Vestan Aerospace Defense Force's assault corvettes to be transported to the battlefield.
Protection
The Ravager is heavily armored against most threats by thick class V composite armor plating. While the composition of this armor plating is a well-guarded secret, it is known to contain various materials such as graphene, ceramics, calfen and polymers. Its armor is thickest on the front, further accentuated by the hull and turret's slopes, and thinner on the sides and rear. To save weight, the top and bottom of the vehicle are also less armored. The Ravager is also equipped with a double V-hull to protect it against mines and IEDs.
The Ravager is also protected against anti-tank projectiles by the combat-proven Apollo Active Protection System, as well as an array of twelve smoke launchers to provide concealment. The vehicle's protection can further be enhanced to class VI with non-explosive reactive armor panels, although the increased mass and limited advantages make it a rather rare occurrence. As with all military vehicles, the Ravager is also armored against EMP attacks.
Variants
Unlike the Warden, the Ravager was not specifically meant to be adapted for other roles. Still, its rugged construction and the lessons learned from the Warden's design phase made it possible to produce several variants that are now widely, although incorrectly, perceived as being the result of its modularity.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Ravager EPA | The Ravager Enhanced Protection and Armament is an improved version of the Ravager that sacrifices some mobility for improved armor protection and anti-infantry firepower. These upgrades include class VI non-reactive armor panels and two clusters of 24 52mm grenade launchers. These are meant to provide indirect saturation attacks as well as clearing buildings that the Ravager's main gun cannot reach, such as in confined urban theaters. |
| Enforcer | The Enforcer is a heavily armored Infantry Fighting Vehicle derived from the Ravager's hull and the Warden's turret. It can only carry up to six passengers, but it as heavily armored as the Ravager while being lighter and more mobile. While it has many advantages, its limited passenger capacity makes it a rather uncommon sight on the battlefield. |
| Breacher | The Breacher is a frontline engineering vehicle that is used for obstacle clearing and fortification removal, a task often called "Bunker-busting". It is outfitted with a mine plow, two short-range microwave emitters and an electromagnetic catapult for high-yield demolition charges. These charges are self-igniting and powerful enough to crack through up to twenty meters of reinforced concrete. |
| Scavenger | The Scavenger is an Armored Recovery Vehicle that is used to recover damaged, stuck or abandoned vehicles. It is equipped with a powerful crane and various crane modules such as clamps and excavator heads. This variant is also used for military engineering works, digging trenches and assisting with building construction. |
| Bridge layer | The Bridge layer is, as its name suggest, a bridge laying vehicle. It is often deployed in humanitarian aid missions to rapidly provide load-bearing infrastructure for the mission's supply lines. |
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