Length: 7500mm
Height: 2800 mm to top of cab
Width: 2500 mm
Gross weight: 12 tons unloaded
Engine: HM-450 450 horsepower truck engine
Top speed: 110 kph
Range: 470 kilometers
Price:$6 million (transloader vehicle: $5 million)
DPR: $5 billion (excluding truck)
Make all your orders at Allanean Defense Exports
Background: The Free Kingdom of Allanea has been extremely satisfied with the tactical advantages provided by the Lyran Arms LY300 Manticore MLRS system, and particularly its ability to provide coverage with modular firepower at extreme ranges. However, the vast firepower system came with disadvantages: the Manticore MLRS weighs 72 tons, and is limited in its transportation options - the system is tall and heavy and can only be transported in a select few extremely large aircraft. Moreover, using a tank hull, it requires regular maintenance as a tank would.
Wishing to reduce the logistical payload of its armed forces, the Free Kingdom commissioned the creation of the AA-30 Whirlwind - still a heavily-armed vehicle, but now wheeled. This weighed a downright slender 50 tons, and rapidly began to replace the [i]Manticore in Allanean service.
Evidently, however, the vehicle was still very large, and its tall center of gravity restricted it from hard terrain - at the minimum, a dirt road was required. This was not very much of an obstacle given the vast weapons range on the AA-30, but it was still desired to have a lighter vehicle that could complement the AA-30 Whirlwind
And so at last, Allanean Arms developed the Blizzard medium MRLS, mounted on the chassis of its competitor’s Bovid tactical truck. Weighing 12 tons unloaded, the Blizzard sacrificed some firepower but gained mobility. It could now be transported in relatively small cargo aircraft or underslung under some helicopters.
The main technological advance, however, was the introduction of a modular lightweight pod system (MLPS). This was an elaboration on the modular pods used on the Manticore and Whirlwind except that the pods were smaller. While the external dimensions of the pods were identical, they could now house a variety of different munitions (though, of course, less of them than the venterable Manticore).
Protection: The vehicle is equipped with full CBRN protection. Shrapnel and ballistic protection can be fitted to the driver’s cabin for an additional fee of $150,000.
User comfort: Each vehicle is fitted with climate control and a foldout screen media system not connected to the military computers within the vehicle. This can be used to help crew avoid
Autopilot: The vehicle is equipped with driver assist sensor and can be programmed to multiple levels of autonomy as per the client’s desire.
Firepower: The chief armament element of the Whirlwind is its ability to mount an MPLS system rocket pod. The pods themselves are light-weight, integrating composite carbon-fiber to reduce their own mass and maximize the mass of munitions the system can carry. After they are fired, they can be swapped out within 5 minutes using a specialized transloader vehicle or within 7.5 minutes using a crane.
When installed on the stem, each pod is connected to the onboard fire control computer, which is equipped with both SATNAV and inertial navigation (for use in SATNAV-denied environments) as well as tilt sensors. This means that the user can program any electronic fuzes compatible with the system, and issue firing commands by simply entering targeted coordinates.
The following variants of the MPLS pod are available:
122 mm: Compatible with 9M22 rockets and various other 122 mm munitions (e.g. Trnovnik, Accular-122, etc. Carries a total of 40 rockets
220 mm: Compatible with LY4040+ series of unguided and precision missiles, the Mercury heavy ATGM, and the Schwerpunkt Arms Toref ATGM
TBM: Carries the 400 mm Surgeon Tactical Ballistic Missile, with a range of 500 km.
Anti-ship: Carries up to 2 Hammerhead Sea Strike Missiles.
DPR for the vehicle does not include DPR for the Mercury or Toref missiles or indeed any missiles. The buyer is responsible for either developing their own missiles or procuring compatible rockets as they will.
Beyond any of these armaments, the Blizzard medium MLRS is equipped with a swivel-mounted machine gun. This machine gun may be replaced with an RWS for an additional fee of $50,000.
Wishing to reduce the logistical payload of its armed forces, the Free Kingdom commissioned the creation of the AA-30 Whirlwind - still a heavily-armed vehicle, but now wheeled. This weighed a downright slender 50 tons, and rapidly began to replace the [i]Manticore in Allanean service.
Evidently, however, the vehicle was still very large, and its tall center of gravity restricted it from hard terrain - at the minimum, a dirt road was required. This was not very much of an obstacle given the vast weapons range on the AA-30, but it was still desired to have a lighter vehicle that could complement the AA-30 Whirlwind
And so at last, Allanean Arms developed the Blizzard medium MRLS, mounted on the chassis of its competitor’s Bovid tactical truck. Weighing 12 tons unloaded, the Blizzard sacrificed some firepower but gained mobility. It could now be transported in relatively small cargo aircraft or underslung under some helicopters.
The main technological advance, however, was the introduction of a modular lightweight pod system (MLPS). This was an elaboration on the modular pods used on the Manticore and Whirlwind except that the pods were smaller. While the external dimensions of the pods were identical, they could now house a variety of different munitions (though, of course, less of them than the venterable Manticore).
Protection: The vehicle is equipped with full CBRN protection. Shrapnel and ballistic protection can be fitted to the driver’s cabin for an additional fee of $150,000.
User comfort: Each vehicle is fitted with climate control and a foldout screen media system not connected to the military computers within the vehicle. This can be used to help crew avoid
Autopilot: The vehicle is equipped with driver assist sensor and can be programmed to multiple levels of autonomy as per the client’s desire.
Firepower: The chief armament element of the Whirlwind is its ability to mount an MPLS system rocket pod. The pods themselves are light-weight, integrating composite carbon-fiber to reduce their own mass and maximize the mass of munitions the system can carry. After they are fired, they can be swapped out within 5 minutes using a specialized transloader vehicle or within 7.5 minutes using a crane.
When installed on the stem, each pod is connected to the onboard fire control computer, which is equipped with both SATNAV and inertial navigation (for use in SATNAV-denied environments) as well as tilt sensors. This means that the user can program any electronic fuzes compatible with the system, and issue firing commands by simply entering targeted coordinates.
The following variants of the MPLS pod are available:
122 mm: Compatible with 9M22 rockets and various other 122 mm munitions (e.g. Trnovnik, Accular-122, etc. Carries a total of 40 rockets
220 mm: Compatible with LY4040+ series of unguided and precision missiles, the Mercury heavy ATGM, and the Schwerpunkt Arms Toref ATGM
TBM: Carries the 400 mm Surgeon Tactical Ballistic Missile, with a range of 500 km.
Anti-ship: Carries up to 2 Hammerhead Sea Strike Missiles.
DPR for the vehicle does not include DPR for the Mercury or Toref missiles or indeed any missiles. The buyer is responsible for either developing their own missiles or procuring compatible rockets as they will.
Beyond any of these armaments, the Blizzard medium MLRS is equipped with a swivel-mounted machine gun. This machine gun may be replaced with an RWS for an additional fee of $50,000.
Make all your orders at Allanean Defense Exports