Overview:       The Foxbat is a new Commonwealth grav tank entering service, destined to replace many of the Liberator forces currently in service. Designed to be a blend of firepower, protection and speed, the Foxbat may fall into the problem of being a jack of all trades, and a master of none. Capabilities:       As a replacement for the Liberator, the Foxbat had to continue to perform similar roles, and perform them well. Of utmost importance was an increase of armour and shielding, which were always a weak point in the Liberator design. Also of importance was to keep the Liberator's fine acceleration rate of 75 kph per minute.       Unfortunately, final design of the Foxbat failed in this last department. The Foxbat can only manage an acceleration of 62.5 kph/min flat out, dropping to an acceleration class of 5. This was deemed acceptable, however, given the increase in the other departments, and also the introduction of other new grav vehicles to fill the high-speed niche.       The Foxbat boasts far better armour than the Liberator ever did, carrying an impressive 56 tons of armour, unheard of before in a medium tank. The graceful curved panels of the OSB-XX armour also give this new tank a far different appearance to that of the old Liberator. Shield rates are more in-line with other medium grav tanks, with the FloatPoint shield units providing a 70 flicker rate on both the front and stern, with a rate of 60 on the sides. What is strange is the unusually low bottom rate of 40, which may prove disastrous to a tank that will most likely do much TTF or LAF flight.       In the weapons department, the Foxbat is no slouch. As with the Liberator, the primary weapon is an Amerex-II 150mm gauss cannon with interline air cooling. Secondary weaponry has been switched slightly, with a Multi-Gnat-23 class 15 gatling mass driver cannon, with the Jacobson 06/11/62 model 5/6 laser slung underneath. While these weapons are mounted similarly to those in the Liberator, they are far less exposed.       Tertiary weapons consist of two Interlug PolyShrap SMLM launchers, mounted internally. Also mounted internally is a Terris Whiner-V, a class 5 GMDC. Riding below the Whiner-V are the Fire-Tube TVLG launchers, with six tubes total. Finally, a Hyrr' Inc Vulcan-III anti-missile system provides a last-ditch defence against incoming rockets and missiles. Deployment:       In the end, the Foxbat tipped the scales well below the Liberator in both weight and in cost, despite the increases in armour, armament and shielding. Using a far smaller engine and a lack of digging cannons aided in achieving this feat. Some are quick to point to its lack of cannons and poor bottom shielding as glaring defects in the design, but as of yet there have been no major complaints from those in the field. The Foxbat is of yet unblooded in combat, but the Commonwealth has high hopes for this new tank, and remains confident that when the time comes, it will attain as much fame as the tank it replaces.

Type: Medium Grav Tank Mass: 254 tons Cost: $1,598,600 Rating Power Mass Cost Engine 1600 1600 32 400000 Thrust: 5 Shields Rating Front 70 48 2 35000 Right 60 24 2 30000 Left 60 24 2 30000 Stern 70 48 2 35000 Bottom 40 6 2 20000 Armour Points Front 100 0 10 500 Right 100 0 10 500 Left 100 0 10 500 Stern 100 0 10 500 Bottom 60 0 6 300 Turret 100 0 10 500 Hull Weapons Hull # GMDC 5 1 2 6 75000 SMLM 2 1 0 6 20000 TVLG 6 2 0 9 30000 SMLM 2 2 0 6 20000 Turret Weapons 150mm 5 66 330000 GMDC 15 7 24 165000 5/6 15 15 228000 Vulcan III 12 12 46000 Turret 1 6 6000 Crew and Targeting 3 3 300 Anti-Grav Drive 251 3 125500 Power Mass Cost Totals: 446 254 $1,598,600 Excess Power: 1154

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