SPECIFICATIONS

GOVERNMENT: Colonial Confederacy Defense Forces
TYPE: Mobile Arthropod Tank
MODEL: Pluto Industrial Type-77VAT Drone Tank
DATE INTRODUCED: 2177 AD
LENGTH: TANK: 22.6 feet (6.91 meters); FLIGHT: 22.6 feet (6.91 meters); WALKER: 22.6 feet (6.91 meters)
WIDTH: TANK: 10.5 feet (3.2 meters); FLIGHT: 13.6 feet (4 meters); WALKER: 13.6 feet (4 meters)
HEIGHT: TANK: 6.6 feet (2 meters); FLIGHT: 6.6 feet (2 meters); WALKER: 9.8 feet (3 meters)
MATERIAL: Crystal Composite
POWER PLANT: Hensai Energy HENB-30 Nuclear Battery
OUTPUT: 30 megawatts
ARMOR TYPE: Crystal Composite
ARMOR THICKNESS: 4 inches
DISPLACEMENT: 15 tons
CREW: NONE (AI-Computer Controlled Drone Tank)

PROPULSION
             PRIMARY (TREADS):
             1x CC-NT-672 nuclear turbine
             SPEED: 160 mph

             PRIMARY (WALKER):
             1x CC-WE-54 walker engine
             SPEED: 45 mph

             PRIMARY (FLIGHT):
             1x CC-LYIE-14.2 Low Yield Ion Engine
             SPEED: 95 mph each (380 mph total forward)

             SECONDARY (FLIGHT):
             1x CC-LYIE-3.5 Low Yield Ion Engine
             SPEED: 23.2 mph each (Delta-V: Forward, Port, Starboard: 46.3 mph; Upward: 92.5 mph)

WEAPONS:
             PRIMARY (OFFENSIVE):
             1x Lithgear LG-AC120A 120-millimeter HVAC Hyper Velocity Autocannon; Effective Range: 790 miles; Payload: 200-round autoloading mechanical tray; ROF: up to 60 rounds per minute.

             SECONDARY (OFFENSIVE):
             2x Lithgear LG-ML5-10 ten-shot 5-pound missile launcher; Missile Type: UN-SRM-05 short-range five-pound laser-guided missile; Effective Range: 17 miles; Payload: 30 missiles; ROF: 1-10 missiles within two seconds.

             PRIMARY ANTI-PERSONNEL:
             2x Lithgear LG-35RC-2B dual35-millimeter rail cannon ball turret; Effective Range: 1141.2 yards; Payload: 4000 rounds on a belt-fed autoloading feed each cannon; ROF: fires a 8, 16, or 20 round burst each cannon with a cyclic rate of up to 1600 rounds per minute.

             SECONDARY ANTI-PERSONNEL (PRIMARY ANTI-MISSILE):
             1x Lithgear LG-RFPC500kw 500 Kilowatt rapid fire PHELAC turret; Effective Range: 4 miles; Payload: 500-blast nuclear battery energy-magazine; ROF: fires up to 10-blast burst per 2-seconds, with a cyclic rate of 300-blasts per minute.

ELECTRONICS:
              1x Microwave Radio Communications array with a 2000-mile range.
              1x Laser Radio Communications array with a 5000-mile range.
              1x LADAR array with a 500-mile range.
              1x RADAR array with a range of 100 miles.
              1x Multispectral Video/Optical array with a range of 100 miles.
              2x Atmospheric-type Gravitational/Antigravity Control Unit; Effect: Provides artificial lift, g-force compensation, and enhanced maneuverability.

DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS:
             1x Pluto Industrial PI-ESA-7.5 7.5-megawatt Electrostatic Armor; Range: 10 foot diameter; Power Requirement: 7.5 megawatts

Description/Overview:
              With the depletion of their space marine and Solar Empire army forces, the remnants of the Solar Empire under Lady Furrier who fled to Pluto in 2177 found themselves in a precarious situation. They didn't have the forces to field a planetary ground war if needed: even to defend Pluto and its nearby Kuper Belt objects. Therefore, Lady Furrier ordered the construction of a tank force that was completely automated and controlled via Artificial Intelligence coordinated by humans from either a spacecraft or other vehicle. This requirement led to the development of an arthropod tank (the Type-77). Supreme Commander of the newly minted Pluto forces--Admiral Edric VonStalin--convinced Lady Furrier to use this opportunity to create a variable mecha from this tank design. Thus the first VAT--variable arthropod tank--was born. Without any human crew, this machine could withstand g-forces and environments that would require a much larger mobile armored vehicle than the Type-77 tank originally proposed. The addition of the transformation unit, computers for automated operation, and the hydraulic "muscles" to the machine did add 5-tons to the tank but kept the machine compact and small enough to fit easily in the hangars of the Pluto Defense force ships. When the Uranus and Neptune colonies joined the Pluto Republic in 2180, the Type-77VAT was put into mass production by all three powers.   The Type-77VAT saw considerable action alongside the second VAT, the Type-80VAT which was crewed by a single pilot, was heavier, and sported better weapons, however it was also more expensive and produced in fewer numbers. The Type-77VAT was intended to go head-to-head with the MBR-01 series of battle robots. 
             The Type-77VAT was built in enormous numbers by the Colonial Confederacy throughout the Ceres Conflict and Outer Sphere War.  It was the main combat unit used in the invasion of Alpha Centauri during the Outer Sphere War, and was also the first Colonial Confederacy mecha used at the start of the 2nd Interplanetary War of the 2190s. The Type-77VAT was also found in the hands of numerous pirate groups of the early 2200s and some examples of this machine survived well into the 22nd century in various private paramilitary groups.