Corporate Shogun
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: Missile launcher capable of artillery or anti-air operations
- Image Source: Artist Credit
- Canon Link: Not Applicable
- Permissions: Not Applicable
- Primary Source: Not Applicable
- Manufacturer: Nakaioma Defense Dynamics
- Affiliation: NAKAIOMA & Subsidiaries
- Market Status: Closed-Market
- Model: VMAT-551
- Modularity: Missile Modular
- Production: Mass Produced
- Material:
- Duraplate-Expoy Composite Armor
- Fibrolite Launch Tubes
- Durasteel Platform
- Classification: Missile Launcher
- Size: Extremely Large
- Weight: Extremely Heavy
- Ammunition Type: Missiles
- Ammunition Capacity: Average (24)
- Effective Range: Extreme
- Rate of Fire: High
- Damage Output: Extreme
- Recoil: High
- So long as they are physically compatible with the launch tubes, the Predator can fire any missile loaded into it.
- Vents at the side of each launcher ensure that the initial blast of the rockets is safely disposed of.
- 360 Degree rotation capable.
- Electronic components built into the platform allow direct connectivity with the Bulwark armored vehicle.
- Long-lasting energy cell in the back ensures longevity as well as easy replacement if necessary.
- Hooks located along the launchers allow it to be lifted by crane off of whatever it is installed on.
- Shock Absorbers
- Range: Able to cover extreme distances, the effective range of the VMAT-551 Predator ensures that if it is used as an artillery platform that it can provide fire support from a great distance away from the combat zone, and if it used as an air defense weapon that it can intercept incoming missiles, or enemy aircraft from equally great distances. Providing plenty of time for multiple attempts.
- Recoil: Supported by shock absorbers along the rotating platform it is built onto, the Predator has a noticeable lack of recoil given its large size and the force at which it launches its payload. A frequent point of praise towards the weapon as it ensures a great deal of stability during high quantities of missile launches.
Fast and Plenty: Sporting twenty four launch tubes and with a high rate of fire, the Predator can launch its entire payload within less than half a minute if need be. The quantity of missiles able to be fired in a single round of launches combined with the fast pace that they can be delivered ensures that the Predator can dish out a vast amount of powerful firepower in a short amount of time. - Agile: With full three hundred and sixty degree rotation abilities, as well as hydraulic systems that can position the weapon into a variety of heights and angles depending on where the target is, the Predator has a great deal of mobility in regards to locking onto its target and finding the best position possible to fire its payload.
- Devastation: Loaded with the newest generation of Nakaioma-brand multipurpose missiles, the Predator can wreak havoc both on land and in the air. With a wide area of effect and extreme damage output due to the high density explosive payloads in each missile, out of the twenty four missiles it can launch in one go, only one is enough to cause severe devastation to the targeted enemy.
WEAKNESSES
- Size: Both extremely large and extremely heavy, the Predator is best suited to being mounted to its specialized vehicle. Very difficult to reposition, if it is not loaded onto a vehicle of any kind, it is entirely confined to a stationary role, as moving it requires heavy-duty equipment and vehicles. It is best advised to ensure that this is the position you want your Predator to be loaded onto before you decide to do it.
- Specialization: Designed with the VH-550 Bulwark in mind, the VMAT-551 Predator loses a great deal of its specialized acquisition software if it is not connected to the Bulwark and used independently, making it noticeably less accurate in both the air and on land. Although it is compatible with third party targeting systems, these would need to be installed manually by the owners.
Built for use with the VH-550 Bulwark Mobile Launch Truck, the VMAT-551 Missile Launch Platform was designed and developed by Nakaioma Defense Dynamics' land systems laboratories, the subdivision of the corporation specializing in armored vehicles and heavy weapons products. Intended to accept Nakaioma-brand rockets, compatible third party weapons are also able to be fired from the platform, allowing a degree of modularity for the operator. Built on-top of a rotating platform, the VMAT-551 has full 360 degree turning capabilities, while the hydraulic arms beneath the missile launchers allow the weapon to be positioned at any height or at any angle. Coming with twenty four rocket tubes, the weapon is known for its high rate of fire, its extreme range, the damage it is capable of and its wired connection to the VH-550 Bulwark when installed onto the vehicle.
Developed in conjunction with the Bulwark, as the vehicle was in strong need of an in-house sourced weapons system, as opposed to purchasing the rights to use another company's weapon, the VMAT-551 had a surprisingly rocky start, facing significant opposition within NDD's board of directors as the firm was also at the time investing heavily into space-based naval technologies, many of which included on-board missile platforms. Led by Amaro Yuara, the Land Systems' team director on the VMAT, as well as a high-profile and well-respected member within the corporation, the push to continue the weapon's development would eventually be successful, arguing about the potential market that could exist for such a powerful and long-ranged land based weapons system in such a volatile time in the galaxy. Released alongside the Bulwark in 863ABY as part of the company's new heavy weapons line-up. It has found use as both a rocket artillery platform as well as an anti-aircraft system.
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