Compact fusion engine
Sarna News
Contents
Description
A Compact Fusion Engine is similar to a Fusion Engine, but utilizes denser radiation shielding and other features to reduce the engine's volume by half. There is a weight penalty for the density; compact fusion engines are 50% heavier than the standard fusion engine, limiting its use to 'Mechs that require a lot of internal space and/or have tonnage to spare. One benefit of this arrangement is that penetrating hits are less likely to hit the smaller profile of the compact fusion engine than they would a bulkier standard fusion engine.
A relatively new concept, few base variant 'Mechs utilize this engine. One BattleMech that does use the compact fusion engine is the Word of Blake's Archangel.
History
Compact engines emerged in 3068. Developed by Lyran engineers, this engine type was apparently an alternative approach to the “smaller, harder-to-kill engine” problem initially authorized by General Nondi Steiner during the FedCom Civil War. [1]
Bibliography