Mobile Long Tom
Sarna News
- HEXTECH Review - Wave 3 Brings More Urban Options To Your Battlefield
- Your BattleTech News Round-Up For March, 2024
- Crashing 'Mechs With Jennifer Brozek, Author Of The Rogue Academy Trilogy
- Getting The Word Out With Rem Alternis, Catalyst Community & Marketing Director
- Bad 'Mechs - Yeoman
- Read more →
 | This article needs to be updated with material from Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 28. Once these titles clear the Moratorium period, or if they already have, please consider revisiting this article and updating it with the new material. |
| |
| LT-MOB-25 Mobile Long Tom Artillery | |
| Production information | |
| Manufacturer | Rebel Industrial Technologies, Inc. |
| Production Year | 2602[1] |
| Mission | Fire Support |
| Type | Tracked |
| Cost | 1,722,275 C-bills[2] |
| Technical specifications | |
| Mass | 95 Tons |
| Armor | StarSlab/1 |
| Engine | Robel 110 ICE |
| Speed | 25.6 km/h |
| Crew | 15 |
| Communications System | ROMTECH 100 |
| Targeting Tracking System | O/P 10-40 LTR |
| Armament |
|
| BV (1.0) | 447[2] |
| BV (2.0) | 515[3] |
Contents
Description[edit]
The Mobile Long Tom was essentially an artillery piece on wheels. Known in official Star League records as the LT-MOB-25, it is actually six vehicles all hooked together as part of a massive convoy. This combat vehicle was first produced for the Star League Defense Force and the design soon became common in the every military throughout the Inner Sphere and Periphery.[3]
The main unit was a 65-ton tracked vehicle and the only one in the convoy that possessed an, admittedly meager, engine capable of only 25.6 km/h and requiring constant refueling. This piloting cab also served as the targeting center, featuring an additional ton of communication equipment and the mounted weaponry. However the vehicle was protected by a scant four tons of armor, though it was not supposed to be anywhere near combat. For this reason the Long Tom relied on defensive units for anti-air support.[4]
Included in the artillery system was a pair of 5-ton support carriages. The purpose of these was to carry support personnel who directed the fire of the Long Tom. Finally, three 10-ton ammunition carriages were also towed around and carried enough ammunition to supply just over four minutes of continuous fire.[4] All four were protected by just two tons of armor each, and the weight of the full convoy meant the Mobile Long Tom could not travel cross-country due to the very-real threat of becoming stuck. For this reason its travel was restricted to heavy roads.[5]
Weapons and Equipment[edit]
The purpose of this entire convoy of vehicles was to move one weapon: an Armstrong Industries Long Tom Rifle Mobile Chassis System. The artillery piece was capable of extremely long range fire more suited to demolishing defensive fortifications than firing into a firefight. The only short-range weapons were four, side-mounted Sperry Browning Machine Guns that were more suited to anti-infantry than anti-'Mech duty.[4]
Variants[edit]
- LT-MOB-25F(2695)[6]
- Built on a 65-ton chassis, the LT-MOB-25F is faster than its predecessor. Ferro-fibrous armor and CASE provide equivalent protection despite the reduced mass, though limited ammunition reserves and no extra communication equipment within the tractor itself leaves the LT-MOB-25F unable to perform any sort of extended fire support mission without a full complement of trailers. BV (2.0) = 726 (148 per-trailer) [7]
- LT-MOB-50(????)
- This variant was only different from the -25 in that it was much rarer and used rails to travel faster. Due to the limited nature of rail travel, comparatively few of these were produced.[4]
- LT-MOB-95(????)
- Introduced by the Federated Suns this variant combines all the weapons, ammo, and control systems in a single tracked chassis.[8]
Dark Age Dossier Variant[edit]
- Long Tom Artillery
- During the post-Jihad years, a more compact version of the Mobile Long Tom known simply as the Long Tom Artillery was created. This combat vehicle retains the same tonnage and weaponry of the original but it is no longer configured in a wagon-train like fashion. Instead it is a single combat vehicle, which was first produced by Federated Suns and later by other powers including Capellan Confederation.[9]
Notes[edit]
- Author Blaine Lee Pardoe stated in a blog entry that, according to his memory which he admitted could be wrong, the mobile Long Tom was among the vehicles for which he invented the name and wrote the original background as initially published in TRO:3025, after being given only its art and game stats to work with for the TRO entry.
- This combat vehicle was redesigned following the publication of Total Warfare and TechManual. The stats presented in Technical Readout: 3039 differ somewhat from those in Technical Readout: 3025 Revised.
Gallery[edit]
Original LT-MOB-25 Long Tom from TRO:3025
Mobile Long Tom from RG:ilClan vol. 28
Dark Age Long Tom from MWDA FFE dossiers
References[edit]
- ↑ MUL online date for the Mobile Long Tom
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Combat Operations, p. 120
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Master Unit List: Mobile Long Tom, http://www.masterunitlist.info/Unit/Details/2202/mobile-long-tom-artillery-lt-mob-25
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Technical Readout: 3039, pp. 78–79
- ↑ Technical Readout: 3025 Revised, pp. 142–143
- ↑ MUL Online Date for the Mobile Long Tom LT-MOB-25F
- ↑ Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 28 pp. 6-7
- ↑ Technical Readout: 3150, p. 222
- ↑ Dossier of Sgt. Major Rusty Cooper - Dossier cites evolution of the original vehicle to new version. The Dark Age version of the Long Tom has not been given an official record sheet as of this writing. All stats and information comes from the single dossier released with the unique vehicle as part of MWDA's Fire for Effect game release