Artemis IV FCS

This article is about the Star League-era FCS. For other uses, see Artemis.
Artemis IV Fire Control System

Description[edit]

Introduced in 2598 by the Terran Hegemony, lost to the Inner Sphere in 2855, and later rediscovered by the Free Worlds League in 3035,[1] the Artemis IV Fire Control System is a guidance system that utilizes an infrared laser designator and tight-beam microwave transmitter which improves the accuracy of LRMs, SRMs, and MMLs by roughly thirty-five percent. The Artemis IV FCS must be mounted in the same location as the launcher it controls, taking up space and weight on a BattleMech like other components.[1] In order to actually benefit from Artemis IV, the missiles fired must be Artemis compatible, which are twice as expensive as standard versions, and the firing unit must have line of sight to its target; indirectly fired LRM receives no increase in accuracy.[2]

Though extremely useful for improving a missile launcher, there is one major obstacle to their use: if any standard missile launcher is equipped with an Artemis system, every launcher of that type must have its own Artemis IV attached.[1] Therefore a 'Mech mounting an LRM-15 and an LRM-5 would need two Artemis IV systems. (As they use different guidance systems, Rocket Launchers, MRMs, Streak launchers, and NARC systems do not require Artemis IV and do not count towards this limit.) ATM launchers automatically have Artemis included.[3]

Related Equipment[edit]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 TechManual, pp. 206–207: "Artemis IV Fire-Control System"
  2. Technical Readout: 2750, p. 10: "Electronics - Artemis IV FCS"
  3. Total Warfare, p. 130: "Artemis IV FCS"
  4. Historical: Reunification War, p. 179: "Artemis IV FCS (Artemis-P)"
  5. Interstellar Operations, pp. 70–71: "Artemis IV FCS (Artemis-P)"

Bibliography[edit]