Fox (Combat Vehicle)

This article is about the hovercraft. For other uses, see Fox.

Fox Armored Car
Production information
Manufacturer	Valiant Systems
Production Year	3084
Mission	Recon
Type	Hovercraft
Cost	1,791,300
Technical specifications
Tech Base	Inner Sphere
Mass	20
Armor	StarSlab/2
Engine	Nissan 195 XL
Speed	226 km/h
Crew	3
Communications System	QuasComm 5.3
Targeting Tracking System	TacTOM IV
Heat Sinks	10 single
Armament	1x ER medium laser 2x small pulse laser
BV (2.0)	549

Description

Developed as a more advanced replacement for the Savannah Master, The Fox Armored Car was a light scout and reconnaissance hovercraft used by the Federated Suns and Republic of the Sphere in the early thirty-second century.

Denied access to the cheap and effective hovercraft as relations worsened with the Lyran Alliance prior to the FedCom Civil War, the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns commissioned Valiant Systems to develop a homegrown replication. Unfortunately additional requests to improve its armor coverage, speed and weaponry delayed development of a prototype until after the FedCom Civil War had concluded, when the AFFS was allowed to purchase the Savannah Master once more. The heavy matériel losses suffered in the Jihad finally gave Valiant the opportunity to release the Fox in 3085, manufacturing it from Johnsondale for the AFFS and for the RAF from a subsidized factory on Achernar.

The Fox Armored Car was easily superior to the Savannah Master, but at the cost of the increased fragility and much heftier price tag. Built around a Nissan 195 XL fusion engine, the Fox was capable of reaching up to 226 km/h, while its five and half tons of armor are better than average for its weight.

Weapons and Equipment

Improving on the Savannah Master's single standard medium laser, the Fox carried a more powerful Bright-Bloom ER medium laser for use against other Combat Vehicles, BattleMechs and hardened targets, supported by a pair of Magna 200P Small Pulse Lasers for anti-infantry duties, all carried in the hovercraft's turret. Even with these abilities the Fox was better used for forward observation, as a spotter and high speed reaction unit rather than as a stand-up combatant its weapon load would suggest.

Variants

• Flamer 

  A relatively simple factory manufactured variant introduced in 3084 of the Fox swapped one of the Small Pulse Lasers for a Flamer. BV (2.0) = 530

• Variable-Speed Pulse Laser 

  Intended to make the Fox more effective against non-infantry targets at range, this variant replaced both Small Pulse Lasers with a single Variable-Speed Pulse Laser, introduced also in 3084. BV (2.0) = 543

• Dark Age 

  A variant sighted in the Dark Age era replaced the Small Pulse Lasers with a pair of Machine Guns. BV (2.0)= 350

• Interdictor 

  This Dark Age variant introduced in 3088 removes the turret assembly and replaces it with a Guardian ECM suite. It keeps the ER medium laser, but replaces the Small Pulse Lasers with a pair of Machine Guns. BV (2.0) = 547

Custom Variants

• Bola variant 

  Designed by infantry cadets at Ritza Academy and first used in 3150, this variant carries a bola thrower in the turret, with an effective range of around three hundred meters for its four shots. For defense, it has only a single small pulse laser. It was meant to work in conjunction with a custom harpoon-launching Vedette to trap and knock down 'Mechs. No stats have been given for this variant.

Notable Crewmembers

See Category:Notable Fox (Combat Vehicle) Crewmembers

Vehicle Gallery

• 

  Dark Age Fox Armored Car

Bibliography

• Iron Dawn
• Record Sheets: 3085 Unabridged - The Cutting Edge
• Record Sheets: 3145 New Tech, New Upgrades
• Record Sheets: MechWarrior Dark Age I
• Technical Readout: 3085