Bombardier

The Bombardier was proposed to the Star League in 2735 by Wakazashi Enterprises as an Artillery BattleMech. The concept behind the design was to make a 'Mech that could replace the less mobile LRM carriers in service. The Bombardier was able to perform a long-range fire support role with great effectiveness in all of its tests. When the 'Mech finally came to the battlefield though the shortcomings of the design were felt as it only carries two tons of LRM ammunition and has no energy weapons. To be truly effective the Bombardier must have constant access to ammunition and is only as mobile as the supply vehicles that must support it. Ironically the Bombardier has an extremely similar weapons payload as the highly successful Archer BattleMech which was introduced in 2474.

Armament

The primary weapons on the Bombardier are a pair of Delphinius-20 LRM 20 launchers. These launchers are specially designed to handle specialty ammunition types in use at the time such as Swarm and Thunder LRMs. While the LRM Launchers provide an excellent reach they only have enough ammunition for sixty seconds of continuous fire and need to be reloaded. The secondary weapon carried by the Bombardier is an Arrowlight-4 SRM 4. The SRM launcher provides some striking capability when at short ranges but is not enough to truly protect the 'Mech from a determined attack. For defense against counter missile fire the Bombardier is also outfitted with a Buzzsaw Anti-Missile System.

Variants

• BMB-10D - The 10D variant of the Bombardier caries an almost identical weapons load as its Star League cousin with the only change being a Machine Gun in place of the Anti-Missile System. The primary difference in the design is the maximum sped. While the 12D can move at up to 86.4kph the 10D cannot exceed a top speed of 64.8kph. In addition the CASE that protected the vulnerable ammunition has been removed from the design while the armor protection itself has not changed.

• BMB-14C - The 14C variant has upgraded the capabilities of the Bombardier while at the same time attempting to address one of the primary issues of the design. The LRM launchers have been mated to two Artemis IV Fire Control systems. Adding to the new electronics package is an improved c3 computer. While these increase the overall accuracy and effectiveness of the paired LRM 20s the ammunition carried has been doubled. These improvements were done with the sacrifice of the SRM launcher and Anti-Missile System. For close range defense now the Bombardier carries an ER Small Laser.