Gladius (Combat Vehicle)

Description
Commissioned in 3042 by Imperator Marius O'Reilly, the Gladius Medium Hover Tank is a fast and simple combat vehicle. The Gladius is produced entirely on Alphard, with the exception of its single gun. The rugged design is heavily armored for a tank its size, mounting six tons of armor. The simple Internal Combustion Engine is cheap to produce and easy to repair and maintain. Following the ascension of Protector Jeffrey Calderon, ties between the Marian Hegemony and Taurian Concordat were cut, resulting in the cessation of production.

Weapons and Equipment
The only weapon the Gladius mounts is a Pontiac 50 Autocannon/10 that is imported from the Taurian Concordat. It carries two tons of ammunition. The main deficiency of this hovertank is its lack of a turret. Since the crew of a Gladius can only fire forward, they are unable to deter pursuit and are especially susceptible to being flanked. With the tank's speed it is likely to flank rather than be flanked, but it is a risk the crew must be aware of.

Variants

 * Mk II : A Jihad era variant of the Gladius, the Mark II is revamp of the hover tanks firepower. The original's single weapon is replaced with array of weaponry. Its principle long range weapons include a four Rocket Launcher 15, which are mounted in pairs in front and the rear. A Class 5 Light Autocannon replaces the original's Class 10 gun in front. Additional Anti-infantry weapons have been added in form of four Machine Guns mounted a Machine Gun Array.  The Tank has been given 2 tons of Light Autocannon ammunition, while Machine Guns have half-ton. BV (2.0) = 613