Vulpes

Introduced to service in Introduction Year::3133 from the Achernar BattleMechs plant on New Avalon, the Vulpes was intended from the outset to be a heavy but fast attack BattleMech, and was quickly adopted by the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns. Mixing Clantech with advanced Inner Sphere technology, the Vulpes used a standard chassis, cockpit and gyro, but mounted a very advanced Clantech Model 42b 300 XXL engine, capable of pushing the Vulpes to high speeds; adding to this was a MASC system, allowing the sixty-ton 'Mech to travel at more than one hundred kilometers an hour. Despite the relatively high speed of the Vulpes for a 'Mech of its weight, the Vulpes was actually intended to attack at range - where the twelve and a half tons of StarGuard Nightshroud Stealth Armor and Guardian ECM Suite could hide the 'Mech from return fire.

Weapons and Equipment
Mounting a Clantech ExoStar Pinnacle Extended Range Large Laser in each arm and a Mydron Tornado Rotary Class 5 Autocannon in the right torso, the Vulpes combines excellent range with battlefield longevity, with two tons of ammunition for the autocannon stored deep in the left torso, protected by CASE. It is also equiped with a Guardian ECM Suite.

Variants
As of 3145 no variants of the Vulpes had been introduced to service.

Custom Variants

 * VLP-1DX Vulpes Beast : Debuted in 3144 on the Hartford Gardens Arena and piloted by Robert Benson, The Beast is a remote-operated drone controlled from the copilot seat of the Watchman known as Belle and may well be a triumph of modern military technology. In modifying it for remote control, this Vulpes suffers loss of roughly one third of its land speed, and has shed its stealth equipment in favor of a mix of Clan-spec weapons and Anti-Penetrative Ablation Armor. A Clan XL Engine and eleven Clan Double Heat Sinks complete the mix. This produces a lumbering monster that can take—and dish out—a serious pounding in close combat. The 'Mech is armed with Claws and Talons. All the weight for those protrusions left little room for ranged weapons: one Clan ER Large Laser, one Clan Extended Range Medium Pulse Laser and a couple of ER Flamers meant more for spectacle than for the fight. Missile boats, though, should also consider the RISC Advanced Point Defense System also installed in this 'Mech. How that sophisticated piece of tech, developed by eggheads somewhere inside the Republic of the Sphere after the Gray Monday and that can down missiles that pass too close even if they are aimed at someone else entirely was installed is unknown. BV2 = 1,229.

Design Quirks
The Vulpes features the following Design Quirks:
 * Difficult to Maintain
 * Distracting