Kanga

Description
One of the most memorable and unique Combat Vehicles of the Star League era, the Kanga was the first combat vehicle to mount Jump Jets.

The ability to jump was one of the advantages long retained by the BattleMech, but in the mid 2650s SLDF Vehicle Corps General Alvarez "Bull" Mitchell attempted to overcome this hurdle. The general's family ties to the mammoth Mitchell Vehicles of Graham IV ensured his ideas were developed into prototypes. Unable to solve the complex balance issues caused by the jump jets the company to turn to the Nirasaki Computers Collective for assistance who responded with the AL2200 Track-Nav AI computer, an advanced system which basically controlled every aspect of the Mitchell JB Thrust Bottle jets from take-off to landing, resulting in an efficient and deadly hovertank.

Like many highly advanced designs, the loss of both Mitchell Vehicles and Nirasaki to the unbridled destruction of the Amaris Coup and the First Succession War doomed the Kanga, and by the Second Succession War virtually none survived outside the ComStar's Terran stockpiles or Brian Caches of the Clan Homeworlds. The vehicle's fate has improved in the modern era. While the fighting of the Jihad resulted in the destruction of the last of Kangas still operational in the Inner Sphere, the desperation of the age resulted in the Kanga to be reintroduced and upgraded by Clan Hell's Horses as a precursor to a programme of developing new jump-capable vehicles.

Weapons and Equipment
The vehicle's main weapon is a front mounted Class 5 Lonworth Type V Autocannon, supported by General Datatech-produced Vertical Launch LRM-10 and SRM-4 launchers in the center of the hull, with a nose mounted Tri-Axe Machine Gun for anti-infantry purposes. One ton of reloads for the autocannon and each missile launcher, and half ton of the machine gun, give the design reasonable endurance. While somewhat hampered by its fixed forward weaponry, the increased maneuverability offered by the Kanga's jump jets greatly compensates for this.

Variants

 * KGA-3X : Little is known about this experimental variant save it reportedly included a turret assembly.


 * Kanga (AC) : This version of the Kanga lost its jump capability, turning it into a standard hovertank. The SRM launcher was also removed. In exchange, the main gun was upgraded to an Autocannon/10 with two tons of ammunition. BV (2.0) = 774


 * Kanga-X : A continuation of the manufacturing and trade alliance between Clan Hell's Horses and Clan Wolf-in-Exile that resulted in the Cygnus, seeking new and unique weapons for the fight against the Word of Blake led to another look at the Kanga on Arc-Royal. Focusing on copying the original's frame and systems as much as possible, the Kanga-X mounts a Fusion Engine to free up weight to mount its weapons in a so-far aerodynamically unstable turret, with the autocannon replaced with an experimental Large Chemical Laser and the standard LRM and SRM launchers being swapped for a Streak LRM-10 and Streak SRM-4. Two tons worth of laser shots and a single ton of reloads for each efficient Streak Missile Launcher give it reasonable endurance.

Related OmniVehicles

 * Hephaestus - Seeking to develop a new light hovertank employing unexpected equipment to surprise their enemies, Clan Hell's Horses immediately focused on producing a modern OmniVehicle version of jumping tank like the Kanga. Unfortunately even the advanced technology base of the Clans found replicating and integrating the AL2200 into an OmniVehicle chassis prohibitively expensive and the design was shelved and later re-purposed solely as a non-jump capable infantry carrying OmniTank. Building off the lessons learned from the Kanga-X, after the Jihad's conclusion a non-OmniVehicle variant of the Hephaestus equipped with jump jets was finally developed.