Tiger

Description
Succeeding the massive, outdated Estevez as the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns main battle tank in the middle of the 25th century, the Tiger was designed to be lighter and faster than, yet still able to outgun, most of its rivals. After much testing newcomers Veridian Dynamics of Torrence favored a conventional engine and a heavy autocannon to keep costs as low as possible. With its heavy engine and over a third of its total mass devoted to weapons the Tiger's weak spot was the thin armor. Its six tons of standard armor were only a third of that of contemporaries such as the Marsden II, and barely enough to survive two heavy autocannon hits to the same location.

Still its firepower, reliability and low price helped the Tiger become the new standard tank of the AFFS. Eventually production lines on other Davion worlds were opened to keep up with the demand, and in the 2480s it was licensed for production in the Lyran Commonwealth. By the early 26th century the design had proliferated to every other nation of the Inner Sphere. The Tiger began to show its age when the Reunification War began and had been relegated to second-line duty when the war ended. It remained in limited production far into the Succession Wars era.

Weapons and Equipment
In an era where medium cannons were standard for most tanks the Tiger fielded an impressive Federated Autoloader/10-B heavy autocannon with 2 tons of ammunition. Also mounted on the turret were an Archer SRM-4 missile rack and a Grizzly-3 minigun. Two front- and rear-mounted Borman-A5C machine guns provided additional protection from infantry.

Variants
No dedicated variants were built, however the design saw constant updates to electronics and armament, including three different autocannons and the replacement of the unreliable minigun with a third Borman model.

Notable Pilots

 * Col. John Gordon of the First Avalon Dragoons was an important figure in the Davion Civil War, being Alexander Davion's first and most important advisor and field commander. He led many battles from his Tiger before being captured in a battle on Jaipur and executed by the Varnay faction which led to a bitter escalation of the war.