Chilton (Jump Jets)

Chilton is the brand or design name of a family of Jump Jets. There are multiple models of Chilton jump jets that are produced by several manufacturers across the Inner Sphere. Interestingly whether the Chilton name refers to an actual manufacturer, an engineer, a design firm or a publisher of technical documents has been lost to antiquity. Notwithstanding that there is no actual Chilton factory, the base Chilton design is among the oldest and most common names in jump technology.

Standard Jump Jets
The Chilton standard jump jet designs have been produced in a myriad of variants. The best known versions are listed below.

Model 360
The Chilton 360 is a light jump pack most commonly installed in the Stinger. This model has also been employed in the Firestarter, Vulcan , and Duan Gung.

Model 365
To date there is only one noted user of the Chilton Model 365. The 60 ton Anvil sports this three ton jump system giving it a jump range of around 90 meters.

Model 460
To date the model 460 has only been employed on the Quickdraw. This five ton unit launches the 60 ton Quickdraw 150m in a bound.

Model 465
The Chilton 465 is the system employed on the ubiquitous Crusader. The type has also been used on the Tempest and a later refit of the Thunderbolt.

Model 466
The Chilton 466 is used in the TDR-10M Thunderbolt variant and likely represents a slight variation of the Chilton 465 used in the TDR-9M. This dual leg mounted array is capable of launching the 65 ton 'Mech 120m in a bound.

Model 600
The Chilton 600 Jump Jet kit is the one of the largest entries in the Chilton family. First installed in the Marauder II in 3012 this type is also found on the Colossus. Of note is that the Colossus is itself a descendant of the Marauder II and it is unclear if Omnitech produces their own units of this design or imports them. For that matter General Motors themselves are relatively mum on whether they make the Chilton 600 themselves or if they have an OEM vendor.

Model 850 Mk. II
A likely development of the Chilton 600, the model 850 Mk. II is found on the 4K and 4S variants of the Marauder II. Providing a similar jump capacity and similar mass in a similar configuration to the Model 600, the Chilton 850 Mk. II may simply represent manufacturing changes to fit in the redesigned Marauder II chassis for the 4K and 4S variants. The exact differences between the models is not known at this time.

Chilton Improved Jump Jets
Like other types of Improved Jump Jets, the Chilton Improved series has been developed based on technical information developed by the Clan Wolf-in-Exile that has been spread throughout the inner sphere. Heavier than their standard versions, Improved Jump Jets allow a mech to travel further with less heat.

Model 21 Improved
A development by Bowie Industries, the Chilton Model 21 Improved provides the 70 ton ARC-9M Archer with a 150 meter bounding distance, a substantial improvement to the reduced ground speed of the ARC-9M. Other manufacturers soon adopted the design of both the mech and its systems.

Model 950 Improved
Like the Model 21 Improved Jump Jets, the Model 950 provides significantly improved bounding distances compared to normal Jump Jets. Being developed for large quad `Mechs, the Chilton 950 is found on the Trebaruna and 6C variant of the Sirocco and is one of the largest and heaviest Jump Jet systems available.

Model 1350 Improved
A replacement for the Model 850 Mk.II, the Chilton 1350 is a massive twenty ton array of thrust units capable of launching the 100 ton MAD-6D Marauder II 150 meters across the landscape. As this variant is a refit, the OEM manufacturer of the Chilton 1350 is unclear. Presumably the 1350 is being produced on Tikonov, the planet that the refit is being done on by the Federated Suns redesign team. Even this detail however is not clear from declassified sources.