Burke

Description and History
The Burke was created as a static defense vehicle for the Star League Defense Force in 2580. The Foretechno corporation of Terra had great difficulties producing the tank, suffering from irregular production runs until 2650. Due to this 50 year period of uneven production, maintenance for the vehicle became difficult. By this time the corporation was in grave trouble, and was ultimately taken over by Leopard Armor in 2755.

The tank is noteworthy for its devastating long-range firepower. Due to its ponderous speed and lack of short ranged weaponry, SLDF frontline forces disliked the vehicle, though garrison forces highly prized it. Member-states of the Star League also employed the tank in their private armies.

Leopard Armor was destroyed in 2778 during the Star League Civil War. This cut off parts and support for the Burkes with the militaries of the Great Houses. Without support for the surviving tanks, the model disappeared from the armies of the Successor States by the end of the multiple century conflict.

Only in secret did ComStar's ComGuard units maintain a number of these vehicles in operational condition within the Inner Sphere. The Clans, whom themselves are descendants of SLDF also maintained a number of them as well, particularly Clan Hell's Horses.

ComGuard put the tanks to good use at the Battle of Tukayyid in 3051. Additionally, Word of Blake defectors took many of these tanks with them after the ComStar Schism.

It is thought that the tank's extinction may be at hand with the Jihad's fury of destruction cutting through the Inner Sphere.

Weapons and Equipment
The vehicle's main armament consists of three turret-mounted Chalker Model 25 Particle Projection Cannons. The cannons can be used to engage three separate targets or fire in unison against one. The cannons are backed up by a fixed forward Holly-10 LRM-10 launcher with one ton of ammunition. The launcher utilizes a Scope 30 RNDST tracking system, which is able to account for electronic jamming, atmospheric conditions and evasive maneuvers to provide accurate targeting.

The vehicle is powered by a GM 150 Rated Fusion Engine, pushing the vehicle at a slow maximum speed of 32 kph. The Burke's slow speed is partially compensated for with its six tons of Ferro-Fibrous armor.

Variants

 * Heavy PPC : Word of Blake and ComStar forces upgraded their existing Burkes at the beginning of the Jihad. They replaced the three PPCs with two Supernova Heavy PPCs in the turret, while the LRM10 was replaced by a Four-Tube Streak Short Range Launcher in the front of the tank. This variant was given an additional two tons of armor and an Improved C3 Network Computer System was installed to give the tank crew unprecedented targeting ability. BV (2.0)= 875


 * Royal : Fielded by the Star League Defense Force Royal Divisions, this variant of the Burke uses an XL Fusion Engine to increase the maximum speed to 54kp/h. The LRM-10 is replaced with a pair of Streak SRM-2 launchers that have one ton of ammunition. BV (2.0) = 1,105


 * Burke II : Superheavy version of the Burke tank created for the Rim Worlds Republic army during their occupation of Terra in 2776-2777. Only pair of Prototypes were produced before the vehicle's production line was destroyed by SLDF forces.