V2.00ÿÿ A1Light Armored Vehicle - Infantry Fighting VehicleLAV-IFVÖ Š‚0Ü?C?C0A@GL 003 2 2 —— 6Wtran4d 8 (Unknown)€@ Infantry BayP´ Shortly after the Federated Suns conquered - "liberated" in today's textbooks - Tigress during the Fourth Succession War and Laurel's Legion switched sides during a pivotal battle in the capitol of Four Cities, the planetary nobles decided that it was time to upgrade the planet's defenses. While Laurel's Legion was a fierce fighting force, it WAS still a mercenary unit, and had to take contracts - which often took it from the planet - in order to survive. This left Tigress undefended, even while it was a target of pirates, bandits, and even Capellan insurgents due to its highly intelligent (and successful) population. To combat this, the ruling Planetary Council, led by Judith Laurel - still titular head of the planetary government even as the other nobles' power increased under the Davion government - authorized the establishment of a large, division-sized militia consisting of two brigades of infantry and a brigade of armored vehicles. In order to take advantage of the economic possibilities offered by the more open trading policies of the Federated Suns, the Planetary Council authorized a sizable loan for the establishment of a corporation to locally produce the armored personnel carriers and other armored vehicles required by this new militia. The first product of this new corporation, dubbed "LightStar Defense Industries" by its new board of directors, was the Light Armored Vehicle - Infantry Fighting Vehicle, or LAV-IFV.9 The LAV-IFV shares some features with many of the heavy APC designs in use with today's militaries, but has a few major differences as well. The first and most obvious difference is the use of a Hermes 100 fusion engine, practically unheard-of in an armored vehicle since the First Succession War and even rarer among non-front-line combat vehicles. This is possible thanks to the large number of qualified nuclear engineers located on Tigress, many of whom were trained to help maintain the twenty massive fusion reactors that have allowed Tigress to maintain its high standard of living and literacy rate throughout the Succession Wars. The use of a fusion engine allows the LAV-IFV to operate independently of a fuel supply, and the inclusion of an all-energy weapons complement in place of the machine guns and missile launchers standard on I.C.E.-powered APCs has made the LAV-IFV a design much sought-after by mercenary commands and other units expected to operate for extended periods away from friendly supply lines. The three medium lasers also provide significantly more firepower than most other APC designs. The reduction in size of the infantry bay from six tons to four allows the LAV-IFV to carry significantly more armor protection, further increasing its attractiveness to the Tigress Militia and other buyers. w The Light Armored Vehicle has proven to be a versatile design. By filling in the infantry bay with power couplings, ammunition storage bins, and other equipment, the LAV can become much more than just a traditional "battle taxi"; it can become a versatile and reliable combat vehicle. Other options include placing MASH or mobile command equipment in the infantry bay. ë The Tigress Militia fields nearly two full regiments of the LAV-IFV and other variants based on the LAV chassis, while it has also been sold to numerous mercenary units and other units in the Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth. VariousVarious (Unknown) (Unknown)VariousVarious[ none ]