V2.00ÿÿpBMontgomery TankIÑ š±l€ŠC€ŠC`AÀ@€?GH 005 2 2 —— 4Tð$@Defiance Killer Type TOSperry BrowningdOSperry BrowningdhCoventry`˜The Patton/Rommel designs of Defiance Industries' Vehicle Division were a radical shift from standard vehicle design doctrine, and a gamble for the industry giant. Though trials had shown both designs to be quite powerful tanks, their Achilles' heel was their reliance on fusion reactors, which thanks to the destruction of the Succession Wars were often times stripped from vehicles to be used in BattleMechs. In efforts to retain market share in the event the Patton/Rommel designs failed, the Board ordered the design of a tank similar to the Patton/Rommel designs, but powered by a I.C.E. Power Plant. This new design would become known as the Montgomery.  Starting with the Patton design, Defiance engineers started by simply attempting a straight engine swap, the fusion for a cheaper, more readily available and locally manufactured I.C.E. Power Plant. To keep the same performance required a larger engine however, which was found to put too much stress on the chassis and make it too heavy. While they considered using a smaller engine which would reduce performance, in the end the decided to redesign the armament and lighten the chassis. The Montgomery is only sixty-tons, making it five tons lighter than the Patton/Rommel designs, yet retains almost identical firepower to the Patton design. The redesigned Killer Type T Autocannon used on the Patton forms the main gun of the Montgomery, with two tons of ammunition. A tried and true Sperry Browning Machine Gun is mounted co-axially, with a second one mounted on the forward hull. A Conventry 4-Tube SRM Rack rounds out the armament, which itself is mounted much like the LRM system on the Patton; coaxially and with a slight elevation. The Montgomery lacks the heavy armor found on the Patton, but still carries a respectable seven and a half tons of armor plating.  As the Montgomery lacks a long range weapon like on the Patton/Rommel designs, engineers quickly proposed and completed a variant of the Montgomery which replaces the short-range missile system with the long-range missile rack used on the other two designs.  cIntense rivalries soon developed between the design teams of the Montgomery and Patton tanks, which once the vehicles entered into production carried over into their respective crews. Though many considered the Patton design the superior of the two, the Montgomery was often the choice of many higher echelons due to its lower cost and simplified maintance. As the two tanks are near identical, many often mistake one for the other upon first inspection. Armor crews have taken high offense at such misconceptions, believing it insulting to call their tank by the supposed inferior name of the competition. Designed by "Doc""Defiance Industries of Hesperus IIHesperus II / LA (DI)Defiance 1/Star SlabTharHes Muse 54-58KTharHes Mars 5[ none ]