Sci-Fi Tech Military Technology Within the MilSF Novel 'War in 2020'

[Skallagrim]

Interesting thread, @Husky_Khan! I really liked the book, although heretofore, I'd only considered the tech as something of a "world-building" element & hadn't really made it the focus of my attention.

In many ways, this book is "a cyberpunk future without the cyberpunk". If that makes sense...

...Yeah, I'm sorry, but the more I read this, the more it becomes obvious that the plot requires everyone on the American and Soviet leaderships to have dropped fifty IQ points, while everyone on the Japanese side went full bore Imperial Japanese Buffoon again.

The President and his cabinet basically just being completely impotent over a goddamn terror weapon being used cut the already fraying suspension of disbelief rope with a chainsaw. smh

Maybe I've misunderstood the book when I read it, but what @Husky_Khan quotes & discusses supports my original understanding: Japan has a weapon that can instantly render a fate worse than death unto an entire city, at minimum. It's suggested that the weapon can be used on an even larger scale, too.

It's not a terror weapon. It's the equivalent of a very high-yield nuke, but without any of the radiological mess, and with the added "bonus" that they can use it as a terror weapon. (They could also use it to kill everyone, but they do this horrible shit instead, because it'll demoralise the enemy.)

The unrealistic thing is that the USA apparently figured out this tech, but didn't develop it. Which is insane. Of course they would. I can believe they'd reject the 'fate-worse-than-death' variant that Japan went for, but surely they'd fully develop the 'instant death' version and have that at the ready to be deployed.



(Realistically, if such a weapon, on the scale suggested here, were to exist... then there would very quickly be an international treaty that boil down to "if anyone uses this on civilian targets, the response shall be immediate nuclear annihilation". Of course, to be fair, the author of the book presumably agrees with me on that, because the book is very much making a point.)

 

[Jormungandr]

Interesting thread, @Husky_Khan! I really liked the book, although heretofore, I'd only considered the tech as something of a "world-building" element & hadn't really made it the focus of my attention.

In many ways, this book is "a cyberpunk future without the cyberpunk". If that makes sense...





Maybe I've misunderstood the book when I read it, but what @Husky_Khan quotes & discusses supports my original understanding: Japan has a weapon that can instantly render a fate worse than death unto an entire city, at minimum. It's suggested that the weapon can be used on an even larger scale, too.

It's not a terror weapon. It's the equivalent of a very high-yield nuke, but without any of the radiological mess, and with the added "bonus" that they can use it as a terror weapon. (They could also use it to kill everyone, but they do this horrible shit instead, because it'll demoralise the enemy.)

The unrealistic thing is that the USA apparently figured out this tech, but didn't develop it. Which is insane. Of course they would. I can believe they'd reject the 'fate-worse-than-death' variant that Japan went for, but surely they'd fully develop the 'instant death' version and have that at the ready to be deployed.



(Realistically, if such a weapon, on the scale suggested here, were to exist... then there would very quickly be an international treaty that boil down to "if anyone uses this on civilian targets, the response shall be immediate nuclear annihilation". Of course, to be fair, the author of the book presumably agrees with me on that, because the book is very much making a point.)

I think the main problem is that the author fell into a common trap: Plot dictating characters and the story, with the characters and setting basically being marionettes for the plot, rendering said plot basically nonsensical. It's why many characters read as though they're brain-damaged in how they act and react. They're puppets reading from a stupid script than actual people acting and reacting inside of the story.

Really, a competent editor would've pointed this out to the author and (proverbially) bitch-slapped him upside his head.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Interesting thread, @Husky_Khan! I really liked the book, although heretofore, I'd only considered the tech as something of a "world-building" element & hadn't really made it the focus of my attention.

In many ways, this book is "a cyberpunk future without the cyberpunk". If that makes sense...

Yeah I've been a fan of the book for a while now and wanted to do a discussion on it back in... well 2020. But I never got around to it. And while the world of 2020 was fascinating, seeing a 1990 postulation of a 2020 world. But I think your viewpoint is a lot like mine and most peoples.

But the technology, while people who knew about it, liked talking about it, there was never really anyone that went into detail on it. People talk about how cool the M-100's were in brief, but what exactly were their capabilities? The technical world building is actually pretty neat and is just as rich in foundation as any RTS or tabletop/RPG game. The only issue is that it was all contained with one novel and a snapshot of time within it. But there was still a lot of detail packed into it.

I love reading sourcebooks and codices and the like so this'll probably be the closest I can ever get to creating a War in 2020 style index. Like a Technical Readout: 2020.

I'd kinda want to do similar things with other novels, like Hammer's Slammers or whatever.

Maybe I've misunderstood the book when I read it, but what @Husky_Khan quotes & discusses supports my original understanding: Japan has a weapon that can instantly render a fate worse than death unto an entire city, at minimum. It's suggested that the weapon can be used on an even larger scale, too.

It's not a terror weapon. It's the equivalent of a very high-yield nuke, but without any of the radiological mess, and with the added "bonus" that they can use it as a terror weapon. (They could also use it to kill everyone, but they do this horrible shit instead, because it'll demoralise the enemy.)

The unrealistic thing is that the USA apparently figured out this tech, but didn't develop it. Which is insane. Of course they would. I can believe they'd reject the 'fate-worse-than-death' variant that Japan went for, but surely they'd fully develop the 'instant death' version and have that at the ready to be deployed.

(Realistically, if such a weapon, on the scale suggested here, were to exist... then there would very quickly be an international treaty that boil down to "if anyone uses this on civilian targets, the response shall be immediate nuclear annihilation". Of course, to be fair, the author of the book presumably agrees with me on that, because the book is very much making a point.)

Colonel Taylor, the main American refers to it as a 'terror weapon' of course, but he still describes it on a strategic scale. The only overlook I think is, as you say, that the American's didn't develop an "instant death" version. Maybe it wasn't possible to make one but it was never actually dealt with in the novel if that could be an alternative. I'd hazard to say if they could've made an instant-kill broadcast weapon, they would've made one. And it seems like it's plausible since they could make different 'compositions/formula' but apparently testing it was understandably hazardous. But that's more of an internal consistency issue with the technology and not a big issue to me personally.

It's interesting to note that in the book that some of the viewpoints are already evolving in the book that it's just "another strategic weapon" like nuclear warheads were and the Soviet State Security Services are apparently willing to continue prosecuting the war even in the aftermath of the Scrambler attack unlike many sectors of the military leadership.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Chapter Twenty Five:
4 November, 2020

Survivability of the M-100 After Taking Significant Damage Over the Previous Three Days Including the Rescue Landing in the Wake of the First Attack, Engaging Fast Moving Jets It was Never Designed to Do, Almost Being Blown Up by Enemy Rocket Artillery in a Refueling Site, and Being a Munitions Magnet as It Landed Atop the Japanese Headquarters Just Prior.

---

The M-100 was following the terrain as closely as possible on its exfiltration route. And the terrain of Armenia was rugged and wild.

...

The Turkish border lay just beyond the next line of mountains.

...

"But we ain't going to make it. I done my best. But the sonsofbitches put so many holes in us you could run the Mississippi River in one side of this ship and out the other. We're falling apart. And we're running on fumes. I can either put her down now, or we can just wait until we fall out of the sky."

They were so close. Each of the other M-100s in the raiding force had sent the code word hours before to indicate that they had crossed the border into neutral airspace and safety. But the command ship had waited too long to lift off from the rooftop helipad. Its armored sides had been battered and pierced. Barely half an hour out of Baku, Krebs had found it necessary to put down in the hills so that he could try to carry out whatever immediate repairs were possible. With Meredith trying to clumsily help and the others standing guard with their popguns in the darkness, they had struggled to slap enough mechanical Band-aids on the ship to get her back into the air before dawn brought about their inevitable discovery by the enemy. With the first light sweeping over the barren hills, Krebs had miraculously managed to get the M-100 airborne again. It sounded like a stick old used car. But it flew. And they climbed up above the snow line into high Armenia.

---

"How far is it?" Meredith asked.

In response, the engines began to choke.

"So much for the decision-making process," Krebs said.

"Mayday, mayday," Meredith shouted, working the radio and intercom simultaneously. "Prepare for uncontrolled impact."

The engines were finished. Krebs struggled with the manual controls, trying to bully the autorotation system to perform at the top of his voice. But the threats didn't help. They were too low for autorotation to fully activate, and before Meredith could call any further warnings or instructions to the men in the rear compartment, the M-100 began to slice its way through a stand of evergreen trees in a shallow valley.

The machine crashed through the forest, splintering tall conifers. The armored sides and underbelly screamed as the M-100 scraped through the boughs. The ship bucked madly, tilting over on its side. Meredith could hear the sound of man-made materials wrenching apart in the last instant before the fuselage slammed into the ground,

...

To his astonishment, Meredith found that he was still alive... and his spine and koints felt as though he had made a very bad parachute landing. But his seat harness still held him in place. And he was unmistakably, incredibly, deliciously alive.

...

In any case, all of the electronic systems appeared to be utterly inert.

He tested his limbs, then carefully undid his safety harness, lowering himself until his feet caught the edge of teh copilot's seat. The M-100 had settled almsot perfectly at ninety degrees, its right wing and rotor torn awawy. Awkward and stiff, Meredith clambered back through the passafeway that led to the ops compartment, crawling in a sideward world, under the surreal glow of the emergency lights.

Parker and Ryder were both bloody and unconscious. The ops-and-intel NCO was awake but dazewd, the lower half of his face covered in blood. At the sight of Meredith, the NCO's eyes gave a flicker of recognition, but he immediately sank back into himself.

Parker was in the worst shape. The seats in the tops cell had safety belts, but the overall ergonomics were not nearly as well developed as the cockpit seats. Parker's chair had ripped free of its pedestal, throwing him forward...

Ryder came to. The young warrant officer was bruised and stiff, but far luckier than the others.

---

Like the crash from two days prior, this M-100 landed hard with a high proportion of casualties. However while an unknown malfunction caused the crash of the standard M-100 before, it seems likely the lack of fuel, failing engines and extensive battle damage played a part in the crash here along with landing in a forest of conifer trees. Also unlike before, there was no fire. While no one died in this crash as well, one of the officers on board is seriously wounded.

Meanwhile a large force of unknown partisans approach the crash site. They get to work on scuttling the aircraft as best they can.

---

Working frantically, the men wiped out the codes on the electronics that had not been destroyed in the crash.

...

He primed two grenades, tossed them at the control panel and scrambled back to the ops cell, banging his knees and elbows without caring a damn. He just managed to slam shut the compartment door when the twin blasts blew it open again. But the door had absorbed most of the force, and except for a huge ringing in his ears, Meredith was untouched.

Smoke.

Meredith scrambled out through the hatch. As soon as his boots hit the snow, he primed three grenades in succession, lobbing them forward into the ops compartment. Then he flattened himself on the ground along the armored side of the M-100.

The machine's belly shook and groaned under the blasts. But the armor and insulation contained the power. The design was so good that there were not even any secondary explosions from the stored ammunition. The machine had been far more reliable than its human masters.

---

The M-100 is so well designed that the interior doors can resist the explosion of two grenades in the cockpit though it does start a fire. Three more grenades are tossed into the main compartment/ops center and the detonation destroys the interior but due to the M-100s design, there is no ammunition detonations, much similar as to the previous crash where there was no ammo cookoff evident despite the aircraft being on fire.

A brief analysis of the mission from the Regiments Intelligence Officer as he goes to confront a hundred or so armed partisans.

---

The strategic communications set had been on the blink, for some reason, but he had been able to relay the results of their mission by conventional means- including the brilliant surprise about the Japanese homeland space shield. If he had to die, he was going to die in a world he had already changed for the better. His nation and his people would prosper.

---

Only the epilogue and the Author's Afterword remains. Not sure if there's anything technologically relevant in either, but we'll see.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Authors Note:

Nothing technological here, just him expanding on the themes of the books at the very end.

---

---

This is a book about nightmares. Its central theme plays on an enduring Russian nightmare. Although the Soviet Union's short-term problems will arise primarily west of the Ural Mountains, the enduring vision or racial and religious apocalypse scorching inward from the south and east haunts the Russian mind. The plot embraces extremes, as fiction demands. A likelier scenario would describe decades of intermittent unrest, often grim enough in local consequence, but with the anger of the common man never sufficiently well organized to weld very different ethnic groups into a militant union. As a Soviet analyst, were I forced to predict the future of Soviet Central Asia, I would describe it as locally unstable, sporadically fantastical and spotted with blood, blighted by disease and economic malaise- and generally far too dull to attract more than a passing glance from the Western news media.

...

Islamic fundamentalism is an exclusively negative phenomenon. Even more so than its Christian counterpart, it is a struggle against history, a nasty rear-guard action against time and the hard material logic that will always dominate mankind and our crippled world... God becomes an excuse for personal and national failure.

...

Regarding the Japanese themes in the book, they are obviously, take-offs on a current American nightmare. Again, I chose to exploit extremes for the purpose of metaphor. I do not envision Japan as ever again mounting a directly military challenge to the United States. It isn't necessary. The modalities of warfare have expanded, bringing economic combat increasingly to the fore... Just another case of trendy Japan-bashing. I hope not. In any case, I find General Noboru Kabata to be far and away the most sympathetic character in the book.

....

The all-American theme in this book is military unpreparedness. Clearly, as an Army officer and true believer in the historical role of the United States, I am unabashedly biased. As a student of history, I cannot help feeling deep concern over the popular and legislative conviction that, with the Soviet Union in crisis, the Armed forces of the United States can be reduced to a size that is barely ceremonial. Significant cuts c can be made in our arsenal, but we must struggle against the American tendency to overdo everything, to view the world as black or white, either/or. Yes, the Soviet conventional threat has been reduced. But the world remains a brutal, hostile, and jealous place. We must maintain our standing military forces at a level that will allow us to avoid the sort of tragic sacrifices we were forced to make at the beginning of our own wars, from 1812 on down to the great wars of this century, when our starved military establishments struggled desperately to buy time and green citizen-soldiers were thrown into battle unprepared. If we cannot afford the military the generals demand, we should nonetheless demand the best military we can afford. To make judicious cuts in our military at the present time makes economic, social, and political sense. Wanton cuts are just plain dumb.

...

I am interested in the influence of disease upon history, whether it be the effect of the Black Death on economic systems, or of stomach cancer, hepatitis, and parasites on the political consciousness of the residents of the Soviet territories surrounding the Aral Sea. Spurred by the phenomenon of AIDS- a disease which has had far greater impact on social consciousness than on mortality figures in the United States- I tried to imagine what effect a really virulent and contagious disease might have today. On one hand, our level of medical care in the First World is stunningly good; on the other, the world has acquired a new porousness, thanks to technology. A disease that once took a decade or two to creep from China to the English Channel can now make the trip in a day. We have a host of new vectors. After all, it was not really homosexuality or fouled syringes that delivered AIDS to the wealthy West- it was the airplane.

- Ralph Peters, April 1990

 

[Tiamat]

Authors Note:

Nothing technological here, just him expanding on the themes of the books at the very end.

---

---

This is a book about nightmares. Its central theme plays on an enduring Russian nightmare. Although the Soviet Union's short-term problems will arise primarily west of the Ural Mountains, the enduring vision or racial and religious apocalypse scorching inward from the south and east haunts the Russian mind. The plot embraces extremes, as fiction demands. A likelier scenario would describe decades of intermittent unrest, often grim enough in local consequence, but with the anger of the common man never sufficiently well organized to weld very different ethnic groups into a militant union. As a Soviet analyst, were I forced to predict the future of Soviet Central Asia, I would describe it as locally unstable, sporadically fantastical and spotted with blood, blighted by disease and economic malaise- and generally far too dull to attract more than a passing glance from the Western news media.

...

Islamic fundamentalism is an exclusively negative phenomenon. Even more so than its Christian counterpart, it is a struggle against history, a nasty rear-guard action against time and the hard material logic that will always dominate mankind and our crippled world... God becomes an excuse for personal and national failure.

...

Regarding the Japanese themes in the book, they are obviously, take-offs on a current American nightmare. Again, I chose to exploit extremes for the purpose of metaphor. I do not envision Japan as ever again mounting a directly military challenge to the United States. It isn't necessary. The modalities of warfare have expanded, bringing economic combat increasingly to the fore... Just another case of trendy Japan-bashing. I hope not. In any case, I find General Noboru Kabata to be far and away the most sympathetic character in the book.

....

The all-American theme in this book is military unpreparedness. Clearly, as an Army officer and true believer in the historical role of the United States, I am unabashedly biased. As a student of history, I cannot help feeling deep concern over the popular and legislative conviction that, with the Soviet Union in crisis, the Armed forces of the United States can be reduced to a size that is barely ceremonial. Significant cuts c can be made in our arsenal, but we must struggle against the American tendency to overdo everything, to view the world as black or white, either/or. Yes, the Soviet conventional threat has been reduced. But the world remains a brutal, hostile, and jealous place. We must maintain our standing military forces at a level that will allow us to avoid the sort of tragic sacrifices we were forced to make at the beginning of our own wars, from 1812 on down to the great wars of this century, when our starved military establishments struggled desperately to buy time and green citizen-soldiers were thrown into battle unprepared. If we cannot afford the military the generals demand, we should nonetheless demand the best military we can afford. To make judicious cuts in our military at the present time makes economic, social, and political sense. Wanton cuts are just plain dumb.

...

I am interested in the influence of disease upon history, whether it be the effect of the Black Death on economic systems, or of stomach cancer, hepatitis, and parasites on the political consciousness of the residents of the Soviet territories surrounding the Aral Sea. Spurred by the phenomenon of AIDS- a disease which has had far greater impact on social consciousness than on mortality figures in the United States- I tried to imagine what effect a really virulent and contagious disease might have today. On one hand, our level of medical care in the First World is stunningly good; on the other, the world has acquired a new porousness, thanks to technology. A disease that once took a decade or two to creep from China to the English Channel can now make the trip in a day. We have a host of new vectors. After all, it was not really homosexuality or fouled syringes that delivered AIDS to the wealthy West- it was the airplane.

His world-building IMO in this novel was rather mixed IMO, but he does raise very good points here, and it stands to reason a rather fair number of his concerns have become front and center.

 

[Husky_Khan]

His world-building IMO in this novel was rather mixed IMO, but he does raise very good points here, and it stands to reason a rather fair number of his concerns have become front and center.

I think that the concerns about his world-building brought up in this thread are based off of like <5% of the novel that was posted in out of context excerpts here. I even cut out chunks of internal dialogue and entire paragraphs of discussion when posted some of these excerpts, hence all of the "..." you see sprinkled throughout the text.

I'm simply not addressing it because while I completely disagree with the characterization of the novel as "worse then fanfics" and that the Author "needs an editor" and the characters are retarded marionettes and that Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 is more realistic, I really don't feel like diverting time. posts and attention to engaging in a side discussion that would significantly derail from this threads purpose, which as I made clear initially and repeatedly, was on the technology. If that's the assumption that people get from my excerpts posted, I guess that's on me anyways because I'm not interested in correcting or arguing the issue here. If people want to discuss the world building, that's fine but I'm not going to do it from an adversarial or defensive position.

I think the world building is just as legitimately well done as any other sci-fi out there whether its pulpy and popular like Cyberpunk 2020 or Command & Conquer or scifi 'classics' like 1984 and Brave New World. YMMV but you shouldn't base your opinion off of this thread IMHO.

EDIT:

Also I'm planning on updating the first post and all of the little bits inventoried there. I can nerd out and see about writing up little sourcebook style specs on the M-100 and Toshiba Gunship and maybe other things like the Soviet T-94 Main Battle Tank, White Light Aircraft and Mitsubishi 4000 Penetration Bomber etc.

I think the M-100 is a truly badass weapons platform. It's like diet-RIFTS level honestly with the railgun.

 

[Husky_Khan]

So there aren't any pictures of the M-100... or anything else... but there is the cover art which gives a fairly hopefully decent impression of what the M-100 should look like... potentially.

Basically the hardcovers and various paperback releases over the years had slightly different designs on the cover with the exception of one...

This looks like random scifi vehicle here... it's supposed to be a very, very big ugly tilt rotor helicopter, not whatever this is.

Even the Toshiba Gunship is describes as a helicopter with turboprops on the wings or a plane with rotors and a mongrelized front end. And the deadly laser pod. So whatever the above is... it ain't either of the two gunships prominently featured in the novel.

 

[Husky_Khan]

M-100 "Flying Frog"

Country: United States
Type: Heavy Cavalry Gunship/Transport
Crew: 2 (Pilot. Co-Pilot/Gunner)
Capacity: One Squad of Light Dragoons or a Command Compartment.
Range: 1400 Miles (One Way)

Armament:
1x Railgun: The Electromagnetic Railgun can fire at a cyclic rate of fire. It includes a sabot round and a solid penetrating shot among others. These two rounds can penetrate any known armor on the battlefield. It's capable of engaging targets at least up to twenty miles (over thirty two kilometers away) in clear conditions. It can fire with near perfect accuracy initially, with that performance degrading to 50% accuracy after about 600 rounds. The weapon requires a special recalibrator system to restore the weapon to full functionality. The Rail
1x Gatling Gun: Heavy Caliber short ranged gatling gun capable of shredding people or setting light armored vehicles ablaze.

Description:
The M-100 is an offense oriented heavy combat bird meant to seek out and destroy enemy forces. The main asset of the M-100 is its advanced battlefield electronics which take in data from multiple sources both on board and external to feed into the electromagnetic railguns advanced target-acquisition fire control computer. Using parameters entered by the aircrew, the railgun can then rapidly identify, track and engage targets within those parameters automatically and at a rapidly 'cyclic' rate of fire. It can track small animals across the land from dozens of kilometers away and is able to track and engage targets within its line of sight at a range of roughly twenty miles.

Equipped with advanced stealth technology and advanced electronic warfare countermeasures, the M-100 is meant to operate in hostile battlefields, engaging large numbers of enemy forces rapidly. The passive spoofers reinforce its stealth capability and as it closes into hostile environments, active jammers and electronic warfare countermeasures can overwhelm electronic monitors, collectors and target acquisition systems with static or a barrage of false images while hiding the M-100s themselves with even more active jamming being able to burn out insufficiently protected electronic systems. They can also jam communications.

The on-board computers and windshield monitors on the M-100 are capable of multiple vision modes, again bringing together a fusion of sensors and information gathering sources for the on-board battle computers to collate and process. Vision modes include radar digital, enhanced thermal, target sort and composite environments.

The engines are reliable and while the aircraft is very fast, it is also capable of sharp aerial maneuvers and has a tight turning radius even at higher speeds. It can maintain its stealth and all operational capability at any speed, including when hovering and is capable of easily utilizing most landing sites including rooftop helipads utilized for normal helicopters.

The M-100 is robustly built, its composite armor plating capable of withstanding heavy caliber autocannon rounds. The transparent windshields are also proofed against heavy machine gun fire. With a combat range is an estimated fourteen hundred nautical miles, a squadron of M-100s can be deployed for wide sweeping search and destroy missions or for raids deep behind enemy lines. Considered large and ugly, it's quite maneuverable and faster than its foreign contemporaries. M-100s also possess chemical and radiological alarms including full environmental seals as well as antocamouflage when grounded. Carried on board within the armored troop compartment is a squad of dragoons, light infantry equipped with full body armor and faceshields.

Variants:
The Command Variant of the M-100 replaces the troop compartment with an Command Ops Compartment. This variant has a highly advanced sensor suite and communications package, able to operate in darkness, clouds, bad weather and make a pilot feel like a General with the amount of information he can take in that the on-board computers can process from all manners of sources as well as instantaneously distribute through communication laser based networks.

Operational History:
The 7th (Heavy) Cavalry was deployed to the Central Asian Front of the Soviet Union in November of 2020 originally based in an industrial park east of the Siberian city of Omsk.

> On the Night of the 2nd to 3rd of November three squadrons of three troops of M-100s plus a command troop equaling a total of forty five M-100s advanced on three axis to engage multiple Corps of Iranian, Arabian and Soviet Rebel forces with the major targets being headquarters areas, repair yards and troop concentrations. Due to extensive local theater jamming by Tenth Cavalry Electronic Warfare birds as well as the built in electronic warfare and stealth technology in the M-100s, the attack achieved complete surprise.

In roughly an hour, one squadron of less than fifteen M-100s was able to engage and destroy almost twenty five hundred tactical systems including tanks, armored personnel carriers, and heavy transports and more that were forward deployed in the field. The other squadrons had similar or greater success in vehicle and equipment kills. Multiple Corps level headquarters and Corps level repair yards were destroyed in the attack.

Also eliminated were nine Japanese Penetration Jet Bombers at the tail end of the mission. One M-100 suffered an unknown malfunction and crashed with all but two personnel killed due to the crash. Dragoons also suffered casualties during a dismounted infantry raid on a smaller headquarters location. No M-100s were lost or even significantly damaged in combat.

The resulting losses by the Japanese backed forces resulted in a near complete collapse of the entire front. It was considered the most serious loss of Japanese arms since World War Two and the breadth and scale of the loss instigated fratricidal conflict between many of the local allies of the Japanese and those in rebellion against him. A probably 7500-10000 tactical systems and pieces of heavy equipment were likely eliminated in total by the M-100s in what was likely one of the most lopsided battlefield victories in military history with many M-100s reported getting upwards of two hundred or more kills.

> On the 4th of November a Raid by six M-100s was authorized on the Japanese Headquarters Complex in Baku in the Islamic Republic of Azerbaijan with the point of origin just east of Orenburg with a refueling stop in the Volga Estuary near the Caspian Sea and exfiltration back north towards a location southeast of Saratov, Russia. The M-100s were volunteer crews and the railguns suffered from growing inaccuracy issues due to the destruction and loss of the Recalibrators intended to recalibrate the Railguns to full effectiveness.

Due to an intelligence leak or betrayal, one M-100 was destroyed at an ambush at the refueling site. The remaining five M-100s, having just survived the rocket artillery strike, were then intercepted by ten of the latest variant Toshiba Gunships operated by their best and most disciplined aircrew. In the ensuing engagement, due to superior tactics, training, and skill as well as the M-100s having tighter turning radius' and being faster, were able to overcome the mutual cancellation of each others targeting and guidance systems by utilizing manual controls for the railguns and eliminated all ten Toshiba Gunships with no loss to themselves.

The remaining M-100s then managed to arrive at the Headquarters Complex at Baku undetected as it was under siege by local insurgents. After eliminating Rebel tanks located in the courtyard, gatling guns were used to clear the courtyard and nearby buildings before landing dragoons in the courtyard and atop the rooftop. One M-100 provided overwatch, holding off multiple armored relief columns attempting to shoot their way into the hostile city towards the headquarters. The five M-100s then successfully exfiltrated the compound, all of them suffering varying degrees of battle damage. Four made it to neutral Turkey and were scuttled while the fifth crash landed several kilometers short of the mountains on the Turkish border where the aircrew scuttled that craft as well.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Toshiba Gunship

Country: Japan
Type: Gunship
Crew: 2. (Pilot, Co-Pilot)
Capacity: Minimal*
Range: 1050 Miles*

Armament:
1x Tactical Laser Pod: A low slung laser pod is mounted beneath the bow. Depending on the setting it can fire beams invisible to the naked eye and tune the intensity of the beam strike. At normal combat power the laser beam is capable of penetrating any known armor on the battlefield and can engage targets at a range of at least fifteen miles or twenty four kilometers. Depending on use, it requires frequent recharging. The laser can also blind individuals without appropriate optical shielding.
1x Internal Weapons Bay: The Toshiba Gunship has internal weapon bays capable of launching standoff range air launched air to ground rockets with compact conventional explosives and fuel-air warheads with a large blast radius that can spread across hundreds of square meters similar to that of a small tactical nuclear weapon with the blast effects felt kilometers away.

Description:
The Toshiba Gunship when it made its combat debut in 2005 was a revolutionary air-ground combat system. The tactical laser pod surprised everyone with how small yet powerful it was. It's a warbird meant for short, decisive surgical strikes, able to clear the skies of enemy gunships and armored vehicles with its laser pod, while its internal bay loaded with air launched, standoff rockets can be used to devastate enemy fortifications, bases and troop concentrations, all while maintaining its stealth and de facto invisibility thanks to a superior electronic warfare suite. The Toshiba Gunships would strike first under electronic cover and clearing the path for more conventional air and ground forces to sweep the survivors from the area.

Their on-board computers and electronic warfare systems are designed to drown out or overwhelm enemy radars, sensor suites and even communications, including potentially burning out lesser protected systems. Their main asset is in utilizing passive jammers and spoofers while their own countermeasures help prevent similar electronic warfare having effects on their own advanced systems.

Designed for short, sharp engagements, it operates off of a smaller supply tether while its tactical laser pod can require quick recharging after intense use. With a mongrelized forward compartment, the rest of the aircraft looks like a plane with tilt rotors or a helicopter with turboprops mounted on the side. Faster then any known helicopter, it still possesses a wider turning radius then conventional helicopters and the powerplant can be vulnerable if struck. But thanks to the power of its defensive countermeasures, the Toshiba Gunship is nigh invulnerable on the modern battlefield.

Operational History:

> The Toshiba Gunship made its combat debut in Zaire, in 2005 when the South African government backed Zairan rebels based out of the south of the country in the Shaba and Katanga regions. The United States XVIII Airborne Corps was deployed in the region to challenge them. The South Africans withdrew in the wake of the Americans sluggish advance, waiting for them to establish bases thousands of kilometers from their main base in Kinshasa before engaging in an offensive that achieved tactical surprise thanks to the Japanese supplied electronic warfare capabilities and battlefield electronics.

The first engagement involved a group of Toshiba Gunships engaged a troop of modern American AH-64A5 Attack Helicopters, jamming their radars, sensors and long range range communications before engaging the Apaches with their tactical lasers at beyond visual range. Each laser strike resulting in an Apache kill, totally destroying the aircraft in spite of their evasive maneuvers. The engagement start at just the edge of visual range and well beyond that of the Apache's own air-to-air missiles. The entire troop was eliminated with no loss or threat to the Toshiba Gunships.

In the subsequent campaign, under the cloak of superior battlefield electronics and warfare countermeasures, the Toshiba Gunships led the strikes, destroying individual armored vehicles and weapons systems with their lasers and using their air launched standoff rockets to eliminate bases, camps and troop concentrations whilst opening up the enemy to more conventional airstrikes and ground attack. The short campaign resulted in the retreat of the XVIII Airborne Corps and supporting units, who even offered an unconditional surrender only to have it rejected. The United States, in order to prevent the destruction of their forces, were compelled to employ a strategic nuclear counterstrike to bring about a peace settlement from the South Africans.

> The latest variant Toshiba Gunships, though painted in Iranian livery and camouflage, were employed in support of the rebel Central Asian Soviet, Iranian and Arab Legion forces in the Caucasus and Central Asian front. In a six week campaign, the Japanese backed Allied forces advanced over a thousand kilometers into Soviet Union territory, taking over much of Central Asia including much of Kazakhstan and the stretch of land between the Black Sea and Caspian up and even bypassing to the Volga estuary. The Soviet military forces considered the Toshiba Gunships to be invulnerable, their attacks often devastating with the Soviet military unable or incapable of effectively responding.

> Toshiba Gunships manned by professional veteran South African crews met their match when ten of the latest variant Toshiba Gunships attempted to ambush five American M-100 Gunships at a refueling point. Their air-launched standoff rockets only managed to catch one of the M-100s before they could take off and in the ensuing engagement, while the battlefield electronics almost cancelled each other out, the Americans were able to listen in on South African voice communication. After detecting each other at forty miles distance, both sides closed distance and even bypassed each other without loss to either side.

But the M-100's proved to have a tighter turning radius and the highly trained American aircrew began engaging the Toshiba Gunships with manual targeting. Six Toshiba Gunships were rapidly eliminated on the turnaround and the remaining four proved to be not as fast as the M-100 and were chased down and destroyed by the M-100s. All of the Toshiba Gunships upon being struck exploded into fireballs as soon as they were struck by the M-100 Railgun rounds. All ten Toshiba Gunships were destroyed with no loss to the M-100s.

*No evidence... just assuming.

 

[Husky_Khan]

T-94 Main Battle Tank

Country: Soviet Union
Type: Main Battle Tank
Crew: 3 (Commander, Gunner, Driver)

Armament:
1x High Velocity Main Gun: Emplaced in an elevated casemate style mount packed with optics and sensors, the T-94's main gun can reliably engage targets at ranges upwards of five thousand five hundred meters with its acquire-and-fire target acquisition system, engaging enemy forces at a cyclic firing rate. Manual targeting range is considerably lower however.
1x Anti-Tank Missile Launcher: The Top-Attack Missile Launcher can engage enemy targets at ranges of upwards of ten kilometers away with the missile flying over and striking the vulnerable top of its target to destroy or damage it.

Description:
The T-94 Main Battle Tank is the latest tank model in Soviet service. An evolution of the T-92, the design is almost two decades old by the War of 2020 but has several significant evolutions from tanks of the immediate post Cold War era. Appearance wise, the traditional tank hull only has an elevated gun mount packed with advanced telescoping optics and sensors in lieu of the turrets of prior generations of tanks with the tank commander, gunner and driver all sitting together in an armored forward department in the hull. The lower profile provides considerable benefit when being targeted, especially while in defilade position.

It is equipped with advanced electro-optics and a laser based ranging and targeting system as well as an advanced acquire-and-fire target acquisition system which feeds targeting data into an autosystem which allows the tanks main gun to engage multiple targets in a rapid, cyclic tempo. In case of electronic warfare interference or other malfunction, telescoping sights and a periscope are still installed in the vehicle as well. It also possesses a powerful short range communications system able to withstand broad based electronic jamming and interference. The T-94 also comes equipped with top-attack missiles for engaging targets at ranges of upwards of ten kilometers whose targeting can be data linked to recon vehicles and other scouts to maximum the missiles benefits in surprise, impact and range.

The T-94 has environmental seals and alarms and an overpressure system to protect it in nuclear,biological and chemical environments.