ROVER- MK-I SERIES 100 MODEL 85D TYPE 100
_________________________________________
The MK-1 series of semi-autonomous 'smart' mine was already in production as a pre-War military aerodyne based RPV and stocks were present in the United States arsenals when SKYNET became aware. Over three hundred MK-1 SASM munitions were deployed at Cheyenne Mountain alone, and were integrated into the overall installation defense on the surface sector.
Many early massed Resistance attacks were stopped and even reversed by staggered lines of Type 100 automatic aerodyne mines. Usually deployed as static guardians of bases, to break up infantry charges, or sent down into the ruins and tunnels favored for hiding and guerilla warfare by the Resistance, the Seeker has proved to be a very stable design. Based on a Pre-Sentience design for a cheap, military aerodyne based RPV which was used for scout purposes, SKYNET was quick to implement the design into the databases of its automated factories, adding a dedicated anti-personnel pre-fragmented explosive charge and a limited sensor / scanner suite fitted to a low level tactical threat computer into the final design.
The result was a spherical shaped, self-propelled, target seeking guided anti-personnel mine with the ability not only to identify and track its target(s), but also the ability to remain on station and loiter in guard mode for weeks or months on end without maintenance thanks to a small hydrogen fuel cell. Seekers could also be supplied with tactical data received from scout or intel units and then be programmed to enter into Resistance tunnel and underground warren areas to seek targets that could not be engaged on the surface. Seekers also were able to maintain a low-power mode which allowed the Seeker to lie amid debris, its sensors queued for passive detection. When a target came within range, the Seeker would power up and engage the target. This dormant mode has resulted in many Resistance casualties.
Seekers are programmed with only limited intelligence and are not much smarter than a dog. They can be tricked and even fooled, but once they acquire a target, they will follow and engage that target as long as they can track it. If a target track is lost, the Seeker will go into a preprogrammed loiter mode where it searches the surrounding area in a methodical and logical, if somewhat preprogrammed manner. If the target is still not found, the Seeker will take up station at its current location and power down, awaiting another target of opportunity.
The 35kph top speed delivered by battery powered lift fans was considered to be adequate in tactical situations given that the movement of the Seeker was almost silent. Seekers attacked by stealth, quietly floating towards their targets in their primary mode, hunting at night, skimming the ground silently, using debris and rubble to mask and hide their movements. Seekers would also 'roost' in tall ruins of buildings, watching the streets below. When a viable target approached, the Seeker would power up and silently descend from above until the unit was within blast range of the target, usually exploding above and behind for maximum lethality in a shower down pattern of fragmentation, resulting in a superior beaten sheath of fragment dispersal.
Solar receptors recharged the ion batteries during the daytime and special power saving subroutines reduced power consumption throughout the performance envelope. Maximum service ceiling for the Seeker was limited to 2000 m from ground clearance, enough to clear most entrenched Resistance units in skyscrapers and to remove the last few low flying aircraft that the resistance managed to field in the early part of the war. Increases in speed brought additional propulsion noise that was found to alert Resistance targets too soon, allowing the modified, faster Seekers to be easily dealt with by Resistance defensive measures long before the Seekers could reach effective engagement range. The faster Seeker was limited to a trial run of only 200 units and the design was retooled to the original, slower, quieter model.
The core explosive charge was 10 kilos of D-4 wrapped around a pre-fragmented alloy rod. Fragmentation was further enhanced by the actual body of the MK-I model ( especially the heavy aerodyne turbine housing ) which allowed the charge to pick up a good amount of additional fragments, as well as any debris in and around the area (usually densely urban) that the Seeker detonated in, thus increasing the lethality radius of the detonation. Maximum lethal radius was 10m, with the lethality falling off sharply after that to a maximum of 20m.
|