Designation: Main Battle Robot MBR-09 Mk II/III Gladiator

I. Dimensions:

II. Type:

• One/two man, all weather, medium main battle Destroid mecha.

III. Service History:

• Mark II: Served with the REF Army from 2021 until replaced by the Mark III in the late 2030s.
• Mark III: Served with the REF Army from 2036.

IV. Propulsion:

Generator:

• One Tirolian mecha proto-generator (known on Earth as the RT/PS-2a), providing electrical power to the mecha; output classified.

Reserve Power Supply:

• CT HDB-4SC superconductor battery, can typically supply 400 kW for 16 hours.

V. Performance:

• Maximum speed : 193 kph.
• Generator endurance : 12 years operational use.

VI. Electronics:

Radar tracking:

• Westinghouse TPG-307 medium range (up to 50km) UWB phased array pulse-Doppler, for detection and tracking of targets, and with battlefield surveillance modes.

Optical tracking:

• Phillips AllView multi-band digital camera system, for medium range all attitude infra-red imaging, optical and ultra-violet band detection and tracking
• Thomson LT-5 multi-frequency laser ranger and designator.

Tactical Electronic Warfare System (TEWS):

• Elettronica Radar Warning Receiver (RWR)
• OlDelft Infra-red Warning Receiver (IRWR)
• Westinghouse ALQ-250(V) active sensor jammer
• Chaff dispenser
• Flares.

VII. Armament:

(Mk II)

• 2 x GE GRA-10 heavy laser cannon mounted on the shoulders, each cannon can fire laser pulses of 10 MJ once every two seconds, or a sustained pulse rate of 5 MJ per second. Lasers are powered by the main power supply. Cannons can rotate over 90 degrees of arc and elevate over -15/+65 degrees of arc.

(Mk III)

• 2 x RRG PBC-15 particle beam cannons mounted on top of the mecha, can rotate over 90 degrees of arc and elevate over -15/+65 degrees of arc. Cannons fire 10 MJ particle beams with a rate of fire of 60 salvos per minute, sustained fire at lower power settings is possible. Drawing power from the mecha's protoculture power system, the particle beams have effectively unlimited ammunition.

(all)

• 1 x Vickers mk6 dual laser turret. Turret contains two small lasers, optimized for use against personnel and lightly armored vehicles. Laser cannons fire 2.0 MJ in 1.5 seconds of rapid-fire pulses.
• 1 x MM-24 missile launcher in the chest, 24 internal 190mm x 540mm variable warhead, short range (8.2 km) Mach 3.0 combined infra-red imager and active radar homing Hammerhead missiles.

  OPTIONAL:

• 1 x MM-12: a hand held, four tube launcher for 190mm x 540mm variable warhead, short range (8.2 km) Mach 3.0 combined infra-red imager and active radar homing Hammerhead missiles. Each tube contains three missiles for 12 missiles total.
• or 1 x GU-13 three-barreled 35mm gun pod, firing 2000 rounds per minute, 600 round capacity, stored in the pod itself, and in a non-detachable 'magazine'. Ammunition is a mix of Tungsten-coated depleted Uranium Armor Piercing Spin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APSSDS), High Explosive Armor Piercing (HEAP) and tracer rounds. Weapon is hand-held.
• or 1 x EP-13 three-barreled 80mm particle gun pod, firing 170 rounds per minute in full automatic mode, also capable of firing all three barrels simultaneously in semiautomatic mode at approximately one shot per second. This weapon fires 8.2 MJ pulses per barrel in each mode, with its own dedicated protoculture cell and capacitor banks in the 'magazine'. This weapon, built into an external shell identical to that of the GU-13, was developed in 2032 by the REF, but didn't see wide use until 2037. Weapon is hand-held.

VIII. Armor:

The armor on the Gladiator is a new development in low-mass composite-materials Chobham plating that became the standard for all Terran mecha after its application to the VQ-6A Vandal. Aside from the respectable protection provided against projectiles, missiles, and other kinetic weapons, this armor is also resistant to plasma globes (annihilation discs), lasers, and to a lesser extent, particle guns, owing to the fact that the armor can flake off and evaporate in layers under fire from such high-energy weapons, taking much of the weapon's energy and converting it into the latent heat of sublimation in the armor. The armor stops all small arms, heavy infantry weapons fire, and light mecha-mounted weaponry, and provides good to excellent resistance to medium mecha-mounted weaponry, such as the Valkyrie's 55mm APFSDS round, and poor to fair resistance to heavy mecha-mounted weaponry, such as the VHT's 120mm smoothbore shells.

The Gladiator provides full protection from nuclear, biological, and chemical hazards, using an overpressure cockpit environment activated by radiation and hazardous chemical sensors, or manually when biological warfare conditions are anticipated. The internal consumables supplies can provide atmosphere for three days maximum.

IX. Development:

The introduction of new technologies in the years after the First Robotech War made the creation of a new series of Destroids possible. With it came a reappraisal of the tasks of the Spartan. This model Destroid, which was originally built from several off-the-shelf components, had proven to be a very capable close-in combat and engineering mecha. However, compared with the standard Zentraedi Battle Pod, the Spartan was undergunned and outmaneuvered, although there was no comparing the superior armor plating on the Spartan with that on the TBP. The Spartan's successor, the Gladiator, was therefore designed to be faster and more heavily armed than the Spartan, because the REF saw the good points of fast, hard-hitting mecha.

The Gladiator was a major improvement in the areas of speed and firepower on the Spartan. The new mecha had as many energy weapons as the Zentraedi Battle Pods. In addition to this heavy laser armament, the Gladiator had a smaller laser turret under its chin, which was optimized to engage low-armor targets and unarmored personnel. The Gladiator featured a reasonably large missile battery in its chest. The arms and hands could carry additional weapons.

First entering service in 2021, the Gladiator was used throughout the Galaxy in fast strike missions and flanking operations. The Destroid was complemented in this task, by Condor.

There is one variant, the Mk III Gladiator. Introduced in late 2036, this mecha is identical to the Mk II, save for the replacement of the GRA-10 laser cannons with PBC-15 particle beams. This was done out of standardization considerations, and because the PBC-15 offered better penetration and yield.

See additional design notes.

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