Designation: HWR-00 Destroid Monster (a.k.a. 'Heavy Howard')

I. Dimensions:

II. Type:

• Design: Vickers-Continental Battlemecha Ltd.
• Builders: Vickers-Continental Battlemecha Ltd.; SDF-1 destroid support group.
• Type: three man all-weather heavy artillery destroid mecha.

III. Service History:

• Mark I: prototype and pre-production series constructed in 2005. The two pre-production models served on board the SDF-1 from 2008 onwards. The prototype was refitted into a Mk. II variant in 2009 on board the SDF-1.
• Mark II: production series, three built and one refitted (the Mk. I prototype) to this standard on board the SDF-1 in 2009. From 2010 to 2015 the Mk. II was manufactured in series by Vickers-Continental Battlemecha Ltd., the mecha served with the RDF Army and Spacy until 2020, and with the Southern Cross' Tactical Corps from 2013 until 2020.
• Mark III: proposed version with a 381mm caliber main armament, never produced.

IV. Propulsion:

Powerplant:

• 5 RRL-1 miniaturized protoculture-cell energizers.
• 40 standard cannisters of protoculture.

Auxiliary power unit:

• Shinnakasu Industry CT 8P fuel cell system developing 1024 kW for 12 hours.

Locomotion systems:

• Two legs.
• Multiple rows of rollers and one track under each feet.

V. Performance:

• Maximum running speed : 41 kph.
• Maximum rolling speed : 52 kph.
• Protoculture endurance: an average of 200 hours operational use.

VI. Electronics:

Radar System:

• Hughes APG-198 short range (45km) X band pulse Doppler phased array UWB radar.

Optical tracking:

• Thomson DOS-2000 multi-band digital camera system, for medium range spherical UV, infra-red imaging and optical band detection and tracking
• Thomson LT-3 multi-frequency laser ranger and designator.
• Zeiss TS-2 long range telescopic array for visible/IR spectrum.
• One Zeiss HWR-TP periscope on the upper deck of the mecha.

Tactical Electronic Warfare System (TEWS):

• Elettronica Radar Warning Receiver (RWR)
• OlDelft Infra-red Warning Receiver (IRWR)
• Westinghouse ALQ-198(V) active radar jammer
• Chaff dispenser
• Active missile jammers.

VII. Armament:

Marks I-II:

• 4 x Vickers mk6 406 mm autoloading, liquid fueled, liquid cooled cannons. The cannons, mounted on top of the mecha, can fire 1125 kg high-explosive (HE), 1300 kg armor-piercing (AP), 987 kg anti-aircraft (AA) or 1254 kg nuclear (SPN) shells at a rate of one shot per cannon every five seconds. The maximum range of the main armament is 21 km on Earth with the mecha at 0 degrees inclination. If the destroid is standing on an inclined surface, elevation of the barrels will be increased and the maximum range will be larger. At the optimum angle the maximum range will exceed 50 km, though accuracy will be limited at that range. The cannons can also fire directly at the enemy if there is a line-of-sight. The shell room can house 28 rounds.

Mark III:

• 4 x Newport News mk8 381mm (15 inch) autoloading, liquid fueled cannon. Each cannon can fire up to fifteen 900kg terminal self-guiding shells. Sustained firing rate is one shot/5 seconds, maximum range about 20km in standard posture. If the Monster is standing on a inclined surface, or is bending over backwards, the maximum cannon angle will increase and at the optimum angle of 45 degrees the maximum range exceeds 50km.

Mark II only:

• 2 x Raytheon LSSN-20G triple-tube long-range missile launchers built into the arms. Each tube can carry:
  • 2 RMS-1 "Angel Of Death" nuclear stand-off missiles. The missiles have a reaction warhead (200 kT) and a range of 250 km at Mach 4.0 in the atmosphere. They are however optimised for space use, where they have a delta-v of 4.1 kps. Guidance is by multi-spectrum imager and active radar homing.
  • or 2 Firebird missiles. This missile has a conventional warhead mounted on the frame of a RMS-1 missile and a range of 180 km when fired from zero speed and altitude. It has a maximum speed of Mach 6.5, and is guided by a combined IIR and active/passive radar seeker

VIII. Armor:

The armor on most of the Monster is composed of a standard Chobham laminar developed in the late 20th century and improved with the materials science advances made during the Robotech era. This armor was mainly designed to defeat projectiles and other kinetic weapons. The armor stops all small arms, heavy infantry weapons fire, and light mecha-mounted weaponry, and provides fair to good resistance to medium mecha-mounted weaponry, such as the Valkyrie's 55mm APFSDS round, and poor resistance to heavy mecha-mounted weaponry, such as the VHT's 120mm smoothbore shells. Only the hatches, gun-mounts, and other small targets are especially vulnerable.

The armor on the front surface is composed of a standard Chobham laminar reinforced by a depleted Uranium mesh on the outer plate. More dense than the standard Chobham, this armor was designed to defeat projectiles striking the forward surfaces of main battle vehicles, and is also effective against beam weapons. The armor stops all small arms, heavy infantry weapons fire, and light mecha-mounted weaponry, and provides good resistance to medium and fair resistance to heavy mecha-mounted weaponry, such as the VHT's 120mm smoothbore shells.

The Monster provides full protection from nuclear, biological, and chemical hazards, using a sealed 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 Monster was developed by a Vickers-Continental consortium to a specification drawn up by the RDF procurement department for an artillery mecha with maximum armor-piercing capabilities, and the capacity to deliver multiple salvos in a very short time. This specification anticipated alien invasions using heavilly armored base encampments and was intended to provide the RDF with the firepower needed to pierce these theoretical armored strongpoints. The designers soon decided on the general form of the new destroid, a rather blocky body with numerous cannon barrels on top. However, the number and calibre of the armament remained uncertain until it was decided in early 2005 to go with quadruple 406 mm cannons, a caliber previously known mostly as the main armament of heavy battleships and admirably suited to the task of penetrating armor. This choice was controversial because the heavy calibre made for a very limited ammunition supply. Attempts to create diversity in the mission by adding specialised shells to the load-out (anti-air and high explosive) failed because of the relative inefficiency inherent to superheavy cannons and adverse effects on the already limited ammunition supply. As an unique, never repeated feature, the feet incorporated rollers to enable the mecha to drive over smooth surfaces, such as decking or level rock plains. Though the first prototypes were constructed in 2005, other projects gained priority and the project was essentially frozen until 2008, when the destroids were stationed on board the SDF-1 for operational testing.

From a technical point of view, the four main cannons of the Monster are the most interesting equipment on the mecha. Before the discovery of the light alloys that were used to forge the barrels, one 406mm barrel weighed almost as much as the Monster itself. With the new technologies, four of these large cannons could be mounted on a mobile mecha. In addition, the loading mechanisms used the revolver principle and a liquid propellant, which gave the cannons an unprecedented rate of fire for such large weapons. Previously, one shot in 30-40 seconds had been considered fast, but the new cannons could fire a round every five seconds. Shell technology benefited as well, with proximity-fuse anti-air and nuclear shells being developed for the Monster. All shells were of an extended range full bore design, with base bleed standard built in, which was already standard for Terran artillery, but in addition the HE and AP shells featured terminal phase guidance which made a first-round kill possible even at ranges up to 20km.

On the prototype, the mark I, the big guns were the sole armament. However, the production version, or the HWR-00 mk II, saw two triple-tube long range missile launchers as secondary weapons. Later proposals by the RDF Marines to decrease the main armament caliber to 381mm (15 inch) were accepted, but the production run was ended before the first Mk. III was begun. In this variant, the lower weight of the 381mm shell (~900 kg) increased the ammunition supply by 50% to 42 shells, while maintaining a good effect-on-target curve.

Although the Monsters was never called upon to serve in its designed role (the Zentraedi lacking the theorised armored ground base systems), they served the RDF and Southern Cross well, in all their theaters of engagement. The most common use was as a support mecha for heavy assaults. The heavy artillery from three or four of these large mecha can break up any resistance in a matter of moments. The mecha was also very useful as a base defense mecha, being capable of disrupting enemy attacks from beyond the horizon. However, once the Monsters ran out of ammunition, which they invariably did in a very short timeframe, they became low-mobility targets and a liability to their force companions.

The nickname 'Heavy Howard' is of obscure origin. The most likely hypothesis revolves around the fact that in procurement requests and battle deployment orders, the phrase "HWR-00 destroid" was often abbreviated "HWRD", and was pronounced "Howard". From 2020 on the Monsters were taken out of service and replaced with tracked 155mm artillery, the missions they were designed for never having materialised.

See additional design notes.

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