ROBOTECH: Tirolian Border Fleet Mecha - Raditzs Regult Command Pod

by Pieter Thomassen, with Robert Morgenstern


Designation: Raditzs Regult Command Pod

I. Dimensions:

Height :	17.4 m
Length :	8.1 m
Width :	8.0 m
Weight :	44.0 metric tons

II. Type:

Three man, all weather ground command mecha with secondary space capabilities.

III. Service History:

Served with the Tirolian Border Fleets from 1842 onwards.

IV. Propulsion:

Note: all plasma-shock expansion engines draw their plasma from a single fusion pile.

Two Varredoush type 10A plasma-shock expansion engines in rotating mounts. The thrusters are located to the sides of the main body and have a maximum burst output of 274 kN and a maximum sustained output of 184 kN.
Two Varredoush type 9A plasma-shock expansion thruster systems in the calves. Each thruster has a maximum output of 57 kN. Secondary exhausts in the feet can generate a ground effect air cushion under the mecha, enabling it to glide forward at low altitude if the terrain is remarkable even.
One Varredoush type 21 plasma-shock expansion thruster in the bottom of the main body. This thruster is masked if the legs are attached to the pod. The type 21 engine is intended to allow the pod to function as an orbital ascent vehicle should the situation be dire and normal transport unavailable. The thruster can generate 1250 kN of thrust for 15 minutes maximum, but will have to replaced after a single use.
Assorted maneuvering thrusters, fed from the main engines, are spread out over the mecha.
Fuel Capacity: 16 Standard Canisters of Protoculture.

V. Performance:

Maximum running speed : 290 kph.
Maximum jumping distance in Earth-normal conditions: 140 meters.
Average cell duration : 185 hours continuous operational use.
Delta-v capacity : 6.5 kps on graphite reaction mass.

VI. Electronics:

Radar tracking:

VBPS1-SS(*) hull conformal phased array with spherical coverage, for various scan/track, battlefield surveillance and counterbattery options.

Optical tracking:

VBPS1-SS Multi-band digital camera system, for medium range all attitude infra-red imaging, optical and ultra-violet band detection and tracking.
VBPS1-SS Multi-frequency laser ranger and designator.

Tactical Electronic Warfare System (TEWS):

VBPS1-SS Radar Warning Receiver (RWR)
VBPS1-SS Infra-red Warning Receiver (IRWR)
VBPS1-SS Active sensor jammer
VBPS1-SS Chaff and flare dispenser

Communication systems:

RR3-CM (*) multi-channel data and communication links with phased-array antennae.

(*) Terran designation. The Tirolian designers considered the sensors part of the design and did not assign separate designations for these systems.

VII. Armament:

2 x Makral Martszur-4 (also known under the Terran designation of PB-10) four-barreled rotary particle beam cannons mounted on the upper chest. The sub-barrels can each fire a particle beam of 2.5 MJ every second, all can be fired in parallel, for maximum localized damage, or in series for increased chances of a hit.
2 x Moldile Tszan-83 (also known under the Terran designation of AC-L) 22.3mm autocannons in the chin of the mecha. Each cannon can rotate 150 degrees and elevate from -70 degrees to +60 degrees. The cannon fires caseless armor-piercing (AP) or (more commonly) fragmentation (FRAG) rounds rounds at 850 rpm. The ammunition supply is 6000 rounds.
2 x Karatszon Quillo-164 pulse lasers directly on top of the main body. The lasers can rotate 360 degrees and elevate from -10 degrees to +85 degrees. Each laser can fire a maximum of 8.2 MJ each second in fifteen to twenty separate pulses.

VIII. Armor:

The armor of the Raditzs Regult is composed of an advanced titanium-steel alloy. The armor stops all small arms and heavy infantry weapons fire, and provides excellent resistance to light mecha-mounted weaponry, such as the Zentraedi 22.3mm HE autocannon round, and reasonable to good resistance to medium mecha-mounted weaponry, such as the Valkyrie's 55mm APFSDS round.

The Raditzs Regult provides full protection from nuclear, biological, and chemical hazards, using a fully enclosed cockpit environment. The internal consumables supplies can provide atmosphere for ten days maximum.

IX. Development:

The Raditzs Regult is an unique development of the Zentraedi Regult battle pod. The Raditzs is designed not to accomodate one large Zentraedi warrior, but three human-sized Tirolians, and to enable these to command deployed Zentraedi forces without drawing fire from enemy elements, especially those on head-hunter missions. This mission was unique to the Tirolian Border Fleets, which had Zentraedi forces under direct command of Tirolian Triumvirate clones.

Before the development of the Raditzs Regult, the Triumvirates had to command their forces either from the rear or from Sestralian Bioroid mecha. In the latter case, opposing forces could simply identify and target the commanders. The Raditzs Regult, which was externally undistinguishable from standard Regult pods, could not be so easilly identified. In addition, the Raditzs mounted improved defenses with its upgraded pulse lasers, and had better armor and mobility.

Finally, the Raditzs Regult was one of the few Zentraedi mecha to be equipped with an escape pod. In the case of this mecha, the legs could serve as a launch platform for the entire upper body, which was fitted with large reaction mass tankage and a large and powerful thruster, sufficient to lift the upper half of the battle pod into low-to-medium orbit.

The Raditzs was issued to all Border Fleet vessels from 1842 onwards, and served satisfactorilly until the end of the Tirolian Mercantile Empire. The existance of this mecha was unknown to the RDF until 2010, when Zentraedi defectors lead UN Spacy intelligence officers to a cache of two of these mecha in a rarely visited corner of the SDF-1 Macross, where they had been stored unbeknownst to the RDF from before a time the crash of the vessel on Earth in 1999.

Battle Pod Rear View: