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Historical Perspective
The tank-type vehicle, considered obsolete by the end of the
20th century, ruled the battlefields of the 21st.
Several factors led to the reappearance of
mechanized warfare. The first was the development of biphase carbide
armor (BPC). Stronger than any steel, it was also so light that even
an air-cushion vehicle could carry several centimeters of
protection. The equivalent of a megaton of TNT was needed to breach
even that much BPC armor -- which meant that, in practice, nothing
less than a tactical nuclear device was likely to be effective.
Infantry, which had for a time eclipsed the tank, declined in
importance. Although an infantryman could carry and direct a
tactical nuclear missile, he had to be extensively (and expensively)
protected to survive the nuclear battlefield. Thus, the "powered
suit" was developed. Four cm of BPC, jet-equipped, it could
guard a man for about a week (in increasing discomfort) from
shrapnel, background radiation, and biochem agents. However, the
cost of equipping infantry reduced their value. They were still more
flexible and maneuverable than armor, and now they were almost as
fast -- but they were no longer cheaper.
Long-range nuclear missiles, which had been
expected to make a mockery of "conventional" operations, likewise
declined in value as jamming technology and laser countermeasures
improved. Without satellite guidance, no missile could hit a
less-than-city-sized target at more than 30 km -- and no combatant
could keep a spy satellite operational for over an hour. Missiles
big enough to carry jam-proof guidance systems were sitting ducks
for the big laser batteries -- for, although lasers had proved too
temperamental and fragile for battlefield use, they were fine as
permanent antiaircraft units.
Thus, the tank-type vehicle -- fast, heavily
armed and armored, able to break through enemy positions and exploit
disorganization -- returned to wide use. And once again, planners
fretted over priorities. More guns? More armor? More speed?
Increase one, and lose on the others? Increase all, and build fewer
units?
Some interesting compromises appeared. The
21st-century infantryman, especially with the later "heavy powered
suit," was a tank in his own right, at least by 20th-century
standards. The armed hovercraft or ground effect vehicle (GEV),
equipped with multi-leaf spring skirts for broken ground, could
attain speeds of 120 km/hr on any decent terrain, and 150 on desert
or water. Conventional tanks were slower but tougher. All fired
tactical nuclear shells.
The ultimate development of the tank-type weapon,
though, was the cybernetic attack vehicle. The original tanks had
terrorized unsophisticated infantry. The cybertanks terrorized
everyone, and with good reason. They were bigger (up to 50 meters),
faster (hovercraft models proved too vulnerable, but atomic-powered
treads moved standard units at 45 km/hr or better) and more heavily
armed (some had firepower equal to an armor company). And two to
three meters of BPC armor made them nearly unstoppable. What made
the cybertank horrifying, though, was its literal inhumanity. No
crew was carried; each unit was wholly computer-controlled. Although
true mechanical intelligence had existed as early as 2010, and fully-automated factories and military installations were in wide use by
the middle of the century, the cybertanks were the earliest
independent mobile units -- the first true war "robots."
Once the first cybertanks had proved their worth,
development was rapid. The great war machines aroused a
terrified sort of fascination. Human warriors devoutly hoped never
to confront them, and preferred to keep a respectful distance --
like several kilometers -- even from friendly ones. They were just
too BIG.
One fact, more than anything, points up the
feeling that developed toward the cybertank. Unlike other war
vehicles, they were never called "she." Friendly units of the
speaker's acquaintance were "he;" others were "it." And the term "cybertank"
was rarely used. People had another name for the big war machines --
one drawn from the early Combine units and, before that, from dark
myth.
They called them Ogres...
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