Black Mamba

Specifications
Use	Strike Gear
Production Code	OACS-05M/SU
Manufacturer	Territorial Arms
Height	4.6 meters
Speed	Walker: 55.4 kph SMS: 84 kph

The current cutting edge in Southern Gear design, the Black Mamba is a relatively recent model that has nonetheless had a serious impact on the Terra Novan military scene. The Mamba is the most obvious result of the modernization program that swept the Southern military just before the War of the Alliance, when it was becoming clear that the North had established a technological edge. The Jaguar commando/general-purpose Gear was especially worrisome, particularly after Southern forces worked with them during the war against the Colonial Expeditionary Force. When these units and their crews returned North after the war, Southern commanders knew well that they could be used quite effectively against Southern targets and production was increased on the Black Mamba.

Contracted to surpass the Jaguar, the designers at Territorial Arms were not satisfied with copying their Northern counterparts and produced a machine that could stand on its own. Using lessons learned from the Mandeers Desert Viper and the more recent Sidewinder, TA developed a whole new concept. The design incorporates a carbon composite in the Mamba’s internal frame to reduce weight and increase flexibility, making paratrooper operations possible. The reduced weight also enabled the Gear to achieve the high speed and maneuverability required. The armoplast and composite armor, like most Southern designs, was curved to better deflect incoming rounds. To maintain dense armor on most of the machine, the designers reduced the plating on the WV-930TC V-engine and the thickness of the armor on the rear of the Mamba’s legs. An advanced Obelisk Electronics sensor suite and communications package, as well as a newly updated virtual reality control system and automated piloting computer completed the basic package of the Black Mamba.

Offensive power was provided by a PR-55 autocannon and a Vogel-8 rocket pod, while forward and rear mounted GL-01 grenade launchers assured anti-infantry cover. Three HG-C4 hand grenades provided close range punch, along with a VU-11 vibromachete, which could also be used to cut through dense jungle vegetation.

Service Record

The first production run of Black Mambas came out of the Territorial Arms factory in TN 1911. Since then, a constant stream of them has been leaving Timbuktu for units across the Southern Hemisphere. Damage to the production lines cut production during the early cycles of the war, but since then distribution has followed standard Southern policy with the lion’s share of the new models going to the Southern Republican Army, a lesser number to the MILICIA and very few to the peacekeeping/local defense forces of the Republic’s vassal states.

Even in the Republican Army, the Mamba is not universally distributed, although only disfavored units are not scheduled to receive at least a few of the machines in relatively short order. In the MILICIA, only elite units such as the 11th Gear Regiment — the Rapiers — and other favored regiments have anything close to a plentiful supply of Mambas. The Sidewinders being fazed out of Republican forces are trickling down to the MILICIA, along with a small supply of Black Mambas.

The units that have received it, however, have given the Black Mamba rave reviews. A truly advanced machine, it has proven suitable for a wide variety of mission profiles. Commando operations (including paratrooper missions) have become the Mamba’s forte and it has been involved in a large number of surgical strikes carried out across the Badlands against Saragossan rebels and — according to intelligence reports — selected Northern targets. The basic chassis of the Mamba has become the darling of the South’s military designers and has spawned several important variants.

The shadowy compounds of the Territorial Arms Skunk Works are rumored to have dedicated most of their energy to developing yet more deadly Mambas. The reduced rear armor of the Gear has been seen as a major flaw by several pilots and a few variants have incorporated makeshift solutions to the problem. Republican military strategy tends to assume an aggressive stance that would put the Mamba on the offensive, supported by fire support units if necessary. After many Gear pilots in both the Republican Army and the MILICIA have made quiet requests that that so-called "glass back" be fixed, TA eventually started producing modular field kits to address this issue.

Variants

• Snakeye Mamba
• Blazing Mamba
• Long Fang Black Mamba
• Brawler Black Mamba
• Green Mamba
• Rock Mamba
• Gold Mamba

Media

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  Pewter mini

• 

  Lead (RAFM) mini

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  Mamba's head casting

External links

• Black Mamba Miniature - DP9 Store