MST-180 Mobile Artillery

The MST-180 Mobile Artillery System is the main indirect fire support vehicle of the Imperial Tekkelien Ground Forces. Although Imperial military doctrine typically relies on naval artillery to inflict the majority of kills, this highly mobile and easily concealable system is more effective in the early stages of an invasion. They are highly accurate with a gyroscopically-isolated aiming mechanism. They are favored by the military for their cost-effectiveness and ease of maintenance. In a wartime emergency, regular civilian trucks can be adapted with this system extremely quickly.

Design
The MST-180 is a very simple system in principle: a medium artillery piece affixed to an up-armored military transport truck with some additional space for over-the-horizon target acquisition sensors. Four fold-out lateral stabilizers are bolted to the truck bed, allowing the truck to brace itself against the recoil of the gun.

The truck itself is designed from the bottom-up to survive in potentially front-line conditions with bulletproof paneling around the most vulnerable areas. The biggest threat these typically rear-echelon vehicles face are enemy counter-battery fire and road ambushes or mines. They are equipped with ballistic fiber linings for protection against airburst shrapnel, and have an angled deflector on their underside to direct the explosive force of a mine or IED out and away from the passenger compartment.

The truck's storage area typically holds 20 rounds of ammunition. More can be stored in transport trucks that follow the main vehicle around. The gun fires a 150-pound projectile and uses an semi-automated loader and hydraulic ramming system. In the event of a malfunction, the crew can work together to carry the shells and ram them with a handheld ramrod, but it is physically exhausting to sustain fire for more than a few minutes.

Role
The MST-180 system comprises the central bulk of firepower in an infantry's divisional artillery. It is particularly useful in the opening stages of an offensive operation, where it can pack up and drive off with great speed and acceleration in a matter of seconds after firing. Conventional counter-battery guns are virtually ineffective against its high mobility. They are often referred to as "truck 180's" or simply "180's."

Because the 180 uses a simple military truck chassis, it is also lightweight enough to be transported in large numbers across oceans, air or space. When being deployed from space or amphibiously, they often follow behind the motorized infantry in the second wave, after the first troops are a 2-5 miles inland. For other larger-scale ground operations, they are driven into place ahead of time and begin firing immediately as friendly infantry starts advancing. This allows Imperial infantry to advance under suppressing explosions, keeping the enemy infantry hiding in cover.

Once the initial stages of invasion are over, the trucks are often parked in semi-static positions around observation posts and fire bases. These artillery bases offer fixed defenses and a large amount of supplies, but they are more vulnerable to counter-battery fire. In the event of an enemy air raid or artillery attack, the trucks can flee the fixed base to return fire.