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"It's hard to tell stories about critters that are not human. John W. Campbell tried it, in "Twilight," and everybody says it's a wonderful story, and nobody ever reads it twice."
- Jerry Pournelle
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| Supertank | ||
| An air-cushioned armored combat vehicle powered by a fusion generator. |
| "Even its 170 tonnes could not fully dampen the vibration of Two Star's fans at max load. The oval hull, all silvery-smooth above but of gouged and rusty steel below were the skirts fell sheer almost to the ground, slid its way through the grass like a boat through yellow seas..." |
| Technovelgy from Hammer's Slammers,
by David Drake. Published by Ace Books in 1979 Additional resources -
|
Details are given in another section:
Thanks to Gatomon41 for submitting this item!
"The primary breakthrough was the development of portable fusion power plants...the fusion's unit's almost limitless output was required to move the mass which made the new supertanks viable. Fusion units were bulky and moderately heavy themselves, but loads could be increased on a fusion-powered chassis with almost no degradation of performance. Armor became thick- and thicker. With the whole galaxy as a source of ores, iridium replaced the less effective steels and ceramics without regard for weight. "...Now that power was no longer a factor, even the armored bulk of a tank could be mounted on an air cushion. "The air cushion principle is a very simple one. Fans fill the plenum chamber, a solid-skirted box under a vehicle, with air under pressure. To escape, the air must life the edges of the skirts off the ground - and with the skirts, the whole vehicle rises...The vehicle skims over surfaces it does not touch."
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Tech news articles related to Hammer's Slammers
Tech news articles related to works by David Drake
| Russians Create Robot Tank Platoons |
| Unmanned Boats Attack At Sea |
| Iron Drone Raider Counter-UAV Operations |
| Bunker Busters and Bore-Pellets |
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'...small electric motors at the principal joints worked the prosthetic framework by means of steel cables...'
'Living protoplasm incorporated into the Ampek F-a2 recording system...'
'Twoflower's Luggage, which was currently ambling along on its little legs...'
'He came to as the ship went into free flight, arching in a high parabola over the plains...'
'The peculiar quality of this light, which gave it its great preeminence over all other penetrating rays...'
'The overworked leg motor would have to cool down before he could work on it...'
‘Where to, sport?’ the starter at cab relay asked.
