Juggernaut
From Command and Conquer Wiki
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The Juggernaut is a powerful, long range artillery unit, which utilizes GDI's considerable expertise in walker technology. In the wake of the Second Tiberium War and the devastation Nod's advanced artillery rained on GDI, the latter's scientists and engineers faced the problem of finding an appropriate countermeasure to these units, one that could be fielded independently without the need for expensive facilities and maintenance.
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[edit] Development and overview
[edit] Mk. I Model
The ideal solution lay close - battleships that were anchored in ports and rusting had the equipment needed to create the counter-unit. Powerful 155mm naval cannons were removed from the ships and together with basic radar equipment were mounted on old Titan chassis. Devising this system took a little under a month and the first units soon clanked their way onto the battlefield.
The prototype Juggernaut was deployed to assist a small commando team that went in to acquire a hidden Tacitus segment. From then on it was a standard piece of the GDI arsenal, and took part in several important battles. It was specially deployed to help deal with CABAL's core. They proved to be incredibly useful assets, capable of bombarding the enemy from afar, and perfect for removing Obelisk of Light defense structures. Its weakness was its relatively weak armour and the fact it had to deploy in order to absorb the high recoil generated by the firing process.
Following the events of the Firestorm Crisis, as GDI began to recall existing walkers, the Juggernaut was the only walker unit to remain in the GDI arsenal.
[edit] Behemoth Model
The experimental Steel Talons armored battalion utilized the Behemoth, that became the basis for the Mk.III Model fielded during the Third Tiberium War. See Behemoth article for more information.
[edit] MK.III/"M3" Model
By the time of the Third Tiberium War, a new Juggernaut variant, known as the Juggernaut MK.III, refered to as "UPC"s or "M3", was in service. Based on a Titan Mk. II chassis, perhaps the most significant upgrade, was the inclusion of a turret, equipped with an improved 200mm cannon armament. This new addition gave the Juggernaut greatly improved flexibility in engaging targets, as it no longer needed to redeploy each time a target's position shifts even slightly, although a slow traversing speed limited the usefulness of this new ability. The crew cockpit was moved into a separate pod which resides on the left of the turret. State-of-the art fire control and tracking systems and an improved, integrated battlefield networking communications package allow GDI sniper teams to relay ballistic data to the mech's crew, allowing it to provide long range indirect fire support, an ability closely mirrored by the newly introduced Nod Specter. The Juggernaut's important role in the GDI forces as a powerful artillery piece remains unchanged even with the introduction of Nod's Beam cannon, or the Specter.
The M3 is still required to deploy secondary stabilizers before it can fire due to the huge recoil of its triple barrel armament, although it can complete this process much faster than the MK.I, providing the Juggernaut with improved flexibility. Another problem was that the M3 would quickly and suddenly catch fire.
Juggernauts are still intended for indirect fire support and are not expected to be on the front lines, making its relative fragility a flaw irrelevant to its combat efficiency, amplified by the ability to navigate all terrain.[1]
If the Juggernaut Mk. III is crippled and falls, an engineer can return it to a working state. The problems with standing up have been resolved by strengthening the construction of the cannons and allowing the walker to use them as quasi-hands to get up.
Like the GDI Mammoth 27 and Titan, Nod Avatar and the Scrin Annihilator Tripod, Juggernauts can crush light vehicles by simply walking onto them.
[edit] M3A Variant
During the early stages of the Third Tiberium War, GDI fielded an improved Juggernaut, known as the Urban Combat Platform Juggernaut M3A in Madagascar, and included numerous enhancements over the standard M3. The M3A featured added gun pods each with a 360 degree field of fire, as well as featuring improved railgun cannons. Its armor was also upgraded, which rendered it all but invulnerable to any Nod small arms fire.
The pilot pod was expanded to allow for an additional fourth crew member, and an improved fire-suppression system was added. Although considered field ready, the hasty push for operational status resulted in a number of critical flaws, such as susceptibility to a high powered EMP blast. Following a disastrous initial field test, in which all newly deployed M3A's were disabled, current and additional M3A deployments were recalled, and their units reequipped with the older M3, until the M3A underwent more thorough testing.
After the Third Tiberium War, the M3A was deployed with full operational status.
[edit] Weaknesses
As a dedicated artillery platform, the Juggernaut has several weaknesses. The first is its vulnerability to all aircraft capable of attacking ground targets, due to its lack of dedicated anti-air weaponry. Second, enemy Commandos have also been known to utilize high explosives on the legs of the walker, disabling it instantly. Third, any enemy which can close the distance between itself, and the Juggernaut quickly, remains a threat, as the Juggernaut possess no weapons capable of engaging targets below its main guns. It is unknown whether or not the M3A, with its added gun pods can engage these targets, because the precise position of these gun pods is unclear. Typically, the Juggernaut's only defense against such opponents is to simply crush them with its legs. When destroyed, the Juggernaut's sturdy frame often means that a "husk" of the unit will remain. Often these husks are capable of being repaired by engineers from either GDI, Nod, or even Scrin Assimilators, and utilized by their respective factions. These husks however, are often extremely fragile, and can be destroyed by light infantry to prevent them from being exploited by the enemy.
[edit] References
- ↑ GDI web log. R&D Engineer Mike Verdu.
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| GDI: X-O Powersuit, Wolverine, Titan, Mammoth Mk. II, Juggernaut, Behemoth Nod: Avatar Warmech, Redeemer CABAL: Core Defender Scrin: Annihilator Tripod, Eradicator Hexapod |
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