New Sovietskiy T-95U Main Battle Tank:

The T-95 was the ultimate of the Russian Main Battle Tanks, being ready in at least limited numbers for the war against the Soviet Ukraine in 2012, and proving it's self an excellent weapon, considered by many to be the best tank in the world at the time. Under the new Soviet Union, from 2014 onward, the T-95 was the premier, front line combat tank. It was exported only to Cuba and some African countries, and then in very small numbers

In the SSSR, the T-95 eventually was reduced in status by the introduction of the T-89 (2089) Heavy Tank, an all Mega-Damage design intended for fighting in the Mega-Damage environment from the very start, though, of course, the T-95 remained an excellent and popular tank with tank crews because of the high crew survivability rate even with catastrophic damage to the tank.

The T-95U is the designation given to the tank after Mega-Damage conversions of the T-95 design was begun.

Overall, even in the modern Rifts world, the T-95U is an incredible opponent, capable of dishing out death with a cannon that has comparable firepower to a 155 mm artillery piece, though far shorter range as it is a smoothbore.

During the New Cold War, the T-95U was exported to various other nation states, principally in Africa, and is relatively common everywhere except North America, though a few can be found there that were operated by Communist revolutionary armies in Central American states; They are usually in the employ of servants of the Vampire Kingdoms, though the various groups of the Pecos Empire also maintain some twenty-six of them in fighting shape, and the Republic of Colombia has 68 of them operational with another 42 stripped for spare parts.

Model Type: T-95U
Vehicle Type: Main Battle Tank
Crew: Three (Driver, Gunner, and Commander).

M.D.C. by Location:

	[1] Tractor Treads (2):	125 each
	[2] Weapons Turret:	350
	152 mm smooth-bore gun:	75
	10 mm turret mounted Railgun:	50
	5 mm Co-axial Railgun (2):	25
	Multi-Option Jammers (2):	25
	"Grapeshot" Anti-Missile system:	50
	Reinforced Crew Compartment:	250
	[2] Main Body:	475

Notes:
[1] Depleting the M.D.C. of a tread will immobilize the tank until it is replaced. Replacing a tread will take 1D6x10 minutes by a trained crew (2 replacements are carried on board) or three times as long by the inexperienced. Changing the tread is only advisable when the vehicle is not under attack.
[2] The Weapons turret is unmanned by the crew, and can be destroyed without otherwise damaging the vehicle. This makes the tank very survivable, and it can retreat and have a new weapon turret fitted relatively quickly.
[3] If all the M.D.C. of the main body is depleted, the vehicle is completely shut down and is unsalvageable; The crew can survive unharmed in the reinforced crew compartment.

Speed:
Ground: 55.9 mph (90 kph) maximum road speed; 43.5 mph (70 kph) off-road.
Maximum Range: Unlimited (Nuclear Fusion power supply; 5 years.)

Statistical Data:
Height: 6.56 (2 meters) to top of the gun turret.
Width: 13.77 feet (4.2 meters)
Length: 29.85 (9.1 meters) not including gun barrel.
Weight: 65.9 tons (59.8 metric tons)
Power Source: Nuclear fusion reactor; Must be refueled every five years, otherwise effectively unlimited.
Cargo Capacity: Minimal, enough for equipment with crew
Black Market Cost: 5,500,000 Credits to build; Versions available currently sell for 10,000,000 credits+. If fitted, any extra weapons systems will add to the cost of the tank; T-95Us are usually found very heavily modified, though they are quite common. Tank crews often personalize them with their pay in the armies of the assorted warlords to be considerably different from these Soviet-Era specifications. T-95Us (Normally simply called "T-95s") still in the service of the New Sovietskiy, however, follow these specifications to the letter.

Weapon Systems:

1. 152 mm Smooth Bore Cannon/Missile Launcher: Mounted in the turret. The T-95U enjoys a +2 to strike for the main gun using the laser targeting sight (not for the ATGMs). The T-95U can also fire the AT-25 ATGW through the 152 mm gun; Truly a multi-purpose weapon that is considerably effective against enemy armor and robots alike.
   Maximum Effective Range: Direct fire range is 8,200 feet (2,500 meters). Has a quadrant site that allows the Sabot (APSD) rounds to be fired indirectly out to 32,800 feet (10,000 meters). Range for missiles varies with Medium range missile type; Usually AP are carried (Go to Revised bomb and missile table).
   Mega-Damage: (HE): 2D6x10 with a blast radius of 25 ft. (HEAT): 3D6x10, blast radius of 10 ft. (AP): 3D8x10. (APSD): 2D6x10. (PLASMA): 4D6x10+5, blast radius of 30 ft. Mega-Damage for missiles is as per medium missile type; almost always Armor Piercing (Go to Revised bomb and missile table).
   Rate of Fire: Twice per melee.
   Payload: 48 gun rounds; Usually 10 HE, 10 HEAT, 10 AP, 10 APSD, and 8 Plasma.
   An additional round can be stored, ready to fire, in the main gun. If they are available, this is usually a plasma round so that the tank can deal with a surprise attack of any type. With the exception of the New Sovietskiy, most powers in Russia have extremely limited supplies of Plasma rounds; Substitute them for one more each of the other types of rounds, and if a round is carried in the barrel, it will probably be HEAT. Also carried: Eight AT-25 ATGWs; These are essentially a surface to surface version of the standard Rifts medium range missile. Armor piercing versions are standard, though plasma and even fusion versions were made. All of these rounds are stored horizontally stacked in the large turret bustle, and are ready to feed into the auto loader. In essence, the bustle is part of the auto loader assembly.
   Bonuses: +2 to strike at all times with cannon shells from the laser sight; No penalties to fire when vehicle is moving. APSD shells have a +4 bonus for long range fire from the Quadrant sight, but only when the vehicle is not moving. No Bonuses for firing the AT-25s.
2. 10 millimeter Railgun: Mounted in a mini-turret atop the main turret, this gun has a 360 degree swiveling fire-arc and is capable of tracking aerial targets even directly overhead the T-95U. As with all Soviet tank railguns, the gun is operated by remote control from inside the tank.
   Maximum Effective Range: 4,920 feet (1,500 meters)
   Mega Damage: Single shot does 2D4 and 20 round burst does 1D6x10+10
   Rate of Fire: Equal to combined hand to hand attacks of gunner; usually commander.
   Payload: 1200 rounds (60 bursts).
3. 5 millimeter Light Railguns (2): One is mounted co-axially with the main gun, and the second is mounted on the far side of the turret from the 10 mm railgun. As with all Soviet tank railguns, the guns are operated by remote control from inside the tank.
   Maximum Effective Range: 2,000 feet (609.6 m)
   Mega Damage: One round does 1D4 M.D.C. to M.D.C. targets or 6D6x10 S.D.C. to soft targets. Twenty round bursts do 4D6 M.D.C.; Forty round full bursts do 1D4x10
   Rate of Fire: Equal to combined hand to hand attacks of gunners; Usually main gunner and driver, respectively.
   Payload: Carries 4,000 rounds each (100 full bursts or 200 half-bursts); 8,000 total.
4. Multi-Option "Shtora-8B" Jammers (2): These are multi-purpose jamming devices designed to stop incoming missiles and confuse an enemy targeting the T-95U
   Effect: Each firing launches two Chaff rockets, two Flare rockets, and the tank begins emitting a large cloud of smoke, both standard and Anti-Laser Prismatic aerosol; The Chaff rockets detonate and spread Chaff over the area, the flare rockets floating down by parachute; Effects last for one minute (4 Melee rounds.) The Chaff rockets have a 20% chance of interfering with the course of enemy missiles each (40%, total) that are radar guided so that they miss the tank. The flares have the same percentages, except with IR-guided missiles. The Anti-Laser prismatic aerosol causes -4d4 damage to any laser beam striking the tank (With the exception of X-ray lasers and variable frequency lasers; X-Ray lasers suffer no damage modifiers, and variable frequency lasers do not suffer the penalty after two test firings into the cloud to find the right frequency.), and adds a +4 difficulty to targeting the tank with a laser guidance system or visually.
   Rate of Fire: Usually once every four melee rounds; Effects are not cumulative.
   Range: Around tank only; Rough distance of 80 ft (24 m) around tank.
   Payload: Sufficient for twenty four (24) firings.
5. "Grapeshot" Anti-Missile defense system: Almost unique to the T-95 series of MBTs, the "Grapeshot" as something like a claymore mine, though there were four charges, mounted on a rotating post atop the turret and capable of showering both enemy ground troops and incoming missiles in a hail that could annihilate said missiles or ground troops. However, the simple problem was that with only four blast packs, it could only be used so many times. Though the original system was not terribly effective, using MDC material, it became a fearsome close-up weapon when modified with Mega-Damage shrapnel and explosives. It was never fitted to any other Soviet tanks, however, as it was felt the rapid-fire lasers of the newer tanks replaced the need for it, especially with it's very limited payload, and there was no space on the older tanks. The exception was the T-89 Heavy Assault Tank, which was large enough that it could easily be added without any problems to augment the lasers. Still, in addition to effectively defending the tank against missile strikes, the "Grapeshot" can be used as a positively horrific weapon against infantry attempting to get up close to the tank, even in heavy MDC body armor.
   Maximum Effective Range: 164 feet (50 meters).
   Mega Damage: One burst does 2D4x10+25 M.D.
   Rate of Fire: Up to all four charges can be used in one melee round.
   Payload: 4 explosive charges.
   Notes: +9 to strike; The Grapeshot device does the same amount of damage to multiple targets; Any targets that are within a 90 degree angle of the direction the device is targeted in receive the same amount of damage each.

Sensors:

• Anti-Aircraft Radar: Range of 10 miles (16 km); Capable of tracking up to 10 targets simultaneously, this radar serves to guide the 10 mm Railgun in engaging aircraft (+2 to targeting aircraft and missiles with the 10 mm Railgun), and providing early warning of incoming aircraft and missile attacks; The radar can be programmed to shut off immediately if it detects an aircraft firing a missile, incase the missile is a radar-homing HARM type. The radar is highly ineffective against ground targets (-60% to sensor rolls.)
• Quadrant sight for long-range targeting of Sabot rounds: +4 to firing the long-range Sabot rounds only, when the vehicle is not moving.
• Data-interlink transmitters: For using targeting data from scout vehicles for firing the Anti-Tank missiles or Sabot rounds. Bonus varies on the quality of the data being provided, but all data would allow the tank to fire over obstacles if the scout vehicle is in the right position. The normal effective battlefield range is 5 miles (8 km).
• Full Infrared viewing mode: Range of 2 miles (3.2 km), with IR searchlight (+3 to detecting targets with IR when in use, however, +3 to detecting the T-95U with IR equipment when in use, as well.).
• Two Periscopes: With up to x100 magnification for commander and driver to view out of while maneuvering the vehicle. Visual targeting sight with same magnification possible for gunner.
• Laser targeting system: For main gun, range of 3,000 meters.

[New Navy, New Sovietskiy, and TRIAX are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]
[ Rifts® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc.]

The Author thanks Mischa Campen for assistance in Turret and Auto-Loader Design.

Initial Writeup by Marina O'Leary (LusankyaN@aol.com ).

Minor Reformatting and revisions by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune ).

Copyright © 2000, Marina O'Leary. All rights reserved.