New Sovietskiy T-12UM1 "Black Eagle" Main Battle Tank:

The T-12UM1, also called the "Black Eagle" was originally a development of the T-80, though so considerable rebuilt as to be called a new design, intended for export use. It featured numerous machine guns and the standard 125 mm smoothbore cannon. The design was rejected by the Russian government, preferring to go with the more capable T-95 tank. It was exported to India, China, Korea, and numerous other countries.

It featured numerous machine guns and the standard 125 mm smoothbore cannon. What wasn't standard was the entire layout of the turret and crew compartment. Because of lessons learned from the Gulf War and the Serbian conflict, it was decided that the crew needed to be separated from the ammunition and the auto loader in order to improve their survivability. In previous designs the auto loader and its carrousel were located in the middle of the crew compartment, and an ammunition fire invariably resulted in the death of the crew.

As a result of the redesign the turret of the T-12 features an, especially for a Russian design, rather large bustle. In the bustle all of the ammunition was stored horizontally, and an entirely new auto loader selected and slid the rounds into the breech of the gun. The entire auto loader and ammunition store were separated from the crew compartment by a large armor plate, which meant that even after an enemy hit ignited the ammunition, the crew had a good chance of survival. It also meant that with the new auto loader design, the T-12 had an even lower profile than previous tanks.

However, during the 2012 war with the Ukraine, the Russian government needed more tanks, and fast, so they took over production of the T-12 and requested a version of the Black Eagle armed with a 152-mm main gun in place of the 125 mm main gun and the co-axial machinegun.

Quick production of this variant, designated the T-12U, began, in time to see service during the war.

After the resurgence of the SSSR, the T-12U was integrated into their tactical formations, providing a more numerous counterpart to the T-95, just like the T-80UM1 provided a more numerous counterpart to the T-90U.

Huge numbers of these tanks were built, but the only export customer was Cuba, the only communist countries on the planet other than those of a "Maoist" slant, IE, China, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, the center of the so-called "East Asian Bloc", along with the broken and defeated India after their 2012 war with the USA.

That changed after the Mega-Damage revolution, when relatively cheap Mega-Damage tanks were in great demand, and the resurgent African nations purchased very large numbers of these tanks.

Some also ended up in countries of South America that felt threatened by Argentina and her allies in the second major "Bloc", the Argentinean Bloc. The T-12UM1 is hence a fairly common tank in post-Rifts Earth, as are versions of it armed with a 125-mm gun and a second railgun, rebuilds of the original Black Eagles sold en masse to China, Korea, ect, and likewise mega-damage converted by those countries.

Because the tank was originally an export model with an extra 5 mm railgun and a 125-mm smoothbore, that version is exceptionally common throughout Rifts Earth and called the T-12M1, while the version shown here with the 152 mm Smoothbore and only one 5-mm railgun is far more common in the old SSSR and less so in other areas of the world, though some small kingdoms along the south coast of the old American Empire actually have T-12UM1s, as they were recovered from storehouses in what remains of Cuba during exploratory missions there.

Model Type: T-12UM1
Vehicle Type: Main Battle Tank
Crew: Three (Driver, Gunner, and Commander).

M.D.C. by Location:

	[1] Tractor Treads (2):	100 each
	[2] Weapons Turret:	300
	152 mm smooth-bore gun:	100
	10 mm turret mounted Railgun:	50
	5 mm Railgun:	25
	Multi-Option Jammers (2):	25
	Reinforced Crew Compartment:	200
	[3] Main Body:	450

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's 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.

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: 7.15 feet (2.18 meters) to top of commander's cupola.
Width: 18.33 feet (3.59 meters)
Length: 28.9 feet (8.8 meters) not including gun barrel
Weight: 65 tons (59 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: 3,500,000 Credits to build, usually double that to buy one today. If fitted, any extra weapons systems will add to the cost of the tank; T-12s 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-12UM1s (Normally simply called "T-12s") 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 tank's main turret. The T-12UM1 enjoys a +2 to strike for the main gun using the laser targeting sight (not for the ATGMs). The T-12UM1 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 2,500 meters. Has a quadrant site that allows the Sabot (APSD) rounds to be fired indirectly out to 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: 38 gun rounds. Usually 7 HE, 8 HEAT, 8 AP, 9 APSD, and 6 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: Six AT-25 ATGMs; 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 autoloader. In essence, the bustle is part of the autoloader 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-12UM1.
   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 the commander.
   Payload: 1200 rounds (60 bursts).
3. 5 millimeter Light Railgun: Mounted on the opposite side of the turret from the 10 mm railgun and controlled by remote from inside the tank without the bonuses for the 10 mm railgun.
   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 gunner; usually driver.
   Payload: Carries 4,000 rounds total (100 full bursts or 200 half-bursts)
4. Multi-Option "Shtora-8A" Jammers (2): These are multi-purpose jamming devices designed to stop incoming missiles and confuse an enemy targeting the T-12UM1
   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 firings; One of each type of jamming option from each side of the vehicle.

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-12UM1 with IR equipment when in use, as well.)
• Two Periscopes: Has 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.

Note on Variants: Versions of the Black Eagle sold abroad before 2012 that were also converted to Mega-Damage vehicles will have the same stats, but replace the main gun with a 125 mm gun with the same shell and missile load as the T-90UM1, and add a second 5 mm Railgun co-axially mounted with the main gun and operated by the gunner.

[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.