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UT7M9 Escutcheon IIING

The UT7M9 Escutcheon IIING is a modernization of old Escutcheon IIIs dating from 2019. The original Escutcheon III was equipped with a 310mm gun and thick all steel armor and the second tank to feature a hardkill active protection system attaining acceptable interception rate but dropped down to 50% in actual combat. The long reload of the hardkill system and its general expense meant it was removed during the modernization of the vehicle. The old gun was also modified and re-bored to be a 304mm gun. Other minor modifications were also made including modifications to the turret ring, powerpack, and ammunition stowage. Turret and rear armor was also improved.

The Escutcheon III originated with the obsolescence of the original Escutcheon. The Escutcheon I had seen many upgrades but could no longer keep up with modern developments. The Escutcheon II was developed as a result built upon the hull of the original Escutcheon. The turret was initially a redesign of of the original too but proved unsatisfactory and so a new turret was created instead. The Escutcheon II passed trials and were praised for its survivability, particularly improvements in its turret armor and crew safety. The critical issue of the Escutcheon I was however not protection for which it was well armored for its time. Instead it was the lack of firepower. The Escutcheon II did little to resolve this issue despite equipped with a larger gun than before. The round was simply too short and ineffective when trying to penetrate composite armor that was then becoming increasingly common.

The Escutcheon II was relatively short lived due to it being fairly obsolete even when it entered service. It was an improvement compared to the Escutcheon I but could not match foreign designs with its obsolete APDS projectile design and all steel armor. And so the Escutcheon III came into the scene sporting a brand new larger turret and even thicker frontal turret armor. It also utilized spaced armor to improve performance against HEAT and HESH warheads without substantial increase in weight. Nonetheless, it still retained the all steel armor scheme of its predecessors. Most importantly, it featured a brand new APFSDS for a big 310mm gun allowing it to penetrate the latest enemy armor being fielded at the time. It also featured the first successful hardkill system in the Khertland army. Rounding it off; it featured a pintle mounted machine gun for air defense work. The Escutcheon II did not originally have a pintle machine gun, it was added retroactively after a entire tank column was destroyed by light attack helicopters flying low and slow at very close ranges. To deter such aggressive attacks, tanks were required to sport some sort of anti-air mounting.

The Escutcheon III was a highly successful design and would be influential for the Khertland army, especially with the Escutcheon IV and Esturion designs. Due to the economic conditions of the period however, Khertland never managed to procure anything that could operate with or keep up with the capabilities of the Escutcheon III. The doctrine in which the army had been working under was also systematically uprooted in one of the largest exercises ever done up to that point. There the Escutcheon III, GA1 Candus, and F11 Tachyons acted as the more modern and technically superior OpFor against BluFor which operated older Escutcheon IIs and F6 Bellerophons utilizing established doctrine to try and even the playing field. The army understood any potential adversaries completely outmatched them in technical performance and so relied on battlefield maneuvers to stay ahead. But the exercise revealed fundamental flaws in their tactics which led to its abandonment.

Today, the Escutcheon III's influence could be seen in the Escutcheon IV where the latter has been described as a 'Escutcheon III but with composite armor.' The hardkill system has not been further developed, although the idea has not been completely abandoned as seen on the upgraded UT8M2s. The gun calibers was also re-standardized onto 304mm instead of the 310mm. So when the Escutcheon III Next Generation, or NG was proposed, this was the primary change to the vehicle.
The Escutcheon III's revival had been brought up now and again to increase the size of the tank fleet. During the start of the modernization period, Escutcheon IIIs were restored to operational condition after being left in disrepair due to the economic depression. They were placed in volunteer reserve units once the Escutcheon IVs arrived off the production line in numbers. There were not a lot of Escutcheon III restored and the few that were would be placed back into long term storage as newer Nombrils back filled the Escutcheons and Seths given to the volunteer reserves.
As the military as a whole, including the army was divesting to reinvest, many old equipment were either sold off or scrapped. The Escutcheon IIIs remained simply because they were recently reactivated briefly and so was in better condition. However, this divestment of old equipment continued and soon even the Escutcheon III was up onto the chopping block. The modernization effort however was slowing down and procurement funding was starting to decrease. This was ultimately why the Escutcheon IIING came to be. Half of the fleet would be scrapped while the remaining would be slated to be modernized to the NG standard featuring the 304mm re-bored gun firing modern long-rod APFSDS and feature new powerpack and other enhancements such as a new cupola. Some of these modernized vehicles will also be used as the basis for the AG1 Cronel. The army wanted a assault breaching vehicle but a completely new vehicle would be too expensive, and new hulls using something like a Nombril was seen as pricey. The spare Escutcheon III hulls were a cheap, already paid for alternative.
While the AG1 Cronels went to the combat engineers, the Escutcheon IIINGs would actually remain in storage but at much higher readiness than before. The Escutheon III would equip call-up reservists during times of war, fielding large amounts of armored regiments with these old venerable vehicles. In terms of capabilities, its firepower is a match for the modern battlefield although utilizing a slower autoloader than more modern vehicles. In terms of protection, it can still survive a hit or two, especially against lighter vehicles or older tanks. And while it cannot be expected to survive hits from the latest generation of tanks, the much improved modern Khertland tactical doctrine is believed to be able to compensate for this via effective coordination of combined arms and maneuvers.

Basic specifications:
Cost: 13,7
36
Blocks: 454
Weight: 31,882
Volume: 827 cubic meter
Length: 20m
Width: 9m
Height: 6m (roof)
Speed: 25 m/s

Gun:
Caliber: 304mm
Barrel Length: L/72
Projectile: Sabot head-solid-solid-base bleeder-9x casing
Rate of Fire: 11.5 rpm
Kinetic damage: 6200
Armor piercing: 62
Penetration: At least 1 layer of 4m HA beam

Armor:
Hull front: 10m Metal
Upper glacis: 7m Metal
Hull side: 3m Metal
Hull rear: 4m Metal
Hull Floor: 1m Metal
Turret front: 8m Metal
Turret side: 1m Metal
Turret rear: Unarmored
Turret roof: 1m Metal

Ratings:
Total firepower: 12.47
APS: 11.73
Simple cannon: 0.74
Armor: 19.2% (2634 materials)