FTC-X3 Pacifier FAV | |
File:IconPacifier.pngFile:IconPacifierDeployed.png File:PacifierArt.jpg | |
Pacifier Concept Art | |
(Minor) faction(s) | ![]() |
Type | Amphibious Tank |
Designation | Anti-Surface, Artillery |
Secondary Ability | Deploy/Undeploy File:AbilityPacifier.pngFile:AbilityPacifier2.png "Grand Cannons" when deployed/Miniguns in movement mode |
Mod Relevance | Uprising Unit, Lore |
"I see you!"
- - Pacifier FAV before fleeing
The Idea[]
With the benefit of hindsight, the military-history community now generally agrees that the Allies' orbital defense network proved to be critically important to their eventual victory. The Athena SatNet did not always enjoy such favorable opinions, of course: The SatNet program was nearly blackballed due to public pressures concerning exorbitant development costs. Today, it is difficult to imagine how the world would be different if not for the Athena SatNet and its eponymous target-designating vehicle. But in spite of how the Athena Cannon proved essential for cracking the Soviet Union's and Empire of the Rising Sun's most formidable defenses, the orbital defense network was indeed so costly that it did not scale with the escalation of the Allies' war efforts on two separate fronts.
Simply put, the SatNet could only be in so many places at once. As the Allies managed to secure their borders and take the initiative, the SatNet's limited coverage meant only a privileged few Allied commanders had the authority to call down Athena's wrath. Recognizing the opportunity in this, Amsterdam-based FutureTech Corporation set about developing an alternative long-range bombardment solution: the FTC-X3 Pacifier Field Artillery Vehicle. With its all-terrain locomotors and a state-of-the-art 150 mm cannon, the Pacifier would surely make the Allies' remaining opponents think twice before entering any demilitarized zones.
Concept for the deployment of the Pacifier
Unlike the Pacifier's fire-for-effect artillery barrages, the Athena Cannon is based on the principle that precision strikes from orbit can be used to cleanly dispatch enemy installations and heavy vehicles while minimizing the risk of collateral damage. At the same time, the vehicles used to target for the orbital cannons use such a complex encryption system that the danger of having these weapons fall into enemy hands is virtually nil. Nevertheless, dozens of Athena Cannon ground vehicles were destroyed in the last desperate months of the war, as the Allies' enemies naturally assigned these dangerous elements an extremely high priority.
The Pacifier's design directly addresses all these shortcomings, even though the vehicle and its firing system went into development around the time the first details of the Athena SatNet were disclosed. Additionally, the Pacifier boasts a number of groundbreaking innovations that would ensure the Allies' postwar sanctions are duly respected.
Specifically, the Pacifier is built on a streamlined, all-terrain chassis that uses four independently-articulated hoverlifts to carry the vehicle over land and sea. Cases in which Athena Cannons got stuck on terrain outcroppings should be a thing of the past. These very same hoverlifts are what clamp the Pacifier firmly in place when the time comes to deploy its "Grand Cannon", a twin-barreled 150 mm artillery piece that fires salvoes of FutureTech's proprietary collider-bomblets across extreme distances.
While the "Grand Cannon" lacks the pinpoint precision of the Athena Cannon, it features an even greater maximum effective range, superior stopping power, and a wider area of effect. Critics have said that the use of such names, identical to the giant cannons of World War II, is unfitting of a much smaller cannon, but that turned out to be the least of the Pacifier's worries.
All this would make the Pacifier much better suited than the Athena Cannon against clustered enemy emplacements or armour columns. Furthermore, in its mobile form, the Pacifier is well-protected by dual miniguns, packed with more than enough stopping power to deter enemy assault forces. Therefore the Pacifier still has considerable defensive capability even if enemy combatants somehow manage to close within the effective range of its primary weapon.
In the end however, because the war is over, the Pacifier is unlikely to see full-scale production in the foreseeable future. Should the need arise, however, FutureTech Corporation will be ready, and is constantly using the latest test data to perfect the Pacifier's design. At first the Allied Nations were interested, but during the demonstration run the inaccuracy of the Pacifier's "Grand Cannons" came to the fore. The shells not only missed the target but hit and destroyed a very expensive prototype for a large tank being tested on the same range. The outrage over this event caused the Allies to immediately withdraw all support.
Behind the Scenes[]
The Pacifier FAV, as with any Uprising Unit, will not feature in the game.