Orochi Standardised Combat Platform (FT)

The Orochi Standardised Combat Platform is an Imperial advanced conventional modular tracked combat vehicle platform. The project began in 230, building on lessons learned during the Second Hyperpower War (226-227) to build a series of fighting vehicles that shared a single chassis for ease of maintenance and simplification of production. The Orochi platform is the basis of a frontline tank, an anti-aircraft platform, a guided missile carrier, an armoured recovery vehicle, and a combat engineering vehicle. An armoured personnel carrier was also created, but was not adopted due to lack of need by the Imperial Army. The new "Orochi" tank platform is meant to complement and eventually replace the Type-08 tank.

The Orochi Platform represents a major shift in Imperial combat doctrine towards a greater focus on survivability of its frontline vehicles as opposed to raw offensive power. Notably, all of the vehicles under the Orochi Platform feature thermoptic active camouflage, intended to enhance protection and stealth capabilities of the Imperial Army's armoured forces.

Kagamitate Nano Active Protection System
The Kagamitate Nano Active Protection System is a new hard-kill active protection system used on the Orochi Platform. Instead of using shotguns or explosively formed projectiles like more traditional active protection systems, the Kagamitate System uses clouds of nanomachines that product an impact shield surrounding the hull of the unit. A moderate-intensity energy field applied across the nano-relays enables the formation of micro energy webs that can effectively intercept projectiles and can even lessen the impact of ballistics on the vehicle's hull.

Ishikoridome Thermoptic Active Camouflage
The Ishikoridome Thermoptic Active Camouflage system is the latest vehicular stealth system developed in the Empire, consisting of hexagonal smart panels on the exterior of the vehicles. The system cannot be applied to every area on the vehicles, and thus is meant to reduce the visibility of the vehicles and not to render them fully invisible to observation.

The primary purpose of the smart panels is to mask the vehicles' thermal signatures. The panels can be rapidly heated or cooled to match either the temperature of the vehicle's surroundings, or to give the thermal impression of another object such as large rocks or different types of vehicles. In conjunction with the typical electronic jamming suites present on such combat vehicles, the Ichikoridome system provides the vehicles of the Orochi Platform with an unprecedented level of stealth towards anti-vehicle weapons, greatly improving the vehicles' survivability.

In addition, these smart panels can also act as an optical active camouflage system. Through the use of micro cameras, the smart panels are able to project the ambient conditions of the opposite side, rendering the areas masked by the panels transparent by transmission. Such systems have been in use in the Human Sphere for centuries, but the Ishikoridome is one of the most advanced systems so far, boasting full real-time transparency on a previously unheard-of scale. However, use of optical camouflage interferes with other vehicle systems such as the Kagamitate NAPS due to the power requirements of the system, and use of optical camouflage is restricted to specific tactical instances to reduce the visibility of the vehicles in close-range combat.

Frontline tank
The Type-38 Se Orochi frontline tank is a next-generation frontline tank that features a high degree of protection and a powerful 140 mm Mixed-Propulsion High-Velocity Gun in a fully unmanned turret. The tank is also armed with six vertical-launch missile cells, a coaxial 10.2 mm machine gun, and a 21.1 mm light cannon on a secondary remote-controlled turret atop the turret. The Type-38 Orochi is equipped with potent defence systems including passive electronic scrambler fields, the Kagamitate Nano Active Protection System, composite and explosive-reactive armour, and the Orochi Platform's trademark Ishikoridome Thermoptic Active Camouflage which allows parts of the tank to be made invisible to thermal and visual scans.

The Orochi tank's main gun is capable of firing both kinetic-kill projectiles and self-guided smart shells. The gun uses a mixture of explosive propulsion and electromagnetic coils to accelerate the projectiles to devastating speeds. Smart shells are typically fired by explosive propulsion only, as the electromagnets in coil-assisted firing would damage the internal electronics of the smart shells. Upon leaving the barrel, these shells use built-in rocket motors and guidance systems to home in on designated targets, similar to smart bullets used by infantry troops, but on a larger scale.

Anti-aircraft platform
The Type-38 Ta Akakagachi anti-aircraft platform is an air and missile defence vehicle designed to detect and engage low-flying air targets of all types. Equipped with powerful sensor systems, the Akakagachi features a built-in geodesic multispectrum sensor dome that resembles a miniaturised version of those found on the Imperial Navy's warships. It is intended to eventually replace all self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicles in the Imperial Army by 265.

The Akakagachi variant of the Orochi Platform replaces the main gun in the unmanned turret with a rapid-firing 31.5 mm Mixed-Propulsion Cannon capable of firing kinetic-kill projectiles, armour-piercing high explosive rounds, flechette canisters, or self-guided smart rounds at a rate of 550-800 rounds per minute, using a combination of explosive propellant and electromagnetic coils to fire the projectiles, depending on the projectile type used. In addition to the automatic cannon, the Akakagachi is also armed with a free electron laser atop the turret that is capable of accurately shooting down missiles and other munitions not treated with anti-laser polymer coatings, allowing the Akakagachi to act as a missile defence platform.

In addition to these, there are also 12 standardised vertical-launch missile cells on the Akakagachi, capable of loading surface-to-surface, surface-to-air, and surface-to-space missiles. These provide additional versatility to the platform, though vehicles in the field are typically equipped with full loads of surface-to-air missiles to further enhance their airspace defence role.

Missile platform
The Type-38 Yu Hikage missile platform is a missile artillery platform equipped with 76 vertical launch missile cells. These cells can hold a mixture of surface-to-air, surface-to-surface, and surface-to-space missiles, giving the Hikage great tactical flexibility. For self-defence, the vehicle is armed with a 21.1 mm light cannon on a remote-controlled turret, and the vehicle comes with the proprietary counter-electronics suite, Kagamitate NAPS, and Ishikoridome thermoptic active camouflage systems for protection.. The Hikage is intended to replace most tracked and wheeled self-propelled missile systems in the Imperial Army by 265.

Hikage units are able to network with other Imperial Army forces through the integrated datalink systems, receiving targeting data from satellites, space forces, observation drones, or artillery spotters in the battlefield. The Hikage also includes a backup retractable targeting pod equipped with complex sensor equipment that enables the vehicle to detect and lock onto targets. In such operations, the vehicle's systems can be set to scan for aerospace targets or to lock onto specific ground targets within a wide radius, though this runs the risk of exposing the vehicle to enemy scanner detection.

Combat history
With the exception of counter-insurgency operations, the vehicles of the Orochi Platform first saw major combat during the Second Empire-Hierarchy War (240). Over 2,300 Orochi frontline tanks were deployed during the war, of which about 130 were destroyed by the alien enemy, displaying the vastly increased combat survival capabilities of the Orochi Platform as compared to older Imperial vehicles. It is not entirely clear how many of the other variants of Orochi Platform vehicles were deployed.