Sch.PzInf 300 Powered Combat Suit

The Sch.PzInf 300 Powered Combat Suit (Schwere Panzer Infanterie 300) is a type of tenth-generation heavy infantry powered armour used by the Federation Marine Corps (FMC). Manufactured by Adler Defence Systems since 290, the Sch.PzInf 300 is heavily used by the FMC, which operates as an all-heavy infantry force.

Depending on unit regulations, marines often personalise their armour with art or other graffiti. The powered armour is often referred to colloquially by troops as the "hardskin" or "eggshell".

Description
The Adler Defence Systems Sch.PzInf 300 is a much improved successor to the Sch.PzInf III PCS and was adopted as part of the Marines 300 modernisation program, epitomising the "Every Infantry Marine a Panzer Trooper" concept. The Sch.PzInf 300 is considered significantly more comfortable than the Sch.PzInf III model.

The full system weighs 262 kg and stands at roughly 2.05 m tall. The standardisation of the Sch.PzInf 300 means that FMC infantrymen have to meet certain height limitations. The suit is powered by two Jeongsin 17 miniaturised cold fusion cartridges that are inserted into the suit's chest. These reactors have an operational failure rate of less than 0.5% in the field. The suit's primary power systems are all located in the chest.

The upper back section of the suit houses a series of rubber tubes that run through the jointed areas of the suit, protecting wires and distributing coolant. These tubes make up the bulk of an efficient liquid cooling system. Heat generated by the suit's power supply is vented from two thermal vents on the back of the suit. Segmented plates support the arm joints and spine. Control of the suit is done through an operator interface within the gauntlets, with the user's hand located between the suit's wrist and fingers, with a haptic feedback system ensuring precise control. The suit is vacuum-rated, and can be fully sealed for operations in hostile environments or in space, with a durable full-enclosing visor made of plexithene.

The amount of support that the suit provides is greatly increased from the Sch.PzInf III, increasing the marine's strength and speed, stamina no longer becoming an issue. The servos enable a wearer to dash up steep slopes and safely land from heights of twenty feet. The legs are piston-powered, allowing the user to make long jumps.

History
During the Second Hyperpower War, the concept of light and heavy infantry emerged in human military doctrine for the third time in human history. The Imperial Army trialed and made effective use of mixed platoons of heavy powered armour-equipped troops as well as lighter-armoured but more mobile troops, with both types of units supporting each other in tactical combat. The main limitation of the heavy infantry forces remained their lack of strategic mobility by aerospace forces due to their increased weight, hampering the ability to field entire armies of heavy infantry forces as such a force would be practically immobile, or require a disproportionate volume of transportation support.

The concept of reforming all of the FMC's infantry units into purely heavy infantry forces originated from General Alfred Wakamoto Singh, the 29th Marine Commandant, during his post-Second Hyperpower War transformation of the Marine Corps. The FMS had been severely depleted manpower during the war with the Interstellar Union, and would require either a major reform or several decades of rebuilding to return to its pre-war capability.

Singh's vision of a smaller FMC was of a streamlined, specialised force capable of carrying out independent and precise strikes against an enemy, both in defensive and offensive operations. Lacking the manpower to operate large field armies, the FMC's individual troops would have to be their own force multipliers, with each individual soldier becoming equivalent to an enemy fireteam, and an infantry squad equivalent to an entire enemy platoon. According to the new FMC doctrine, marines on the offensive would be a "strategically-tactical" force inserting in small groups only to carry out their assigned missions, while marines on the defensive would not require major strategic repositioning anyway. These arguments meant the strategic mobility of the heavy troops was not a major concern.

Initial attempts to begin conversion of the infantry forces to the new concept faced major resistance from the middle ranks, with many ridiculing the idea and questioned the wisdom of re-training the entire infantry force to operate heavy powered armour. Nonetheless, the Adler Defence Systems Sch.PzInf I PCS was adopted by the FMC and was issued to the marine infantry units beginning in mid-252. This first suit, later nicknamed the "Kerberos Suit", was