Type-30 Kitagawa-class walker

The Type-87 Kitagawa-class walker, officially the Type-87 All-Terrain Quadrupedal Armoured Transport Platform is an Imperial fourth-generation quadrupedal armoured personnel carrier walker. Kitagawa-class walkers are produced by Mitsuhishi for the Imperial Army. It is quadrupedal and can carry up to 40 infantry troops, their equipment, as well as light vehicles such as hoverbikes. Some Kitagawa-class walkers have also been modified into mobile command centre vehicles.

The vehicle is named for the first Imperial Grand Marshal Kitagawa Aki.

Description
Standing at 22.5 meters tall, the Kitagawa-class is designed to ferry a platoon of infantry troops and their support equipment through rough terrain. Kitagawa-class walkers are not normally frontline vehicles, and are intended to transport their complement of 40 infantry troops between landing sites and combat sites. Intended to be dedicated transports, the vehicles severely lack firepower relative to their sheer size, though are still very heavily armoured to protect from enemy attack. Some Kitagawa-class vehicles have been modified into mobile command centres, operating close to the front lines.

Located at the front of the vehicle is a movable command section, typically referred to as and resembling a "head" for the walker. This command section has room for the driver, co-driver, and vehicle commander. Typically, the co-driver acts as the vehicle's gunner. The command section houses most of the vehicle's weapons systems, which include 2 chin-mounted 90 mm cannons, and two side-mounted 35mm automatic cannons. The roof hatch can also mount an additional anti-aircraft 21.1 mm machine gun on a pintle mount. Holographic targeting systems allow the operators a full 360-degree view of their position. The head can rotate as much as ninety degrees right or left and thirty degrees up or down for an expansive field of fire and observation.

The command head is attached to the trapezoidal armoured body section by a flexible, armoured "tunnel". The 2-level troop section is capable of carrying up to 40 fully equipped infantry troops and includes charging ports for electronic equipment and powered armour. In addition, additional support equipment required by the infantry platoon, such as heavy machine guns, mortars, and scout hoverbikes can also be carried. The lower level of the troop compartment is also the staging area, and large rectangular side doors enable access. Troops can rappel to the ground from the side doors, or the walker can kneel to a three meters above ground level until a boarding ladder can be extended. Cranes are available to lower heavier equipment from the walker, and door guns can be mounted on the side doors for increased defence and enemy suppression during troop deployment operations.

Below the troop body section is the walker's Mitsuhishi Class-20 Ground-Type Fusion Reactor, which drives the four heavily-reinforced legs to propel the Kitagawa-class at a top speed of 60 kilometres per hour.

History
An evolution of the Type-71 Kikkawa-class walker, the Type-87 Kitagawa-class walker was developed by a team led by Lieutenant-Colonel Nakasone Kurou of the Imperial Army Tactical Development Centre. The primary goals of the Type-87 walker project was to find a next-generation replacement for the aging Type-45 Hatoyama-class walkers, which were largely converted civilian vehicles and were proven to be inadequate for their role of battlefield troop transportation under combat conditions during the Third War of Mnemosynia. Though the Kikkawa-class walker addressed most of the shortcomings of the Hatoyama-class, its troop carrying capability and armament was considered lacking.

The resulting vehicle was to be a hybrid between the bulk-carrying capabilities of the Hatoyama-class and the battlefield survivability and defensive armament of the Kikkawa-class. Development was slow as the project was considered a low priority, and the first prototype of the Kitagawa-class was tested at Camp Komatsu on Ishigaki some time in mid-283. This prototype was essentially Kikkawa-class with a slightly enlarged passenger compartment as well as the improved Mitsuhishi fusion reactor. Further improvements were made to the design, and in late 284 Empress Masaki and other Imperial dignitaries attended a live-fire demonstration of a near-final version of the Kitagawa-class. This prototype was armed with 125 mm cannons instead of the pair of 90 mm cannons on the production model, and though it was extremely successful in the tests, the 125 mm cannons caused too much stress to the neck braces and were replaced.

Production of the Kitagawa-class was approved in mid-285 by the Imperial High Council, and Mitsuhishi easily won the contract for production. The first 100 units were produced in 286, and arrived just in time for the outbreak of the Empire-Union War in early 287. Kitagawa-class walkers were first deployed in the Battle of the Coronet River on the disputed planet of Tazawa, proving their worth as heavily-armoured personnel transports. Though never designed to act as such, various reports of Kitagawa-class walkers directly engaging enemy forces on the front lines became common. In addition, some field commanders during the war also requisitioned Kitagawa-class walkers and used them as mobile command posts, using the high vantage points and heavy armour to their advantage.

Since the close of the Empire-Union War, the Kitagawa-class has quickly became considered a symbol of the Imperial Army, partly due to its remarkable battlefield record and its awesome appearance.