Type-18 walker (FT)

The Type-18 walker, officially the Type-18 All-Terrain Bipedal Combat Platform, is an Imperial fifth-generation bipedal combat walker produced by Mitsuhishi Heavy Industries since 216.

The Type-18 was designed for infantry support and high-speed armoured patrol operations, with increased combat capabilities over the preceding Type-90 walker. Well-known for its ruggedness and versatility, the Type-18 platform remains in wide use in the Imperial Army and other Imperial security forces, as well as some private and foreign operators. Serial production of the Type-18 ended in 245, five years after the introduction of its successor, the Type-40 walker.

Description
Standing at 8.6 metres tall, the Type-18 utilises the robust proprietary Mitsuhishi gyro-stabiliser system that keeps the walker steady while traversing any terrain, including steep slopes and deep craters. The bipedal propulsion system allows the Type-18 to achieve a top speed of 90 kilometres per hour on flat, open terrain, though the main utility of the legged design is to enable to walker to surmount obstacles that wheeled or tracked vehicles may be unable to cross. Reportedly, the Type-18 is even capable of leaping when in combat, though sources on this ability are rare. The Type-18 is powered by a light gas turbine engine located in the rear of the walker's fighting compartment. In addition, the walker is also capable of carrying up to 200 kilograms of cargo.

Capable of being controlled by a driver and a weapons operator, a vehicle commander is usually added to the vehicle crew for a crew of three personnel. During high-intensity combat situations, a fourth hatch gunner may also be attached. The crew module is protected by all-round composite carbon-nanotube reinforced nanocrystal titanium plating on the walker's fighting compartment. Most vehicles have anti-laser polymer coating applied prior the combat situations that may involve energy weapons.

The primary armament of the Type-18 is a pair of 26.4 mm COMA autocannons mounted on the walker's "chin". Two weapons hardpoints are available on both sides of the crew module, which may mount a wide variety of weapons options, including gun pods, missile launchers, directed-energy weapons, sensor pods, and many others. The most common loadout for general scouting and infantry support is a weapons package module on the left side hardpoint with a pair of 21.1 mm machine guns and a 34 mm grenade launcher, with the right-side hardpoint unoccupied or mounting a sensor package. In addition, another weapon may be mounted on the commander's hatch, such as heavy machine guns or grenade launchers.

History
Development on the Type-18 walker began in 210 to address the shortcomings of the earlier Type-90 walker, the Empire's fourth-generation bipedal walker design.

Type-65 walker

Development of the Type-18 began as a result of the introduction of the Type-47 walker, the Empire's second-generation combat walker design. Itself developed to address the firepower shortcomings of the earlier Type-32 walker, the Type-47 was an open-top vehicle equipped with a 110mm smoothbore gun and coaxial 20mm automatic cannons. However, the Type-47's shortcomings were numerous. The lack of a suitably powerful engine and the weight of the main weapons and ammunition made the walker slow and clumsy, and armour and crew protection was sacrificed to enable the bipedal design to carry the main gun. The only protection afforded to the two-man crew was a front glacis that could deflect up to 20mm rounds. Though the vehicle was useful in pacification and anti-insurgent efforts, many Imperial Army commanders derided the vehicle and questioned its usefulness in an open war.

In 249, a team at the Imperial Military Design Bureau led by Lieutenant-Colonel Ono Mizuho was commissioned to develop a new powerplant to enable an upgrade to the Type-47, with a stretch goal of introducing a fully-enclosed crew compartment and increasing the top speed to at least 50 km/h. By 251, the Kawazaki AKB48 Gas Turbine was the leading contender, and was selected for the Type-47 upgrade program. It was around mid-251 when Major Kishimoto Yumeno presented several findings from the Yucheng War of Independence to the Imperial High Council, contending that most frontline commanders were not using walkers as high-speed flanking elements to engage enemy armour, as had been the previous walker doctrine. Rather, bipedal walkers were more useful as high-speed reconnaissance units or in the infantry support role, as they were too visible and under-armoured to survive sustained counterattack from tanks. A proposal was thus made for the Type-47 upgrade program to be abandoned, and instead to use the new Kawazaki engine as the drive for a new infantry support and reconnaissance walker.

Despite much resistance from certain elements of the Imperial Army, after some deliberation the proposal was approved and Lieutenant-Colonel Ono's team began design of a new infantry support walker that would improve on both the Type-32 and Type-47. The first prototype of the Type-18 was produced in 256 and featured automatic cannons, a grenade launcher, machine guns, and a guided missile launcher. Featuring a fully-enclosed and moderately armoured crew compartment, the Type-18 also featured improved gyroscopes that improved stability on rough terrain. Of particular note was the Kawazaki turbine engine, which enabled it to reach up to 75 km/h at full load during trials. Impressing the Imperial Army General Staff, the Type-18 was approved for production after some modifications which led to the removal of the guided missile launcher, leading to an increase of the top speed to 90 km/h. Mitsuhishi eventually won the contract for production, with the stipulation that the Kawazaki turbine engine be used.

The first batch of 500 Type-18 walkers was delivered in 257, and were unveiled during the Imperial Reunification Day parade in 258. Since then, over 820,000 more walkers have been produced by Mitsuhishi and its subsidiaries.

In 298, the Imperial Army announced that it would no longer purchase additional Type-18, having begun plans for large-scale procurement and deployment of the derivative, fifth-generation Type-95 walker to eventually supplant the Type-18. Mitsuhishi closed the Type-18 assembly lines in Shichigatsu of 302, though continues to produce spare parts.

Type-18 Ki
The Type-18 Ki variant is a logistics vehicle with two powerful pneumatic arms mounted on both weapons hardpoints, along with reinforced legs and counterweights to enable the vehicle to lift heavy loads. The Type-18 Ki is one of a myriad of loadlifter vehicles operated by combat engineer units to clear obstacles and erect field emplacements, amongst other uses. Found in civilian use as well, the Type-18 Ki is commonly seen at spaceport facilities.