The VHT-1 Veritech Hover Tank was a heavy ground mecha designed for civil-defense and urban-combat roles by the Army of the Southern Cross (ASC) in the period leading up to the departure of the SDF-3.
History[]
The Southern Cross anticipated any future conflicts would be brought to Earth and developed its weapon systems with that sort of combat in mind. For that reason, while mecha loaded onto the SDF-3 carried heavy payloads of missiles, ASC mecha favored energy and projectile weapons less likely to cause collateral damage in the urban centers of humanity's still-rebuilding civilization. The VHT embodied these principles.
A Southern Cross Hovertank could reach up to 160.9 kph in Transport mode without consideration of the terrain, then reconfigure to Gladiator mode (occasionally called "Guardian") to engage land or ground targets with both a heavy cannon and a tri-barreled autocannon. For any hostile mecha that might survive its firepower, the VHT also featured a battloid mode smaller, faster, and more nimble than any destroid from the previous war.
Pioneer Expedition[]
A group of modified Hovertanks during the mission. (Robotech II: The Sentinels: The Message)
Although the Hovertank were initially designed for combat on Earth, the mecha was included on the SDF-3 during the Pioneer Expedition's trip to Tirol. A cover was added to the cockpit, to enable moving long distances without the pilot coming under direct fire. When the SDF-3 defolded near the planet, they came under attack by the Invid forces, who had attacked and occupied Tirol. The Robotech Expeditionary Force chose to fight, sending Hovertanks to the ground level to take on the Inorganics. (Robotech II: The Sentinels)
Second Robotech War[]
The 15th Squad
The VHT-1 Veritech Hover Tank was the main Veritech of the Southern Cross for ground Combat and the main mecha of the 15th ATAC Squadron.
In combat, the hovertank suffered from a configuration that left its pilot exposed to enemy fire in both Transport and Gladiator modes (though the pilot was protected in Battloid configuration), and more than a few pilots were lost to direct injury while their mecha remained intact. Late in the Second Robotech War, when the Southern Cross transitioned to fleet operations and took the fight to the Robotech Masters, the familiar hovertank was redesigned for space combat, featuring an enclosed cockpit. The same redesign saw the incorporation of hardware and software derived from Louie Nichols' Visual Trace Firing System (VTFS), or "pupil pistol," enhancing the potential for a one-shot kill (Masters Saga: "The Hunters").
Guardian mode
After the War[]
Dana Sterling's Hovertank, refitted in the color of green. (Robotech Masters: Rolling Thunder)
After the end of the Second Robotech War and before the third, the Hovertanks were re-painted to be green -- as to more easily blend into their environment. (Robotech: Rolling Thunder, Robotech: Love & War)
Appearances[]
Secondary continuity[]
- Robotech II: The Sentinels (comic series)
- Robotech II: The Sentinels: CyberPirates
- Robotech: The Masters Saga: The Southern Cross
- Robotech: The Misfits
- Robotech: The Movie
- Robotech: Rolling Thunder
- Robotech II: The Sentinels: The Malcontent Uprisings
Tertiary Sources[]
- Robotech: Invid War
- Robotech II: The Sentinels: The Illustrated Handbook 3
Veritech Hover Tank on the Infopedia on Robotech.com - VHT-1 Spartas on the Roboverse Infopedia on Robotech.com
- Robotech Art 3
- Robotech: The Masters Saga Sourcebook
- Robotech Visual Archive: The Southern Cross
- Robotech: Homefront
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