Striker Tank

The Striker Tank is one of the series of military weapons designed by the Mercurian Faction of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

From the Forges Of Mercury: Declassified Plans for the Striker Tank
The many differences between the Mechanicum Adepts of Mars and Mercury is so striking that many ended up following very different sets of development due stemming from their opposing philosophies and beliefs. Among their differences are the ways they develop their weapons that in turn end up competing for the right to be used over the other for the Imperial Guard.

In some cases the Mercurians seems to have succeeded with their new armored vehicle the Striker Tank.

The Mercurians developed the Strikers as the answer to the Leman Russ Tank and as a way to distinguish themselves fulfilling Lady Tekhne’s words of discovering new knowledge. The development of the Mercurians’ main battle tank (MBT) had the design philosophy that combines high mobility, durability, and firepower. The tank crews consist of a commander/navigator, gunner, and driver. The way the tank is designed is the usage of four treads giving it its H-shaped pattern distinctive on all Mercurian designs. Each tread features superconducting electromagnetic motors giving the tank 1.35x the speed of the Leman Russ. It is armed with twin plasma cannons giving it an edge on battlefields (1). The tank is also has optional attachments for anti-aircraft and anti-personnel weaponry in case available support from other Guard elements is not available.

The history of the Striker tank is significant as there were many problems during the initial design and construction that started from M34. It was clear to many of the Mercurian Adepts that they set themselves up for a monumental challenge as early prototypes completely blew up killing or severly injuring the many test pilots. The problems stemmed from: overheating of plasma weaponry, engine failure, design flaws, and many others. Realizing this Mercurian Adepts had to redesign everything from the ground up. The Adepts eventually had to solve the plasma overheat and engine issues by researching them and had to divert significant resources to solve them. Somehow the Adepts from Mars got wind of this secret tank development project and did all it could to halt it in its tracks. It used tactics such as sabotage, political maneuvering, diverting of funds and resources, and many others. The Mercurians persevered though as it was able to save the core research and decentralized it to separate Adept teams and finish a functioning prototype. It was not until further developments for the next two centuries that a fully functioning Striker Tank was unveiled amidst the criticisms of its detractors and proved itself its equal to the Leman Russ Tank by defeating a cultist induced rebellion from a nearby planet in days. It is to be noted that this same insurrection kept an Imperial Guard regiment with armor support from a division of Leman Russ Tanks tied up for weeks at a time.

In the end though the tank proved to be highly expensive to mass produced as the Mercurians barely have the numerous production capabilities of its Martian counterparts with its millions of forge worlds able to out produce them by a 1000:1 ratio. It was not until late M38 that the Mercurians were able to considerably close that gap thanks to its other secret projects.