Echo Series Drakon-pattern Self-Propelled Howitzer

* **Intent:** To develop a self-propelled artillery system for the Eternal Army
* **Image Source:**Helge129 @Deviantart
* **Canon Link:**N/A
* **Restricted Missions:** N/A
* **Primary Source:**N/A

* **Manufacturer:** Karavin Concern
* **Model:** E-Series Drakon-pattern Self-Propelled Gauss Artillery System
* **Affiliation:** **Closed-Market**| Confederacy of Independent Systems, Eternal Empire
* **Modularity:** Yes - Ammunition types
* **Production**: **Mass-Produced**
* **Material:**Durasteel frame, Impervium-334 armor plating, Echo-series components (standard components interchangeable with other Echo-series vehicles)

* **Classification:** Self-Propelled Howitzer
* **Role**: Heavy Artillery
* **Size: Very Large**
* **Weight: Very Heavy**
* **Minimum Crew:**3 - Weapon Systems Operator, Commander, Driver
* **Optimal Crew:** 4 - Weapon Systems Operator, Commander, Driver, Engineer
* **Propulsion**: Tracked
* **Speed**: **Slow**
* **Maneuverability**: **Very Low**
* **Armaments:** **Very High**
- 2x 170mm Gauss Cannons
- 1x Swivel-mounted KC-M5 Heavy Machinegun
* **Defenses:** **High**
- Impervium-334 Armor Plating
- Smoke Screen Deployment System
* **Passenger Capacity:**None
* **Cargo Capacity**: **Average**

* Echo-Series: The newest generation of armoured vehicles for the Eternal Empire, based on the concept of easy maintenance. The entire Echo-Series features the same standard components for engine, chassis, tracks,electronics and most other mechanical parts.
* Reactive Armour
* Gauss Artillery System: The Drakon is armed with a pair of massive 170mm cannons which launch projectiles using electromagnetic coils

* Long Range Artillery: The Drakon is equipped with a pair of powerful 170mm Gauss cannons which can launch various kinds of projectiles over long distances with reasonable accuracy
* Cheap To Maintain: Like all Echo-Series vehicles, the Drakon shares many of the same components, reducing maintenance costs and thus allowing it to be produced and fielded in significant numbers

* Slow and Steady Wins The Race: The Drakon is a large, very heavy vehicle with low speed and maneuverability
* Close Quarters Combat: While its pair of 170mm Gauss cannons are immensely powerful, they are useless at short range. The vehicle is vulnerable to being swarmed due to its low speed and fairly weak close-quarters armament, which consists of a single swivel-mounted heavy machinegun

The Drakon is the result of the gradual development of a military doctrine which focuses on a combined arms approach to warfare, relying heavily upon force multipliers such as anti-air weapons, prepared fighting positions and a vast array of artillery systems which can unleash a devastating amount of firepower upon the battlefield.

Built on the same chassis as the rest of the Eternal Empire's Echo-Series vehicles. a radical departure from previous design doctrines employed within the Eternal Empire and the galaxy at large, the Drakon shares many of its components with its various relatives employed by the Eternal Army, which eases maintenance and allows the vehicle to be produced and deployed in large numbers.

Its primary armament consists of a pair of massive, powerful one hundred and seventy millimeter Gauss cannons, which can launch shells over great distances with reasonable accuracy, allowing several of these vehicles to unleash heavy, concentrated artillery barrages and bring down enemy defenses.

As it was intended to engage targets over long distances, from prepared positions that are adequately defended by supporting forces, its secondary armament is a single KC-M5 Heavy Machinegun, swivel-mounted on top of the turret, giving the vehicle minimal close range capability and leaving it potentially vulnerable to being swarmed by enemies, unless defended by friendly troops and vehicles. It also features a smoke screen deployment system.

Like all Echo-Series vehicles, the Drakon's chassis is built out of a Titanium frame and the entire vehicle is protected by Impervium-334 heavy, reactive armor plating. Its crew consists of a minimum of three, a commander, a gunner and an engineer, although optimally, there would also be an engineer who also acts as a secondary gunner for the swivel-mounted machinegun.

https://www.starwarsrp.net/threads/echo-series-drakon-pattern-self-propelled-howitzer.122430/