CR-01a-R Cronus

Mass: 70 tons

Chassis: Hartford 300

Power Plant: Nissan 210

Cruising Speed: 32.4 km/h

Maximum Speed: 54.0 km/h

Jump Jets: None

Jump Capacity: 0 meters

Armor: StarSlab 511 Ferro-Fibrous

Armament:

2 SRM-6

2 AC-5

2 Medium Pulse Laser

Manufacturer(s):

HardfordCo

Communications System: HartfordCo COM 4000

Targeting & Tracking System: Eagle Eye SY10-10

Overview:

With the rediscovery of the Gray Death Memory Core and the Clan Invasion, HardfordCo decided that the time was right to introduce an update to the venreable Cronus. They planned to sell the Cronus as a fairly cheap and easy to mantain heavy Battlemech that was capable of fighting off the Clan raiding parties of the post- Truce of Tukyaid era. To this end the redesign team stayed away from filling the Cronus with too much high technology, to keep the costs down and to allow local technicians to repair the design with common parts. The main changes were adding Ferro-Fibrous armor to allow for the weight of the Mech's armor to be reduced. This allowed the addition of two medium pulse lasers, providing the Cronus with an ammo-indepedent back up weapon, and further increasing it's close range firepower. To keep up with the heat problems the lasers introduced the heatsinks were updated to a common double heat sink model. The end result was a mech that still tough enough to outlast many enemies, and the firepower to make an impression on the enemy. It's slow speed was still considered an issue by some, but most say it's a small price to pay. The updated design took several years to catch on, but it eventually proved to very popular with frontier planets, not only along the Clan Occupation Zone but on the borders between the Succession States. Many of these planets had no access to the latest tech or heavy Battlemechs, so a unit with the Cronus's performace and price tag was welcome indeed. A miltia commander often feels much more comfortable knowing they have a few Cronus to back up thier other forces. The design has ganered respect from it's foes as well. Sighting a Cronus among the defenses signels a long and bloody battle for the attacker. Some of the design team were not happy with the final Cronus refit, as they felt that further application of new technology could have made the Cronus the 'mech it was meant to be'. Whether they will be able to convince HardfordCo to proceed with another, more extensive, redesign remains to be seen.

Type: CR-01a-R Cronus

Technology Base: Inner Sphere Level 2 Custom

Tonnage: 70

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