Slantback Main Battle Tank

The Slantback was perhaps the first TME Industries success in the Clan Invasion era in the wake of the Churchill debacle, despite being designed consecutively with the overpriced, overextended hovertank. The only reason for this success was the overall simplicity of the design.

Like most TME designs of the time, the Slantback sported an XL engine and ferro-fibrous armor. Other than the sponson on the side, it was a relatively conventional armored vehicle: tracks, sloped armor, Gauss rifle main gun in a turret. Mounting the forward triple medium lasers in a casemate was unusual, but appreciated given the simplicity of the hull gun design and the improved protection it could offer the bow guns versus a lens-aimed system. Twin medium lasers on each side in sponson offered point defense to the sides and added firepower in short-range assault, and machine guns to the side and rear discouraged infantry attack. Other than being slightly slow for its weight class, it was a well-rounded design.

Customers asked if they could have it a little less expensively.

Unlike the Churchill, however, which was really optimized for its role, the Slantback actually did have fat to cut: the sponson. At the time, such things were rare anyway and poorly understood tactically despite the ancient nature of sponson themselves. Cutting the four medium lasers, their turret-like mechanisms, and their attached heat sinks bought more than enough tonnage to take on a standard engine with no reduction in performance.

On the plus side, the Slantback-A sold. On the minus side, it sold in the heavy main battle tank market, which was filled to the brim with offerings. The latter, combined with TME's limited mass-production capability, ensured that the Slantback-A would never become a common sight in the Inner Sphere, but at the very least it made money for its manufacturer.