BAE Sabre

     Country of Origin: Great Britain

     Notes: This vehicle does not exist in real life; I don't know if it was a concept vehicle or a product of the imaginations of the designers at GDW, however.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This British heavy antiaircraft vehicle is the hull of a Chieftain main battle tank topped with a modified and more heavily armored version of the turret from a French AMX-13 DCA antiaircraft vehicle. In this role, the turret is well protected and has large external ammunition bins for the greater ammunition supply carried. The Sabre proved to be a very difficult target for enemy aircraft, being well protected, supplied with large amounts of ammunition, and having an excellent fire control system. Perhaps its only failing was the slow speed of its Chieftain chassis. Unfortunately, only about 40 of them made it to war with the British Army. The driver’s position is retained, and to the right and rear of the driver’s position is the commander’s position. On the turret roof is the gunner’s hatch.

BAE Warrior ADATS Vehicle

     Country of Origin: Great Britain

     Notes: This is the chassis of the British Warrior ICV fitted with the same turret as the US M-924 ADATS vehicle. It has not been fielded, and probably will never be fielded in the form presented here.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This vehicle was a latecomer to the Twilight War, being initially fielded in late 1997. Few of these vehicles, perhaps less than 40, were actually built, and most were retained for use in the British Isles, with perhaps a quarter making it to the European mainland. All hatches except for the rear deck hatch are retained.

BMY M-975A3 Roland II

     Country of Origin: United States

     Notes: This is the same turret and fire control system as fitted to the German Marder-based Roland surface to air missile system, but fitted for US use to the chassis of an M-109 self-propelled howitzer. The missile system is automatically reloaded when the launchers are empty from a magazine and reloader at the rear of the vehicle; this system may also be used manually if only one launcher is expended. This vehicle was never put into production.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: These systems began production in the late 1980s and were fairly common during the Twilight War, though they were used only by the US Army and Air Force.

Boeing M-21 Laser ADA

     Country of Origin: United States

     Notes: This vehicle does not exist in real life; it was invented by the designers of Twilight 2000 at GDW, along with its companion vehicle, the M-22 LGW, below.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This is the actual weapon-carrying component of the M-21/22 antiaircraft system. Like the M-22, it is based on a LAV-75 chassis; instead of a standard turret, the vehicle has one with a long, cherry picker lift mounting the 300Mw laser. The M-21 has a capacitor that can store the energy needed for three shots; to make further shots, the M-21 must be hooked up to the M-22 LGV.

     The laser in the M-21 follows special fire rules. A die roll is made to hit; the laser hits on any number except for a 20 if a lock is made first. Making a lock on requires one phase and is an Easy: Electronics or Average: Heavy Gun task. Without this lock-on, hitting with the laser is an Average: Electronics or Difficult: Heavy Gun task at short range. The accuracy of the laser is degraded by two places in light fog, rain, or snow, and three places in heavy fog, rain, or snow; with the lock on, accuracy under these circumstances allows the laser to hit on every die roll except a 18-20 in light precipitation or 13-20 in heavy precipitation. There are three hatches on the front deck of the vehicle; these are for (from right to left) the commander, gunner, and driver. The commander’s hatch has a weapon mount.

     This was a rather rare vehicle in the Twilight War; despite it having been okayed for production status in 1996, production was done at a very low rate, and perhaps only 40 sets (M-21 and M-22) were made. 10 of these were retained for use in the continental US, 15 to the Middle East, 10 to Europe, and 5 to Korea. It is possible that another example was produced before all these, and tested in Israel just prior to Twilight War; the disposition or even existence of these vehicles was never proven.

Boeing M-22 Laser Generation Vehicle

     Country of Origin: United States

     Notes: This vehicle does not exist in real life; it is a product of the designers at GDW.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The M-21 LADA was the only operational production laser vehicle produced during the Twilight War. The laser in this vehicle requires a great deal of power for sustained use; the M-22 Laser Generation Vehicle (LGV) was used to generate the power for the M-21’s laser. Like the M-21, only about 40 were produced; 10 of them were retained along with M-21s for homeland defense in the US, and about half of the rest were deployed to the Middle East, with 10 being sent to Europe and 5 to Korea. It is also rumored that the system was combat tested in Israel just prior to the Twilight War, though the existence or disposition of this system is not known to this day. The M-22 uses a modified LAV-75 hull; in this hull is installed a large generator instead of the turret and ammunition. The vehicle commander has a hatch on the front right deck with a weapon mount, with the generator operator in the center and the driver to the left.

Boeing XM-12 Laser ADA

     Country of Origin: United States

     Notes: This vehicle does not exist in real life; it was made up by the designers at GDW, though I have added some back-story.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: As denoted by its designation, the XM-12 was an experimental system produced on a limited basis for the US Army starting in late 1994. Low-rate production ensued for test vehicles, but the dozen prototypes were taken to war in 1996 and acquitted themselves well, even intercepting tactical ballistic missile warheads with good results. The vehicle consists of an early M-1 main battle tank hull topped with a turret mounting a 300 Mw laser on a cherry picker lift. Coupled with the vehicle’s advanced fire control system, the result was a very accurate air defense system able to intercept even supersonic aircraft operating at treetop level. The M-1 hull is large enough to house the generator and capacitor in the same hull, without the need for a generator vehicle. A small number of additional XM-12s were built between 1996 and 1998; at least two were sent to Korea, another 6 to Europe, 4 to the Middle East, and two were retained at the Air Defense Artillery School at Fort Bliss in Texas for further testing and development.

     The laser in the XM-12 follows special fire rules. A die roll is made to hit; the laser hits on any number except for a 20 if a lock is made first. Making a lock on requires one phase and is an Easy: Electronics or Average: Heavy Gun task. Without this lock-on, hitting with the laser is an Average: Electronics or Difficult: Heavy Gun task at short range. The accuracy of the laser is degraded by two places in light fog, rain, or snow, and three places in heavy fog, rain, or snow; with the lock on, accuracy under these circumstances allows the laser to hit on every die roll except a 18-20 in light precipitation or 13-20 in heavy precipitation. It was discovered that the gunner of the XM-12 could allow the charge to build up in the laser unit for 5 seconds, allowing for a single massive discharge capable of destroying or damaging light vehicles as well as aircraft, causing more damage. Firing the laser in this way causes minor damage to the laser on a roll of 1 on 1D10; if the laser is fired when damaged by this effect, it is destroyed.

GDLS LAV-PIVAD

     Country of Origin: Canada

     Notes: Though this would seem to be a natural modification of the LAV-25, this vehicle does not seem to actually exist; it may have been studied by the US Marines, but I think it was probably an invention of the designers at GDW.  There is a LAV-based antiaircraft vehicle, the LAV-AD, but this is not it.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This rare modification of the LAV-25 was an interim antiaircraft vehicle development first used until the LAV-AD was ready. Though designed as an antiaircraft vehicle, the Marines in the Middle East equipped with them soon realized its utility against personnel and light vehicles, and that is how the Marines primarily used them after the LAV-AD arrived on the scene, since the LAV-AD was superior against aircraft. This utility was helped by the fact that, unlike the LAV-AD, the LAV-PIVAD retains its firing ports. Later in the war, US Army light infantry divisions were equipped with them in small numbers, and the Saudi Arabian Army and Qatari National Guard also received a few. The turret of this vehicle is the same as mounted on the M-163 PIVAD vehicle.

GDLS M-691 Diana

     Country of Origin: United States

     Notes: This vehicle does not exist in real life; a similar system was studied in the mid-1980s by the US Army, but this particular version of that idea seems to be the product of GDW.  I have embellished the story considerably, however.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This vehicle was developed on the fly in response to a US Army requirement for a heavily armored, highly survivable self-propelled antiaircraft gun. The system uses a small turret mounting twin Bushmaster autocannons on top of the hulls of retired M-1 Abrams main battle tanks, coupled with a newly-developed LIDAR (Laser Imaging raDAR) system that gives the Diana excellent accuracy. Despite the popularity of the Diana, the system was in somewhat short supply, as it was felt that the older M-1 tanks were needed more to return to service as main battle tanks than to be used to produce new weapon systems.

GDLS M-757 Blazer

     Country of Origin: United States

     Notes: Studied intensely for many years, this vehicle was never actually placed into production, though many prototypes were built.  (The nomenclature "M-757" is something I made up myself.)

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The Blazer is the basic M-2 Bradley chassis fitted out for an antiaircraft role with a triple-barreled 30mm Chaingun system and two quadruple Stinger launchers.

GDLS M-759 Blazer

     Country of Origin: United States

     Notes: This was another one of the weapons systems being studied to replace the M-163A1 PIVAD; several prototypes were built, but it was not picked up for duty.  (Again, I made up the nomenclature myself.)

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This is an M-113A2 or A3 with a Blazer antiaircraft turret installed in the rear. The rear passenger area is taken up with the turret and ammunition and fire control mechanisms. The Blazer installation on the M-113 chassis has one Stinger box, with a radar unit being added instead of the second box. This vehicle was a substitute standard within the US Army (and was mostly employed in National Guard units), and was also found in many countries also using the M-113 series.

GDLS M-924 Bradley ADATS Vehicle

     Country of Origin: United States

     Notes: This is one of those systems developed to utilize the Canadian ADATS system. It was not placed into production. (I made up the nomenclature myself for this one, too, as well as for the M-925 below.)

     Twilight 2000 Notes: Starting in 1995 as an experiment, an ADATS system was fitted to an M-2 Bradley chassis. When the Twilight War picked up, some 75 more of these vehicles were ordered for mechanized and armored divisions being posted to the Middle East. These vehicles gave a good accounting of themselves against both aircraft and armored vehicles, and were well liked by their crews, as they offered somewhat more protection than the M-113-based ADATS vehicle. The turret is identical to that fitted to the M-113-based ADATS, with upgraded sensors.

GDLS M-925 Bradley ADATS Vehicle

     Country of Origin: United States

     Notes: This experimental ADATS system was developed mostly as a proof-of-concept vehicle, and never really meant for production.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This is a more heavily armed variant of the M-924, with an autocannon and twin machineguns supplementing the ADATS missile system. This enabled it to engage closer-ranged targets as well as personnel. In this vehicle, the ADATS turret is topped with a superstructure containing the autocannon and twin machineguns. This vehicle was considerably more rare than the M-924, being produced for only about a year and a half at a low rate starting in 1996. Most were also sent to the Middle East, but some were retained and took part in the fighting in the American Southwest. Its crews liked the firepower, but the high silhouette made them very vulnerable.

GDLS M-990 Chamberlain

     Country of Origin: United States

     Notes: This vehicle does not exist in real life; it is an invention of the designers at GDW.  I did, however, christen the fictional vehicle the "Chamberlain," as well as add in some back story.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This is a limited production vehicle for use by US Army light divisions. It is a LAV-75 chassis topped with a turret armed with twin 30mm Bushmaster II autocannons, aimed by radar. The turret has a very effective stabilization system that allows the autocannons to fire accurately even when traveling at full speed. This, combined with its speed and agility, made it a hated commodity among the pilots that had to fly against it. The hull has two hatches on the front deck for the driver and gunner, and the commander has a hatch on the turret deck.

GDLS M-1002 Miller AGDS

     Country of Origin: United States

     Notes: The M-1002 is based on an article by Asher Sharoni and Lawrence Bacon in the Jul-Aug 1996 issue of Armor magazine.

     Notes: This rare modification of the M-1 Abrams was named for Seaman Dorie Miller, an African-American cook aboard the USS West Virginia during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; Miller, despite having no antiaircraft gunnery training, shot down several Japanese aircraft with a deck-mounted M-2HB in the face of withering enemy fire. (It also marks the only time that an Army system was named after a sailor.)  The Army felt this was an appropriate name due to Miller’s prowess in antiaircraft gunnery as well as his heroism; however, naming an Army system after a Naval hero did generate a firestorm of controversy for a while.  AGDS simply stands for “Air-Ground Defense System,” noting that the M-1002 was meant to be an effective system for attacking ground targets as well as being an air defense system.  The Miller was first proposed as the late 1990s, and put into limited production in 1994; however, when hostilities erupted, it was felt that tanks were needed more than a heavily-armored AAA vehicle, and production was halted in mid-1996, after only 52 Millers were produced.  Some 30 M-1002s were assigned to the 24^th Infantry Division and went to the Middle East; most of the rest were sent to Europe, except for five that went to the 2^nd Infantry Division in Korea, and two that were somehow acquired by the Texas Army National Guard’s 49^th Armored Division and remained in the US.  They acquitted themselves quite well in all cases, and half of them survived the Twilight War in a more-or-less intact condition, eventually becoming museum pieces or (in a few unlucky cases) becoming range targets or being stripped.

     The hull of the Miller is based on that of the IPM-1 Abrams I chassis.  The turret is enlarged and extends almost to the rear end of the chassis, but is also about 50mm shorter in height than that of the M-1; it is, however, a little wider than that of the M-1.  The new turret is also heavily armored, though not as much as that of the M-1.  Despite the large turret, the interior is still rather cramped, as the turret contains the sophisticated fire control suite, a decent amount of ammunition for its weapons, and its pop-up missile box.  The M-1002 has not only antiaircraft fire control and tracking equipment, but equipment for ground engagements as well. Though the M-1002 is equipped with a pair of autocannons, it’s primary weapon system is considered to be its ADATS missiles.  The launchers are contained in a pair of six-round boxes, one of each side of the turret; the front end pops up before launch to a 45-degree angle; inside the turret on each side is a loading door which allows the launcher to be reloaded from under armor.  The ADATS system is not only useful against aircraft and helicopters, but can engage the heaviest armored vehicles as well, making the M-1002 quite the threat. 

     The secondary weapon system of the M-1002 is its pair of 35mm Bushmaster III autocannons. The autocannons can use a small phased-array radar on the right front of the turret or the primary radar, or use a laser rangefinder with an advanced fire control computer.  The guns’ radar has a range of 10 kilometers against air targets or low-flying aircraft and helicopters, or 5 kilometers against ground targets. The pair of autocannons have the unusual ability to be fired either both together or one at a time; single-gun fire can be done to conserve ammunition, and the dual-feed capability of the Bushmaster III is present on both guns.  The autocannons can be elevated up to 90 degrees or depressed up to -5 degrees.

     Both weapons systems are linked to a radar tracking/targeting system with a range of 25 kilometers against air targets, 15 kilometers against low-flying aircraft and helicopters, and 10 kilometers against ground targets.  The radar has integrated IFF capability. The M-1002 can also link itself via a digital radio link to other friendly air defense radars within 5 kilometers instead of using its own radar, reducing its vulnerability while extending target detection range.  M-1002s operating within 5 kilometers of each other can also share their radar information via the same sort of link. (The ADATS missiles themselves are laser-guided, however.)  Ground and air targets can also be detected by a high-resolution LLTV system with a range of 9 kilometers or an advanced FLIR seeker with a range of 6 kilometers.  Though there is only one radar dish, this dish and its mount are somewhat armored. The radar mount also has the LLTV and FLIR for the ADATS missiles, and is on an extendible mast that can extend the sensors up to 1.5 meters above the turret.  The autocannons have their own sensors, fire control computer, and a separate laser rangefinder.  Both the ADATS missiles and autocannons can be firing at the same time, each using their own sensors and fire control suite; note, however, that any ADATS targets must be within 30 degrees on either side of the front of the turret.  If necessary, the fire control system of one weapon can be used to guide the other weapon system; however, this cuts the Fire Control modifier to +2.

     The ammunition for the autocannons as well as the ADATS missile reloads is kept in separate armored compartments behind blast doors, and have blow-off panels like those of the M-1.  The compartments for the autocannon ammunition are on each side of front of the turret, and the blow-off panels blow upwards.  The compartment for the ADATS reloads is at the rear of the turret, and again blows off upwards. The ADATS missile boxes also have blow-out panels in case they are hit and the missiles explode. As with the M-1, if an ammunition hit calls for the vehicle to be destroyed, the M-1002 is not destroyed. Instead (in game terms), the ammunition in the compartment is destroyed, the armament, sensors, and electronics each take minor damage, and each member of the crew except the driver takes 30 points of concussion damage.  As the ammunition of the M-1002 is contained in three separate armored compartments, an ammunition blow-out in one compartment does not mean that all ammunition on board is destroyed; instead, the compartment hit will depend upon the angle at which the enemy fire is coming from; there is a 33/34/33 chance that an ammunition hit will take out the autocannon ammunition on one side or the missile box on that side or the ADATS missile reloads compartment. 

     The driver is in his customary position in the hull front, and has the same controls as on the M-1.  The turret crew consists of a gunner, who has control over both armament systems and both sets of sensors and fire control systems via LCD screens, and the commander.  The commander has a hatch on the turret deck in the center, which is also used by the gunner, and the commander has a pintle-mounted weapon for use against close targets or assaulting infantry.  The commander can control the autocannons and use the autocannons’ fire control suite and sensors via LCD screens, but his ADATS fire control sights are relatively rudimentary and give only a Fire Control modifier of +3.

     The M-1002 uses the same 1500-horsepower AGT-1500 gas turbine engine that the M-1 uses.  This is a multi-fuel engine, capable of burning gasoline, diesel, an ethanol/gasoline or diesel mix of up to 20%, JP-4 or JP-8 jet fuel, or kerosene; in extremis, the AGT-1500 can also burn pure ethanol or methanol with some modification.  It is coupled to an automatic transmission.  The driver has a conventional gas and brake pedal, and steers the M-1002 via a T-shaped yoke.  The suspension is the same as that of an M-1 and is excellent, giving a good ride on and off roads and contributing to the stabilization of the M-1002’s autocannons as well as reducing crew fatigue.  The M-1002 is rather heavy, however, which somewhat negates the advantages of the power of the engine. On each side of the turret are a cluster of six smoke/flare grenade launchers.  The M-1002 has the same 5.6kW APU as found on the M-1A2 and some M-1A1s, as well as an air conditioner and a heater; the APU uses 11 liters of fuel per hour, and uses fuel from the M-1002’s fuel tanks.  A small hot plate is tucked into a small space in the left front corner of the turret, as well as a 10-liter water tank.  The M-1002 is equipped with a GPS navigation system with a mapping/navigation computer.

     The M-1002 was often nicknamed the “Combat Cadillac” by US troops due to the plethora of armament and features it carries.

*The mount and mast for the main radar has an AV of 7; the dish itself has an AV of 3.

**Stabilization for the ADATS missile system is Basic.

IOC Ze’ev MAGS AA

     Country of Origin: Israel

     Notes: This vehicle does not exist in real life; it was invented by Frank Frey of the former GDW.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This is an antiaircraft variant of the basic system that mounts two 35mm autocannons in a remote turret and fittings for mounting a hypervelocity rocket pod on each side of the turret.

KBP ZSU-30-6

     Country of Origin: Russia (Soviet Union)

     Notes: Though based on a possible SP AAA system the Soviets were studying in the 1980s, this vehicle does not actually exist in real life.  The back story is my invention.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This little-seen antiaircraft vehicle is the result of three goals: the desire to produce an antiaircraft vehicle more effective than the ZSU-23-4, the use of aircraft cannon from attack aircraft grounded due to maintenance issues or damage, and the need to do both quickly and with as little additional expense as possible. The result of this was the ZSU-30-6, basically a modified ZSU 23-4 with slightly better radar and armed with the 30mm AO-17A Gatling gun from aircraft such as the SU-25 and SU-27 series aircraft. The result was a vehicle with similar capabilities to the US M-163 PIVAD, but with a heavier-caliber autocannon. However, aircraft were becoming less common in the skies by the time this vehicle reached volume production, and the autocannon ended up being used more against light armored vehicles, soft-skinned vehicles, and personnel.

Krauss-Maffei Leopard 1 ADATS

     Country of Origin: Germany

     Notes: This is a highly modified Leopard 1 chassis with an elevating arm for a sensor set and a pod containing ADATS missiles. The crew is contained in an elevated superstructure on the right side of the vehicle, each with his own hatch. The pod is automatically reloaded by lowering it to the rear of a set of opening in the hull deck to the rear of the superstructure. The pod may be elevated up to 5 meters above the vehicle. This vehicle was not developed beyond the drawing board phase.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This rather rare vehicle was delivered to the German and Danish armies shortly before the Twilight War, about 30 to Germany, and 5 to Denmark.

LIW/Reunart G-6 Marksman

     Country of Origin: South Africa

     Notes: This vehicle was not developed beyond the drawing board/scale model phase.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This experimental South African system was placed into limited production during the Twilight War. It consists of a G-6 self-propelled howitzer chassis topped with the German Marksman turret (the same as on the Gepard and T-55 Marksman). There were a very few of these systems sent to Oman and the United Arab Emirates, but most of them were used by South African forces, more often in a ground support role than an air defense role.

MaK Wildcat

     Country of Origin: Germany

     Notes: This was never developed beyond the advanced prototype stage. The turret was also tried on several different chassis, but none of these were ever fielded either.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This is a light 6x6 antiaircraft vehicle for the protection of airborne, airmobile, and light divisions. They were welcome additions to those parts of the German Army, but they were rare outside the German ranks (with some serving in the Swiss and Austrian armies, and a very few serving with the British Army). The combination of small size, fast speed, and excellent fire control made them difficult and dangerous targets for enemy pilots to take out, and they were also useful against light armored vehicles, soft-skinned vehicles, and personnel. The driver’s position is at the front of the hull, and the commander and gunner have hatches on the turret deck. In 1999, one of these vehicles was captured by the 82^nd Airborne Division in Iran, and used by that division; how it got there was a mystery, since the crew of the Wildcat was killed outside of the vehicle before they could be questioned.

Rheimetall/Giat Dragon

     Country of Origin: France/Germany

     Notes: This tracked antiaircraft gun is a product of cooperation between France and Germany. It consists of a SABRE turret mounted on a modified TAM light tank chassis. The turret is equipped with a search and tracking radar and twin 30mm HS-831A autocannons. The radar has a range of 15km and can simultaneously search and track. It is capable of searching even for low-altitude or hovering targets. The guns can be radar directed, but optical backup is provided. The driver has a hatch on the front deck, the commander and gunner on the turret deck, and there is a ramp in the rear. This vehicle was not developed beyond several prototypes.

Steyr-Daimler-Puch 4K 7FA SPAAG 1/2.20

     Country of Origin: Austria

     Notes: This is a 4K 7FA KSPz armored personnel carrier with the M-2HB turret removed and a twin 20mm antiaircraft turret mounted in the center of the vehicle. The autocannons are of French design. As of 2006, it is still only a possible production vehicle that has not been officially placed into production.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: Stocks of this vehicle were drawn from the few prototypes and even fewer production vehicles made before and during the war.

ZTS Strop

     Country of Origin: Czech Republic

     Notes: This is a Czech antiaircraft gun/missile system based on the Dana self-propelled artillery gun chassis. It is in fact the Dana with a modified turret to carry twin Russian designed 30mm 2A38M autocannons (the same guns as on the ZSO-30-4) and twin launchers for either SA-7, SA-14, SA-16, or SA-27 missiles. This appears to still be in the testing phase, and may never be adopted due to cost and the existence of the tracked version of the Strop-turreted vehicle.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: These systems were only just beginning production before the Twilight War, and few (perhaps 30) were made before the beginning of hostilities.