The Ballard M5C2 CSV is a military vehicle in fiction by GMRE and New and Improved Medici.
Development history[]
By 2007, the San Esperito economy had recovered from the civil war and was improving over the pre-war level.
The San Esperito Military (new military after the war) realized that most of their Ballard series armored vehicles that had previously formed the backbone of the army had been destroyed and they need to replace them.
War experience had showed them that deploying "main battle tanks" at village and town battles had been a terrible idea. The M5B1 Scouts were designed to fight other armored vehicles, so their combat effectiveness in large infantry battles had been relatively poor, especially at remote villages where the military could only afford to send 1 or 2 vehicles at a time.
It was clear that they not only needed to get new vehicles for the "main battle tank" role, but more importantly, they needed to get some kind of heavy armor that could effectively counter large numbers of infantry and occasionally helicopters.
They purchased newer Ballard M6B1s for the "main battle tank" role and decided to use their war experience to convert their surviving M5B1 Scouts and Centronel AAWV - 21s to domestically designed Close Support Vehicles.
M5C1[]
The first prototype was the M5C1, which was armed with 2 miniguns in a turret. The evaluation comity found that:
- 2 miniguns are overkill against infantry and a waste of ammunition. Especially because the vehicle still has the hull machine gun.
- It was able to take down helicopters quite well.
- In simulated test battles, the vehicle lacked sufficient firepower to overwhelm any fortified enemy positions.
The M5C1 was therefore not approved. Legend has it that the M5C1 prototype is still parked at some secret unmarked military base hangar.
M5C2[]
The next prototype was the M5C2, which was armed with one minigun and 2 missile pods, in addition to the hull MG. The domestically made missiles were found to easily be able to take down low-flying helicopters and blow up any minor fortifications. These missiles have less range than the normal aircraft-mounted missiles, but they're quite good considering that San Esperito only just started manufacturing their own missiles.
This vehicle was approved and all remaining M5B1 Scouts and a few Centronel AAWV - 21s were converted to this model for a total of 372 Ballard M5C2 Close Support Vehicles.
Legend has it that a Mr. Luchianov, who apparently has very good connections to weapons manufacturers and dealers, had obtained a couple of these missile pods for use on his armed speedboat.
International orders[]
The combat effectiveness of the Ballard M5C2 CSV is reportedly excellent, so several other countries have shipped their outdated vehicles to San Esperito for conversion. These vehicles are not necessarily named Ballard M5C2 CSV, as that depends on what vehicle is used for the conversion and what their owners decide to call them.
Performance[]
The early Ballard series armored vehicles have a firmer suspension than the CS Odjur, so the vehicle never sways back and forth when stopping a starting. They are also a faster on a road. Slightly narrower wheels mean that they are slightly more likely to get stuck in extreme off-road conditions.
The weapons include:
- Hull machine gun.
- Minigun in the turret.
- 2 missile pods on the turret. These have a lock-on feature that can target vehicles.
Locations[]
- 372 at San Esperito military bases.
- The New Medici Military has purchased a vehicle for testing. This can be found at Porto Cavo, which is the largest base owned by the New Medici Military.
- Classified numbers of various outdated armored vehicles from other countries have been shipped to San Esperito for conversion.