Big Bang Ricochet 016: The Cardoen Alacr'n (d20)
The Cardoen Alacr?n was the swansong of the halftrack. Throughout World War II and well into the 1950's¸ the halftrack was recognized as an excellent tradeoff between the easy maintenance and operating costs of a wheeled vehicle and the mobility of a tracked vehicle. They were used as towing rigs¸ prime movers¸ tank destroyers¸ self-propelled gun chassis¸ air defense vehicles¸ armored personnel carriers and more. However¸ after the end of the war¸ the superpowers relegated the halftrack to the recycle bin¸ retiring the vehicles from active duty and selling off the surplus to third world nations. The halftracks produced by the United States survived quite well¸ finding second lives in both the Middle East and South America¸ but eventually they too were relegated to mothballs¸ retained only as a fleet of secondary reserve vehicles. Chile was one of the last nations to retire its fleet of M3 halftracks¸ and in the early 1970's¸ actually sought to overhaul them for continued use! The result of the efforts to overhaul was an entirely new vehicle design from Cardoen¸ a new weapons manufacturer with a rather shady future. The Alacr?n (Spanish for Scorpion) was based heavily on the M3¸ with a new powerpack and fully enclosed hull. Like the halftracks of WW2¸ the Alacr?n was capable of a wide array of duties¸ carrying troops¸ cargo¸ artillery rockets¸ air defense guns¸ light tank turrets¸ and more. Unfortunately¸ though a highly competent vehicle¸ especially considering its nation of origin¸ the BMS-1 Alacr?n never entered production¸ making it the last new halftrack design the world would see. This issue also includes an entry for the LAU97 Multiple Rocket Launcher System¸ a Belgian-designed 70mm artillery rocket weapon platform.