BattleTech Vehicle Technical Readout

Type/Model: Small MASH Wheeled (Human Sphere)
Tech: Inner Sphere / 2400
Config: Wheeled Vehicle
Rules: Level 3, Standard design
   
Mass: 15 tons
Power Plant: 55 I.C.E.
Cruise Speed: 54.0 km/h
Maximum Speed: 86.4 km/h
Armor Type: Standard
Armament:
2 Small Lasers
Manufacturer:    (Unknown)
   Location:    (Unknown)
Communications System:    (Unknown)
Targeting & Tracking System: (Unknown)


Overview:

         The first MASH units appeared during the Korean War in Earth's ancient history. By the end of the period known as the Exodus, MASH units had to be assembled by fleets of trucks and engineers, and it took days to erect or remove them. Because of that time factor, many MASH units were captured, a very costly loss.
         The idea of installing certain diagnostic equipment on trucks and vans to allow for quick retreats was gradually put into practice. First came a portable power supply, then the diagnostic equipment, then whole trucks employed as mobile wards. The first mobile surgery theater was employed in the opening battles of the Age of War, evolving quickly into the MASH unit known today.
         Literally hospitals on wheels, the sophisticated MASH vehicles supply wounded MechWarriors with the finest possible medical care.
         Every well-equipped regiment is assigned at least one Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. The vehicle stations itself as close as possible to the action, perhaps in an open field near several roads. The MASH then unfolds itself and powers up its medical equipment. In the meantime, army engineers devise a landing pad to handle the air vehicles that will ferry the wounded from the front line to the rear, from which they can be evacuated offworld if necessary. Though only lightly armed and armored, the MASH is rarely attacked because it provides medical services to the wounded of both sides.

Capabilities:

         The interior of the MASH is a high-tech affair. Entering through one set of wide doors, the patient is taken to a table to be prepared for surgery. In the meantime, one of the five team doctors is at a terminal accessing the results of medical tests on the patient. From the results, the MASH's computer suggests a plan of action to the surgeon.
         Having been prepped, the patient is brought to the surgeon and placed on the automated table, whose robot arms administer anesthesia. From there, the surgeon takes over. When he wants a surgical instrument such as a laser scalpel, the table automatically dispenses it via a group of robot hands stationed over the tray of sterile equipment.
         Depending on the situation, either the triage officer or the computer compiles continuous reports on the patient's condition, which the surgeon receives simultaneously through a small earphone. When he needs to consult a test result or an X-ray, it immediately appears on a nearby data screen. In an emergency, such as sudden heart failure or a seizure, the surgeon can take control of one of the automated table's many mechanical hands. The machine understands a wide variety of surgical maneuvers and can greatly aid the beleaguered surgeon.
         If the patient is slipping away too fast, the surgeon can initiate the emergency freeze procedure. A large, clear cover descends onto the table, turning it into a large, air-tight tube containing the patient. Once in place, the tube's temperature is lowered by flooding the interior with a clear, oxygen-rich liquid. The surgeon then places his hands through sleeves leading into the air-tight area and continues operating, with the table providing instruments from underneath its cover.
         Once the operation is complete, the surgeon enters data into the computer on post-op care, medication needed, and any other notes. This information is available to the nurses in the post-op ward, who will add their own observations to the patient's record.
         If a sudden change in the fortunes of war forces the MASH to move suddenly, it can disassemble its temporary structures and send patients on in ambulances, all in less than four hours. Drugs and medical equipment are loaded back onto the MASH, with supply trucks carting away the remaining non-medical supplies.
         As the surgery is prepared to move, all but one of the three operating theaters is stripped down and stowed. The hospital's right wall is lifted back up, then reattached to the vehicle so that the rear of the MASH can hold six of the most seriously injured patients. Even moving at high speeds, some surgery can be performed in the one operating theater.
         The MASH is lightly armed, more to discourage thieves than to inflict major damage. Mercenaries are particularly anxious to acquire a MASH, which they may try to steal by killing the driver or by blockading the road on which it is traveling. This has happened only rarely, and so some MASH doctors have removed the hospital's weapons on ethical grounds. As smoke and barrages of fire often obscures the large red cross painted on the vehicle's sensitive equipment, the sides of the truck are fairly well-armored.

Deployment

         MASH vehicles come in a variety of sizes and configurations, some with more or less operating theatres, some on wheels, tracks, hover cushions, and some even fly. Most of them are used by national forces, but the better mercenaries, especially those of the Allied Mercenary Command and the Federated Suns Mercenary Command make heavy use of them as well.


Type/Model: Small MASH Wheeled (Human Sphere)
Mass: 15 tons
Const. Options: Fractional Accounting
Equipment:   Items Mass
Internal Structure: 10 pts Standard 0 1.50
Engine: 55 I.C.E. 0 3.00
Power Amplifiers: Body 0 .10
   Cruise MP: 5    
   Flank MP: 8    
Heat Sinks: 2 Single 0 2.00
Cockpit & Controls: 0 .75
Crew: 1 Members 0 .00
Turret Equipment:   0 .10
Armor Factor: 48 pts Standard 0 3.00

    Internal Armor
    Structure Value
  Front: 2 9
  Left / Right Sides: 2 11/11
  Rear: 2 8
  Turret: 2 9

Weapons & Equipment: Loc Heat Ammo Items Mass
2 Small Lasers Turret 2   2 1.00
1 MASH Unit Theater Rear 0   1 3.50
TOTALS:   2   3 14.95
Items & Tons Left:       5 .05

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost: 140,019 C-Bills
Battle Value: 73
Cost per BV: 1,918.07
Weapon Value: 11 / 11 (Ratio = .15 / .15)
Damage Factors:    SRDmg = 2; MRDmg = 0; LRDmg = 0
BattleForce2: MP: 5W,   Armor/Structure: 0 / 2
    Damage PB/M/L: 1/-/-,   Overheat: 0
    Class: GL,   Point Value: 1
    Specials: mash

Designed with HeavyMetal Vee