Model number: AM-004S
Code name: Sealion
Unit type: mass production aquatic-use armored module
Manufacturer(s): Iris Corporation, Tesla Leicht Institute, others
Operator(s): numerous
First deployment: June UC 225
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Dimensions: overall height 20.3 meters
Armor materials: titanium-elektron nonferrous composite
Powerplant: ultracompact fusion reactor, output rated at 950 kW
Equipment and design features: hydrojet thrusters; sensors, range unknown; Tesla drive system
Fixed armaments: 2 x 6-tube multijet missile system, 5 round magazine per tube, mounted on shoulders
Optional hand armaments: none
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Technical and Historical Notes |
The unfairly-maligned Iris Corporation had garnered a reputation for designing unusual mobile weapons in the post-Interregnum period, and perhaps more infamously, another for passing them off to anyone with cash on hand. One of Iris' last major inventions, the Tesla drive, proved an incredible boon to their production of mobile weapons. The Lion series of armored modules - a less-expensive alternative to typical mobile suit designs - immediately proves popular in the post-Interregnum defense market, which spurs on the development of additional Lion-type units for specialized environments.
As the Tesla drive works just as well underwater as in atmosphere, a navalized variant of the Lion is quickly developed. The aptly-named AM-004S Sealion is tuned and optimized for combat situations underwater, including a reinforced frame and isolated components to allow it a modest diving depth where oceanic pressure is concerned. It is also furnished with a brace of supplemental hydrojet thrusters in addition to the standard Tesla drive system, making it rather nimble in its environment - some observers have suggested that the Sealion is more maneuverable underwater than the Lion is in the air. In spite of these modifications, the Tesla drive's characteristics allow the Sealion to make brief airborne sorties out of the water, where it is said to handle just like a Lion (with a drunk pilot, however).
Most of the standard Lion weapons cannot be effectively used underwater. As a result, the Sealion is equipped with a versatile multijet missile system - two large pods are mounted above and behind the armored module's shoulders, which contain the weapons and their launchers. The multijet missiles are capable of being deployed underwater, where they act like conventional high-speed torpedoes. They can also be configured in a surface-to-air mode, allowing the Sealion to deploy a fusillade of missiles at an airborne target. To avoid exposing itself to a flying enemy, the Sealion also has the option of "dumb-launching" - the multijet system can allow its projectiles to float to the surface before activating their propellant and acquiring a target. Finally, they can also be used surface-to-surface mode, where the missile is sent airborne before coming down again on another enemy, including submerged targets.
The Sealion shares many of the same basic components and parts as the normal Lion, maintaining economical production costs and a low maintenance overhead. As a result, the Sealion can be commonly encountered by authorized users in a maritime setting as well as pirates and renegades who make good use of the Sealion's easy handling for hit-and-run raids on commerce and other acts of armed theft. After the Earth Union's shutdown of the Iris Corporation, production of the Sealion was temporarily suspended. After the Tesla Leicht Institute got off the ground, the numerous Iris workers and staff that had escaped Union prosecution ensured that orders would continue to be fulfilled, especially to clients whose allegiance to the Union was questionable at best.
Rear view
