by Pieter Thomassen and Peter Walker, with Robert Morgenstern
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Air Defense Robot ADR-04 Defender.
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I. Dimensions:
Total Height: | 10.7m |
Total Depth: | 4.3m |
Total Breadth: | 8.6m |
Weight: | 21.7 metric tons (dry) |
| 27.1 metric tons (fully loaded). |
II. Type:
- Design: Vickers-Chrysler Robotech Systems Inc.
- Builders: Vickers-Chrysler Robotech systems Inc.
- Type: Two man all-weather air/ground defense Destroid mecha.
III. Service History:
- Mk. I: Proof-of-concept mecha for the leg assembly; three produced, 2006.
- Mk. II: Particle beam armament testbed, two built; 2007.
- Mk. III: Cannon/missile armament testbed, one built; 2007.
- Mk. IV: Rail gun armament testbed, one built; 2008.
- Mk. V: Prototype with laser/missile armament; three built, 2008.
- Mk. VI: Cannon armament and sensor prototype; four built, 2008.
- Mk. VII: Laser armament testbed, prototype for the Mk. XI; two built, 2009.
- Mk. VIII: Prototype for the Mk. IX and Mk. X; two built, 2009.
- Mk. IX: Pre-production series for the Mk. X; ten built, 2009.
- Mk. X: Served with the RDF Army, Marines, and Spacy from March 2009
until 2020, and with the Southern Cross' Tactical Corps from 2013 until 2020. Local militia units
operated a few until 2025.
- Mk. XI: Served with the RDF Spacy from 2010, and with the RDF Army and Marines from 2011, until 2020.
IV. Propulsion:
Powerplant:
- 1 RRL-1 miniaturized protoculture-cell energizer.
- 8 standard cannisters of protoculture.
Auxiliary power unit:
- General Electric EM10T hydrogen/oxygen fuel cell, 510 kW for twelve hours.
Thrusters for space maneuvering (actually fitted only in the Spacy destroids):
(propulsion)
- 2 Rocketdyne AST-04 dual thruster banks on the back, total thrust 14 kN with a fuel
supply sufficient for a total delta-v of approximately 0.2 kps.
(attitude control)
- 14 Nakajima NBS-1 high-thrust vernier thrusters, located on the heels (4), calves (2), forward waist (2), chest (2) and on the shoulders (4).
- 2 x P&W LHP04 low-thrust vernier thrusters, located to either side of the radar tower.
V. Performance:
- Maximum speed: 54 kph (fully loaded).
- Protoculture endurance: an average of 475 hours (Mk. X) or 90 (Mk. XI) operational use.
VI. Electronics:
Radar System:
- Hughes APG-198 short range (45 km) X band pulse Doppler phased array, multi-mode
radar with battlefield surveillance, short distance air search and fire control modes.
- Thomson PA-3 long range (>100 km) X band pulse Doppler phased array air search
radar.
Optical tracking:
- Thomson DOS-2006 multi-band digital camera system, for medium range spherical UV,
infra-red imaging and optical band detection and tracking.
- Thomson LT-3 multi-frequency laser ranger and designator.
- Zeiss TS-2 long range telescopic array for the visible/IR spectrum.
- Hollandse Signaal BigEye broad-spectrum ESM system.
Tactical Electronic Warfare System (TEWS):
- Elettronica radar warning receiver,
- OlDelft infra-red warning receiver,
- Westinghouse ALQ-198(V) active radar jammer,
- Chaff/flare dispenser.
VII. Armament:
(ADR-04 Mk. X):
- 2 x twin-barreled Rheinmetall Type PFG-966 78mm caseless autocannons, firing 100 hypervelocity rounds per minute with an initial shell velocity of 3300 meters per second. The standard ammunition bins have a maximum capacity of 100 rounds per gun. The shells are a mix of APHE (Armor Piercing High Explosive), MKPF-AP (Multiple Kinetic Penetrator Flechette - Armor Piercing) and HEI-T (High Explosive Incendiary - Tracer) rounds with terminal laser guidance. The effective range is 12km on Earth, more on lower-gravity planets like Mars or the Moon.
The amunition is reasonably easy to reload in the field, as the ammunition containers are externally mounted. However, this does require the correct equipment and access frames.
(ADR-04 Mk. XI)
- 2 x twin barreled RRG mk15 laser cannons , firing a maximum of 7.5 MJ salvos from each barrel for a combined 15 MJ (2 barrels) or 30 MJ (all barrels) volley. The rate of fire is 40 rpm at full yield. The cannons are accurate out to long distances in advantageous atmospheric conditions.
VIII. Armor:
The armor on the Defender is composed of a standard Chobham laminar developed in the late 20th century and improved with the materials science advances made during the Robotech era. This armor was mainly designed to defeat projectiles and other kinetic weapons. The armor stops all small arms and heavy infantry weapons fire, provides excellent resistance to light mecha-mounted weaponry, such as the Zentraedi 22.3mm HE autocannon round, and fair resistance to medium mecha-mounted weaponry, such as the Valkyrie's 55mm APFSDS round.
The Defender provides full protection from nuclear, biological, and chemical hazards, using a sealed cockpit environment activated by radiation and hazardous chemical sensors, or manually when biological warfare conditions are anticipated. The internal consumables supplies can provide atmosphere for three days maximum.
IX. Development:
The ADR-04 Defender series is one of three Destroids that have a Vickers-Chrysler leg assembly in common. This was a design requirement so as to keep development costs down. While the other Earth-decigned Destroid in this series, the MBR-04 Tomahawk, is a main battle robot, the ADR-04 is an air defense robot, intended to either guard important rear area installations, or, by using its comparable mobility, to join the Main Battle Robots on deployments. In the latter cases, the Defender also served as a satisfactory fire support platform, although the armament was unsuited for indirect fire.
Catering to its specialization (close and medium range air defense), the Defender was equipped with a powerful radar system and advanced targeting computer, and with broadband ESM equipment for battle situations in which active radar emissions would not be wise. The system lay-out and integration delivered a fine, capable mecha, but the design process was protracted and expensive, with no less than 9 different
versions and prototypes being build (occasionally in parallel) until the production version took shape in late 2008.
As an anti-aircraft mecha, the Defender did a magnificent job, with its
extremely effective hypervelocity guns. These relatively large-caliber weapons had a very high muzzle velocity, and thus short flight times and great kinetic energy penetration capabilities, making the shells quite effective against airborne mecha. In addition, the rounds were terminally guided by the mecha, using a semi-active laser designator system. Other mecha could also provide terminal guidance, as the standard laser ranger/designator was used, but only if they were in full datalink with the firing Defender. Ammunition restrictions led to two developments, however; firstly a new external drum was developed that increased the capacity by 50% to 150 rounds per gun, and secondly, a new variant was developed with lasers in the arms instead of auto-cannons, and charging capacitors where the ammunition bins had been. This laser Defender, or the "Mark Eleven" as it soon came to be called, was effective in most situations, but was more expensive in both cost and materials to produce, as well as in power consumption, and never saw widespread use, being stationed at vital strategic points rather than on the battle-field. The ADR-04 Mk. X first entered combat squadrons in March 2009. The Mk. XI appeared in mid 2010.
The Destroids based on this undercarriage were among the most important mecha during the First Robotech War and the later Malcontent Uprisings through 2019. Numerous Defenders lumbered on in militias until 2025, and many can still be seen in museums today.
See additional design notes.
Return to UNDF Mecha Index.
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Content by Pieter Thomassen and Peter Walker, with Rob Morgenstern
HTML by Robert Morgenstern (rmorgens@ieee.org)
Copyright (c) 2000, 1997, 1995 Robert Morgenstern, Pieter Thomassen, Peter Walker