Mecha of the New World Order
The mecha forces of the New World Order factions are a mix of older design prototypes from before the First Robotech War and new designs created in the late 2020s by the NWO itself.
Technology
The primary mecha of the New World Order are all new designs created by Dr. Jakob Erlich, a former Robotech scientist, and his team of expert mecha engineers, made up mainly of former RDF technical personnel. The key to the new mecha design was the fact that they all used existing mecha systems rather than requiring new development and testing. The three new mecha are designed to make use of salvaged Zentraedi mecha chassis, augmented with additional armor because of the use of human-sized pilots using EBSIS-style cockpit designs obtained through the Merchant Republic. Since these mecha are based around old Zentraedi technology they are all protoculture-powered, making them far more energy efficient than the equivalent Soviet mecha. Being non-transformable and primarily ground-based these mecha are categorized as Battloids.
In addition to the new mecha designs, two older mecha designs are also used by the NWO. These are based on prototype Veritech mecha originally used by the Anti-Unification League during its brief conflict with the unified world government a few years prior to the outbreak of the First Robotech War.
In order to provide large numbers of trained mecha, pilots to their allies in short order the NWO made use of another of Dr. Erlich's breakthroughs. During the Malcontent Uprisings, Erlich had managed to partially replicate the technology used by the Zentraedi to mentally imprint combat training on newly generated clones. Building on this early success Erlich was able to devise a means to in effect copy the skills of one person onto another. By using trained mercenary mecha pilots (frequently former members of the RDF), NWO soldiers could have the combat skills of those pilots imprinted directly into their own minds. Even though the process only had an 80% success rate (with half of the failures resulting in death or severe mental damage), and there were frequent psychological side effects, the NWO's allies were more than happy to provide plenty of "volunteers" for training.
NWO Mecha
Being based on Zentraedi designs, the NWO mecha are larger than contemporary Southern Cross mecha, more comparable in size to an old RDF destroid than one of the newer battloids. The newer NWO mecha designs were originally prototyped at a secret facility in Indochina near the wreck of a Zentraedi carrier (the source of the original mecha chassis used for construction). Prior to the outbreak of war the secret facility was closed down and construction moved to a new facility hidden in the Himalayas as well as a secret orbital facility operated from within a salvaged and refurbished Zentraedi Salan-class scout vessel. When the Himalayan facility was disabled by a joint Southern Cross-EBSIS operation and the orbital facility destroyed by the Southern Cross, production of new mecha was hampered until a new facility was established in the jungles of central Africa. That facility was destroyed at the end of the war.
- SV-53 Valkyrie (transformable fighter)
- AUN Octos (transformable submersible)
Battloid Mecha
NWO Jotun
Mecha Data
- Designation: NWO-01
- Crew: 1 pilot
- Weight: 40.1 tons
- Height: 15.9m
- Width: 10.1m
- Depth: 8.3m
- Max walking speed: 155 kph
Armament
- 1 x laser cannon on left arm
- 1 x long range missile launcher on left shoulder
- 1 x Particle Beam Cluster Cannon in right arm
- 1 x Particle Beam Cannon on right shoulder
The primary ground offensive mecha of the NWO, the Jotun is a mix of a Zentraedi Battlepod and Male Power Armor mecha. The main body is based off the Zentraedi Tactical Battlepod main chassis. Arms and legs are shortened versions of Male Power Armor limbs. The laser cannon is taken from the top lasers on a Battle Pod and the particle beam cannon is also from a Battle Pod. The Particle Beam Cluster Cannon is from a Zentraedi Fighter Pod while the missile launcher is one of the pair found on a Light Artillery Battlepod.
NWO Panzer
Mecha Data
- Designation: NWO-02
- Crew: 1 pilot
- Weight: 31.8 tons
- Height: 14.6m
- Width: 8.0m
- Depth: 9.5m
- Max ground speed: 115 kph
Armament
- 2 x Weapons Pods (in place of lower arms) armed with:
- - 1 x quadruple-barreled medium beam cannon
- - 1 x single barrel medium cannon (240 rounds)
- 2 x dual long range missile launchers on mounted on the shoulders
- 2 x short range missile launchers mounted on either side of the main body (6 missiles each)
- 2 x single barrel heavy beam cannon mounted on either side of the main body
The NWO Panzer is a heavy weapons platform, built entirely from a Zentraedi Officer's Pod chassis. Arm weapons pods are taken directly from the Officer's Pod but the arms and legs have been shortened.
NWO Shrike
Mecha Data
- Weight: 31.8 tons
- Height: 14.6m
- Width: 8.0m
- Depth: 9.5m
- Max speed at all altitudes: 181 kph
- Max ground speed: 105 kph
Armament
- 1 x shoulder-mounted plasma cannon
- 1 x impact cannon mounted in the left arm
- 1 x particle cannon mounted in the right arm
The Shrike is the main battlefield aerial strike mecha of the NWO. The mecha is a mix of Male Power Armor and VF-1 (Battloid mode). Essentially, the internal "skeleton" is derived from an RDF VF-1's Battloid mode, less the external armoring (the Shrike is non-transformable). This chassis is installed inside of a modified Male Power Armor, taking the place of the regular giant alien pilot. The shoulder cannon is from a Male Power Armor, as is the left arm cannon (which is the chest cannon from the Power Armor). Flight capability comes from the thrusters of the Male Power Armor, with wings added for extra maneuverability and stability.
Veritech Mecha
NWO Valkyrie (Veritech Fighter)
Mecha Data
- Designation: SV-53
- Crew: 1 pilot
- Weight: 17.8 tons
- Length: 22.77m
Fighter Mode
- Max speed at 11,000m: Mach 2.81 (3442 kph)
Guardian Mode
- Max speed at all altitudes: 500 kph
Battloid Mode
- Max speed at all altitudes: 480 kph
- Max walking speed: 160 kph
Armament
- 1 x 3-barreled 55mm gatling cannon in a gun pod
- 1 x 12.7 mm fixed-forward minigun
- 2 x micro-missile launchers (1 per wing)
- 2 wing hardpoints (1 per wing) each capable of carrying:
- 3 x 300mm medium range missiles or 533mm long range missiles
Additional Equipment
- Advanced stealth system
The SV-53 is an upgrade of the older Anti-Unification SV-51 Veritech, which was based on stolen plans for an early RDF Veritech Fighter design (scrapped once the plans were stolen and replaced by the VF-0). In addition to being fully transformable and protoculture-powered, the SV-53 is equipped with an advanced emissions damping stealth system which renders the aircraft nearly invisible to radar and infra-red. The only drawback to the SV-53 is its limited numbers as, unlike the NWO Battloids, parts for the Valkyrie must be manufactured or modified from rare and valuable salvaged RDF and Southern Cross Veritechs. The SV-53 carries an AKG-47, the EBSIS version of the old RDF GU-11 gun pod.
NWO Octos (Veritech Submersible)
Mecha Data
- Designation: AUN-02
- Crew: 1 pilot
- Weight: 22.6 tons
Ground Combat Mode (Battloid)
- Height: 14.63m
- Max walking speed: 64 kph
- Max driving (wheeled) speed: 240 kph
Submarine Cruise Mode (Submersible)
- Length: 20.72m
- Max surface speed: 20 knots (37 kph)
- Max sub-surface speed: 30 knots (55 kph)
Armament
- 1 x 3-barreled 55mm gatling cannon on the top-right dorsal section (ground combat mode only)
- 1 x missile launcher on the top-left dorsal section, capable of carrying 6 surface-to-surface missiles (ground combat mode only)
- 2 x top dorsal mounted laser guns
- 1 x anti-personnel machine gun positioned on the ventral side
- 2 x torpedo launchers mounted in the arms (can only be fired submerged)
The Octos was an early Veritech design abandoned when the new UN military made space naval capabilities a priority over conventional naval forces. The plans were stolen by Anti-UN sympathizers along with the SV-51 designs. The NWO only has limited ability to build new Octos so the majority seen during the Fourth World War were actually recovered mecha from the original Anti-UN production run circa 2007/08. Octos were generally reserved for covert operations and surprise amphibious assaults and never used as front-line combat mecha by the NWO.
Military Vehicles and Equipment of the New World Order
The New World Order has relatively little military equipment, relying mainly on its mecha forces. What equipment they do use is usually surplus from earlier conflicts. The NWO relies heavily on its allied factions to supplement its small non-mecha capabilities.
NWO Military Forces
Military Vehicles
Ground-Based Vehicles
The NWO has virtually no ground armor capability outside of its mecha forces. They rely entirely on the existing ground forces of their allied factions to support the mecha. The sole exception was the massive Land Carrier. This giant vehicle was effectively an aircraft carrier that travelled on land, rolling along on a set of massive treads. The carrier was based on a similar one used by a rogue RDF General who tried to carve out an empire for himself in Africa in 2016. The carrier had a complement of fighter aircraft (mostly MiG-29s) that launched from the massive flight deck, augmented by attack and reconnaissance helicopters. The lower levels of the carrier contained a large mecha bay that could deploy battloids via exit ramps. The carrier was used exclusively to support the operations in the China Quadrant and it was disabled and later destroyed by the 21st ATAC.
Aircraft
The NWO did not have a dedicated air force, though many of its allied factions did. These air forces consisted mainly of legacy aircraft from the Global Civil War. Of these, most were Soviet/Russian planes that had been available at the time, including the popular MiM-31 Karyovin ground attack fighter.
Naval Vessels
NWO naval capability was limited and what they did have was used primarily for covert operations or smuggling. There were two specific vessels known to have been used by the NWO. The first was a large container ship originally owned by the Damballah criminal syndicate and taken over by the NWO. This container ship was modified and its cargo bays converted to hangars that could house SV-53 Valkyries. During the lead up to open war the NWO used this vessel to covertly move the SV-53s into position for covert strikes in order to fuel tensions between the UEG and EBSIS. The two most prominent strikes launched from this vessel against UEG targets prior to the revelation of the NWO were the Tokyo Bay Bridge Bombing and the Perth Air Raid. This vessel was captured by the 21st ATAC early in the war.
The second covert vessel used by the NWO was another hold-over from the Anti-Unification League. This craft was a Soviet Typhoon-2 class ballistic missile submarine that had been modified so that four of its missile launch tubes were converted to allow for vertical launch of SV-53s in battloid mode. The vessel also carried several Russian-made nuclear-tipped ICBMs from the late 20th century. This is the vessel that launched the nuclear strike on the city of Shanghalla. The submarine was destroyed by Southern Cross forces during the Battle of Manila.
Spacecraft
NWO space capability was limited to a single orbital vessel, a salvaged Zentraedi Salan-class scout ship that had been refurbished to serve as a mecha factory using parts salvaged from the debris ring. The ship was controlled by interface software designed by Dr. Erlich that allowed Earth-built computers to interact with the Zentraedi systems and the vessel was hidden by a large-scale version of the emission-dampening stealth system installed on the SV-53 Valkyries. Transport of newly constructed mecha from the ship to the planet was handled by modified Zentraedi landing craft, which were also used on the surface to move large numbers of mecha to and from different NWO bases and allied nations.
Military Equipment
The NWO proper had no standing army, though they did possess a large security force at each major base. The security forces were usually armed with modern Soviet equipment obtained by the Merchant Republic. Allied NWO factions used their pre-existing forces in combat (augmented by NWO mecha). These forces were not re-equipped and continued to use their usual gear, mostly vintage equipment dating back to the Global Civil War or other late-20th century conflicts.