Missile Hub
Missile Hub technology has greatly increased the speed in which infantry squads receive supporting fire.
Specially trained soldiers called Pathfinders are given M.H Markerlights, which are used to simply point at a target that needs a missile to destroy it. The information is transmitted via satellite link to a local Missile Hub situated normally inside a field base but Missile Hubs can be attached to large vehicles such as MAKO transports or Orion Carriers.
A computer calculates from all the Marklight 'calls' which is the most urgent (based on distance, type of target etc) and then launches missiles in order of urgency.
Missile Hubs vary in size, Hubs found on MAKO's are the smallest and can only fire one missile every few seconds and then only has about 10 missiles available to fire. Hubs found on Orion carriers are alot bigger, they can fire a few missiles every few seconds and have hundreds of missiles available to fire. Then Hubs found in field bases can be monstrous, firing tens of missiles ever few seconds if needed and have an almost limitless supply of missiles available.
The missiles fired are small yield, very effective against armour but against fortifications they are not powerful enough. Therefore if any fortifications are encountered air support will be required. However with the low yield of the missiles they are very fast meaning Pathfinders will not have to wait for very long for support unless they are deep in enemy territory and a hub is far away. The missiles each contain a small receiver and transmitter so they can receive instructions and transmit their own location to the main CPU, if there is a chance of friendly fire the missile will be redirected but they will be automatically self destructed if simply redirection isn't sufficient.
The markerlight is the most innovative part of this weapon package, the size of a large pen it has a laser pointer, range finder, satellite transmitter and a failsafe device to stop it being used by enemies. However as a backup the CPU of the Missile hub will deny any 'calls' which are aiming close to a friendly unit.
The Missle Hub technology only needs a few personnel to maintain it compared to other artillery weapons. One or two personnel are needed to maintain the computer networks of each large Missile Hub to make sure it runs smoothly. Whilst only a few other personnel are need to keep the battery loaded and clean. Just incase maintenance is needed sometimes Missile Hubs will need to temporarily shut down so that personnel can safely work on the problem. If 'calls' are still incoming, they will be transferred to the next best possible Hub to be fired from there.
To fire the weapon the Pathfinder has to keep the markerlight pointed at the target at least five seconds, then if the target is moving the markerlight has to be pointed until the target has been hit. To update the Pathfinder his or her Battle Visor will notify of the status of the missile inbound and the time until impact. If the Pathfinder has more one missile inbound all their status' will show on the HUD on the Battle Visor.
