Underwater Battlearmor Unit

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The UBU is a breathtaking experiment in exoskeleton technology. Capable of speeds close to 40 mph on a level track and somewhat less in a swimming pool, the Ubu can outrun many tanks on land and outswim most fish. It has thick armor, an underslung turret mounting a 40mm grenade machine gun paired with a sub-machine gun system, and two sideracks launching small rockets/torpedoes; the GMG also rechambers to fire 40mm "magdart" miniature torpedo rounds for underwater engagement.

Fully loaded, an UBU masses about 750 kg, including pilot. This is rather heavy for powered battle armor, but could be considered instead light for a vehicle; the UBU is air-deployable; the TJB-1 Mandrake was refit specifically with this in mind when the UBU was developed.

The physical arrangement of the Ubu is worth noting, and takes some getting used to. The Ubu trooper actually lies on his back when piloting the Ubu on land, head towards the front of the exoskeleton; this requires some getting used to, as the display goggles mirror what is behind the pilot's head. The pilot's arms extend into the "thighs" of the front legs, and his legs are entirely within the Ubu's, although they do not extend all the way to the "feet" of the UBU.

UBUs were used to great effect to ambush a column of hover-APCs during the later phase of the Amerigan War in spite of Tahar Joblis having never declared war on any of the parties involved. The Tahar Joblissan Marines consider the UBU one of their most useful weapons; for this reason, as well as the technologies involved, the UBU has never been exported.

The development of the UBU with the help of The BlackWolf Order also led to the creation of the PLATE light (unpowered) armor suit.