BattleAxe BKX-8D

The BKX-8D refits the BattleAxe as a 70-ton skirmisher, moving away from the close-quarters juggernaut role of the 2459-era BKX-1X. Where the original carried a Large Laser in each arm, the 8D mounts a pair of ER Medium Lasers in the left arm and another pair in the right, and its three torso-mounted MML 7 launchers replace the mixed LRM 5, SRM 6, and LRM 5 spread of the earlier machine, with both machine guns dropped entirely. A lighter 280 light fusion engine lifts cruising speed from 32 to 43 km/h and top speed from 54 to 65 km/h, and the type adds a 120-meter jump capability the BKX-1X lacked. Light ferro-fibrous armor replaces the primitive plating of the original, CASE protects the left torso, and a C3 slave unit sits in the head; the design is known as maintenance-intensive, and Achernar Battlemechs builds it at New Avalon.