Technology applied to warfare is an area where one can easily lose its acumen when a period of development in technology is followed by a period of peace for a peculiar state. This is what happened to the Free Worlds League that due to both Anton’s Revolt, the Andurien Crisis and its geographical situation stayed out of most of the major interstellar conflicts since the 3rd Succession War.
This meant that engineers had time to use the new toys without any real tests of their ideas on the battlefield. This is probably how the CDA-3M came to live: a recon ‘Mech that lacked any punch or electronics but what was still as fast as a Locust and represented something the Free Worlds League really needed after the hard battles of the Andurien Crisis.
The real test to it came when the Clans came and Captain-General Thomas Marik agreed to supply the Draconis Combine and the Federated Commonwealth with materials and among it the CDA-3M. Against the Inner Sphere it might have done its job but against the superior technology of the Clans it was lacking in all areas (speed, firepower and protection), making it almost useless on the modern battlefield.
Looking back at the wealth of data they had accumulated and fearing that the Free Worlds League would be next on the list of the invading Clans, the engineers at Free Worlds Defense Industries like those of all the companies in the League decided to give the federal and provincial forces a boost with the first part being reviewing the existing designs to improve them.
This lead to 4 new Cicadas: the well-known CDA-3F and some years later the CDA-3G but also the CDA-3D and 3E. The main differences between the two branches of the Cicada family being the use of Jump Jets on the 3F and 3G while the 3D and 3E packed a MASC. This difference came from the foreseen role of these models.
The 3D was designed as a force multiplier meant to help other units by “tagging†Clan units with a Narc Missile Beacon, allowing the numerous missile launchers found in the Free Worlds League units to found more easily their targets. The only drawback of this piece of equipment “acquired†from Irian Technologies thanks to the help of the federal government is that it can only be used at “short†ranges, hence the use of a MASC to increase the speed when needed. To allow it to snipe at longer ranges while waiting for the opportunity to come close, an ER Large Laser and one Medium Laser were selected as the standard armament, leaving two tons of ammo for the Narc system.
The use of the MASC System on the CDA-3E was meant necessary too because of the use of a rather experimental Binary Laser Cannon (an experimental weapon that showed some promises in terms of raw firepower when compared to Clan weapons) and the need to get it (and the two Medium Lasers) at a shorter range then the ER PPC used by the CDA-3F.
The test realised by Lieutenant Senior Grade Marshall Haupt, which had been for the last thirteen years assigned as test pilot for Free Worlds Defense Industries, showed the potential of both designs with a marked preference for the 3E, which perfectly suited his aggressive style. As could be expected the office of the Chief Armorer decided to go for the CDA-3D and the CDA-3F rather than the model using the difficult to use Binary Laser Cannon. However two Lancers of the officially never produced CDA-3E were later found in the 1st Free Worlds Legionnaires, a rather light unit specialising in staying on the offensive and in need of some firepower to do so.
From a report by SAFE/Analysis Branch/Active Analysis by early 3053 on the efficiency of the measures implemented to bolster the Free Worlds League Military
Cicada CDA-3D
Mass: 40 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Chassis Config: Biped
Rules Level: Tournament Legal
Era: Clan Invasion
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-X-E-A
Production Year: 3052
Dry Cost: 8 810 667 C-Bills
Total Cost: 8 822 667 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1 143
Chassis: Duralyte 240 Endo-Steel
Power Plant: Hermes 320 Fusion XL Engine
Walking Speed: 86,4 km/h
Maximum Speed: 129,6 km/h (172,8 km/h)
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: Durallex Light Ferro Fibrous Ferro-Fibrous
Armament:
1 Free Worlds Defense Industries/Hellion X-III ER Large Laser
1 Magna/Magna Ml II Medium Laser
1 Narc Launcher
Manufacturer: Free Worlds Defense Industries
Primary Factory: Gibson
Communications System: Datacom 50
Targeting and Tracking System: Dynatec 1122
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Endo-Steel 67 points 2,00
Internal Locations: 1 HD, 6 LT, 5 RT, 1 LL, 1 RL
Engine: XL Fusion Engine 320 11,50
Walking MP: 8
Running MP: 12 (16)
Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sinks: Double Heat Sink 10(20) 0,00
Gyro: Standard 4,00
Cockpit: Standard 3,00
Actuators: L: SH+UA R: SH+UA
Armor: Ferro-Fibrous AV - 116 6,50
Armor Locations: 6 LA, 6 RA, 1 LL, 1 RL
Internal Armor
Structure Factor
Head 3 9
Center Torso 12 15
Center Torso (rear) 6
L/R Torso 10 15
L/R Torso (rear) 5
L/R Arm 6 8
L/R Leg 10 15
================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Critical Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MASC CT - 2 2,00
Narc Launcher RT 0 2 3,00
Medium Laser LT 3 1 1,00
ER Large Laser LT 12 2 5,00
@Narc (Homing) (12) RT - 2 2,00
Free Critical Slots: 8
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 4 Points: 11
10 2 2 1 0 2 0 Structure: 2
Special Abilities: SNARC, SRCH, ES, SEAL, SOA
Cicada CDA-3E
Mass: 40 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Chassis Config: Biped
Rules Level: Era Specific
Era: Clan Invasion
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-X-E-A
Production Year: 3052
Dry Cost: 8 726 667 C-Bills
Total Cost: 8 726 667 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1 368
Chassis: Duralyte 240 Endo-Steel
Power Plant: Hermes 320 Fusion XL Engine
Walking Speed: 86,4 km/h
Maximum Speed: 129,6 km/h (172,8 km/h)
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: Durallex Light Ferro Fibrous Ferro-Fibrous
Armament:
1 Binary Laser Cannon
2 Magna/Magna Ml II Medium Lasers
Manufacturer: Free Worlds Defense Industries
Primary Factory: Gibson
Communications System: Datacom 50
Targeting and Tracking System: Dynatec 1122
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Endo-Steel 67 points 2,00
Internal Locations: 1 HD, 4 LT, 8 RT, 1 RL
Engine: XL Fusion Engine 320 11,50
Walking MP: 8
Running MP: 12 (16)
Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sinks: Double Heat Sink 10(20) 0,00
Gyro: Standard 4,00
Cockpit: Standard 3,00
Actuators: L: SH+UA R: SH+UA
Armor: Ferro-Fibrous AV - 116 6,50
Armor Locations: 6 LA, 5 RA, 2 LL, 1 RL
Internal Armor
Structure Factor
Head 3 9
Center Torso 12 15
Center Torso (rear) 6
L/R Torso 10 15
L/R Torso (rear) 5
L/R Arm 6 8
L/R Leg 10 15
================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Critical Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MASC CT - 2 2,00
Medium Laser RT 3 1 1,00
Medium Laser LT 3 1 1,00
Binary Laser Cannon LT 16 4 9,00
Free Critical Slots: 9
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 4 Points: 14
10 3 3 0 0 2 0 Structure: 2
Special Abilities: ENE, SRCH, ES, SEAL, SOA
