| The Spitting Cobra is the heaviest mass-produced Gear chassis currently in service with the Southern MILICIA and Republican Army. Designed to fill the operational role of a heavy weapons platform, the Spit (as its crews invariably call it) is designed to wield devastating medium to long-range firepower on the modern battlefield. The Spitting Cobra's main fire support weapon is a massive SCRP-98 back-mounted rocket pod. Although unguided, the heavy rockets can saturate an area with ease and can take out heavily armored targets. More precise is the secondary fire support weapon, a shoulder-mounted Vogel-H series guided mortar. Although less powerful than the SCRP-98 rockets, the Vogel-H fires high-technology guided munitions capable of in-flight course corrections, allowing the Spitting Cobra to make full use of laser designator data provided by forward observers such as infantry or scout Gears. Both major weapons have an effective range of 1200 meters. Short to medium-range firepower is provided by a second pair of weapons more typical of a general purpose Gear, comprised of a MR60 autocannon and a shoulder-mounted FSRP-36 rocket pod. These weapons provide an excellent defense against assault Gears and other units. Close defense capabilities are provided by a MGU-77 minigun fixed to the Cobra's upper torso, allong with Gear to fend off infantry at very close range.
In the post-war period, the Spit has continued to perfomr well and has inspired a series of useful variants. The war-time assault and fire support specialists have been joined by anti-aircraft, anti-infantry, and engineering models. The Mandeers fire support models have been largely pushed to second-line duty or retirement by the Cobra and the heavy machine is a critcal part of the Territorial Arms stranglehold on the Southern Gear market. The Gear's development from Mandeers concepts occasionally comes back to haunt TA, with some analysts accusing the industrial giant of the theft of intellectual property. A successful court case, however, has never been mounted and, at least in public, TA does not seem concerned.
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