| The Naga has been developed primarily as a high firepower, rapid intervention unit designed to explot breakthroughs in the line and lend medium range heavy support to friendly units in trouble. Though a strider may seem an odd choice for such mission requirements, only a large chassis could handle the packs of guided missiles. The Naga is fast enough and carries enough armor to get to the hot zone in time to relieve beleaguered friendlies, and its powerful anti-tank missiles ensure that at least eight of the enemy vehicles will likely not survive the battle. The Naga is crewed by two persons, with the pilot/commander in the back and the gunner/system operator in the front, just above the autocannon mounts. The higher position of the pilot gives him a better view of his surroundings. In a pinch, the pilot can double as a gunner, though the overall combat perforamnce of the unit will be reduced.
The Naga is the best-known strider produced by Republican Heavy Industries. It is widely associated with the Republic itself, its ostrich-like form being featured quite often in Republican propganda works. Everyone remembers the famous advertising campaign of TN 1930, with the holovision ads that featured a darting Naga, surrounded by Gears, skipping a desert dune while letting loose two of its eight guided missiles. The wide desert shark grin painted on the snout of the machine's hull had been reprinted in many recruitment posters afterward, though it has since faded from view (no doubt because of the popularity of the Gears themselves). The Naga is currently in service in all Southern forces, though each army has its own specific variants. Most of the latter involve simply switching many of the components to locally-produced ones, reducing the Naga overall cost and maintenance requirements while retaining the same levels of performance. This procedure also increases the chance of production defects, since not all manufacturers are as careful with quality control as Republican Heavy Industries is (RHI still assembles all of the basic Naga chassis in one of its three plants located in the Republic).
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