Advanced Tactical Missiles

Advanced Tactical Missiles, or ATMs are a medium-long range weapon system with improved tracking compared to other missile weapons.

Overview

An Advanced Tactical Missile Launcher fires a powerful warhead that is able to quickly lock onto and impact an enemy target. ATM Launchers come in three distinct types: Extended Range (ER), Standard (STD) and High Explosive (HE). ATMs are the most powerful conventional missile weapon system deployed and are only outclassed by the ArrowIV and Thunderbolt Missiles. The ER and STD variants are hampered by a minimum range (120m for STD and 150m for ER), making them less useful for close-range engagements but more effective for medium-long range fighting. However their lack of the LRM's ballistic trajectory coupled with a shorter lock-on time makes them more useful at direct engagements than their non-ATM counterparts. The HE variant has no arming deadzone, making it the weapon of choice for close-range and brawling Mechs, and its staggered launching pattern helps prevent enemy players from returning effective fire due to the shaking imparted by the explosions. ATMs will not travel further than their maximum range, instead exploding when the maximum range has been reached.

The ATM is a Clan-only weapon system.

Weapon Stats

Weapon	Min Range	Max Range	Lock On Range	Lock On Time	Splash Damage/Shot	Damage Type	Sec. Splash Damage/Shot	Sec. Damage Type	Splash Radius (prm/sec)	Shots /min	Sustained DPS	Max Speed (m/s)	Heat /Shot	Ammo /ton	Ammo cost /ton
ATM3 (Std)	120m	780m	750m	0.9s	3 x 138	Missile	3 x 138	Frag	1m / 3m	11.1	78	300	43	108	1100
ATM6 (Std)				1.2s	6 x 138		6 x 138			8	112		86
ATM9 (Std)				1.5s	9 x 138		9 x 138			6.8	144		129
ATM12 (Std)				1.8s	12 x 138		12 x 138			5.8	164		172
ATM3 (ER)	150m	1500m	1250m	1s	3 x 87	Missile	3 x 87	Frag	1m / 3m	11.3	50	300	33	108	1100
ATM6 (ER)				1.2s	6 x 87		6 x 87			8.2	73		66
ATM9 (ER)				1.4s	9 x 87		9 x 87			7.1	94		99
ATM12 (ER)				1.6s	12 x 87		12 x 87			6.1	108		132
ATM3 (HE)	---	320m	300m	0.6s	3 x 185	Missile	3 x 185	Frag	1m / 3m	10.4	98	200	51	108	1100
ATM6 (HE)					6 x 185		6 x 185			8.1	153		102
ATM9 (HE)					9 x 185		9 x 185			7.3	206		153
ATM12 (HE)					12 x 185		12 x 185			6.4	243		204
Air ATM3 (Std)	40m	810m	750m	1s	3 x 120*	Missile	3 x 120*	Frag	1m / 3m	7.9	48	300	43	108	1100
Air ATM6 (Std)										18.5	113
Air ATM9 (Std)										25.7	157
Air ATM12 (Std)										32	196
Air ATM3 (ER)	50m	1500m	1250m	1s	3 x 86*	Missile	3 x 86*	Frag	1m / 3m	7.9	35	300	33	108	1100

*All Air ATMs launch 3 missiles per shot	All stats are current as of release 0.14.10

Gameplay & Hints

The main advantage of the ER and STD ATM weapons are their fast travel speed and maneuverability, which when coupled with the flat trajectory makes it well suited for engaging airborne targets. The HE ATM weapon fires in a staggered launching pattern and imparts screen shaking, making it good for preventing accurate return fire.

On the down side ATMs carry less missiles per ton of ammunition, giving it less staying power than comparable missile racks of different systems, making them more prone to running out of munitions than other systems. In addition their smaller salvo size means they are affected by enemy AMS more than systems with larger salvos.

Note: Remember as with all missiles Crouching will Decrease lock-on time.

Canon

Introduced in 3054 by Clan Coyote, the Advanced Tactical Missiles featured the ability to select different ammunition types. ER Ammunition significantly extended the range of the launcher beyond that of even LRM's, HE Ammunition gave the missiles a much more powerful warhead at a cost of range, and Standard Ammunition split the difference. With each launcher having an integrated Artemis IV FCS the Advanced Tactical Missile launchers also featured improved cluster accuracy over traditional LRM and SRM launchers. ATM's are mounted in tube clusters of three. The release of the ATM is significant because it ended the technological stagnation of the Clans (along with the Heavy Laser that would be introduced a few years later).

To date the Inner Sphere has not attempted to duplicate the ATM, instead focusing on specialized munitions for the LRM and SRM launchers already available in the field.

BattleTech reference

Usage

The following Clan assets equip ATMs:

Air ATM3	ATM3	Air ATM6	ATM6	Air ATM9	ATM9	Air ATM12	ATM12
-Std- Donar (F) Avar (B) Sulla (A)    -ER- Visigoth (C)	-Std- Locust IIC (C) Hellhound (E) Loki (B)    -ER- Black Lanner (E) Masakari (A)    -HE- Solitaire (C) Hellhound (A) Masakari (C) Mithras (B)	-Std- Xerxes (B)	-Std- Cougar (E) Cauldron‑Born (C) Masakari (B) Hephaestus (G) Ares (C) Huit (E)    -ER- Cougar (G) Loki (G) Daishi (A) Hephaestus (F)    -HE- Locust IIC (A) Shadowcat (D) Black Lanner (B) Ryoken (D) Loki (C) Blood Asp (D) Madcat MKII (A) Hephaestus (B) Ares (G) Donar (D)	-Std- Xerxes (B)	-Std- Ryoken (C) Vulture (D) Thor (B) Masakari (B) Blood Asp (B) Madcat MKII (E) Daishi (F) Morrigu (E)    -ER- Blood Asp (A) Madcat MKII (F)    -HE- Shadowcat (G) Vulture (B) Cauldron‑Born (G) Thor (D) Madcat (F)	-Std- Sulla (D)	-Std- Hellhound (D) Madcat (E) Blood Asp (C) Madcat MKII (D) Daishi (F) Oro (E)    -ER- Ryoken (F) Thor (F) Ares (F)    -HE- Puma (E) Epona (F) Oro (G)

	All lists are current as of release 0.14.10

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