COSSACK-class Mjolnir Powered Assault Armor

The COSSACK-class is a GEN2 MJOLNIR suit derived from the now discontinued. The suit shares many similarities with RANGER including using the same basic chassis and even body armor with the main differences being in their role and features.

During the designing of the RANGER-class MJOLNIR IMC submitted two designs for the UNSC Ordnance Commission to review. One which would go on to become the RANGER-class MJOLNIR and the other was equipped with a far greater number of features and aids but was deemed too sensitive to survive in rough conditions and would go on to become the basis for COSSACK-class MJOLNIR.

Despite its rejection by the Ordnance Commission the Experimental Armor Division of IMC would keep prototypes of the armor and consistently work on it through the Post-War years. The suit began to enter active service as the decreasing production and ongoing maintenance issues of the RANGER-class MJOLNIR lead to a demand for a new suit. As of October 2558 and the cessation of production of RANGER-class MJOLNIR, COSSACK has been issued to only 5 spartans.

Development History
In 2555  was awarded the tender to design one of the new line of MJOLNIR GEN2 Armors, namely an armor focused on solo operations and individual versatility. Over the course of designing IMC parsed through many designs which ranged from simple updates of the GEN1 variants of RANGER to completely new suits which featured completely new architectures and design philosophies. These were however rejected as neither truly met the requirement for a versatile but rugged, solo operations suit.

By 2556 IMC had made sufficient headway in the software aspects of the final armor. They had made the decision to stick with their own unique if difficult to maintain armor systems and visor integration systems as they provided far better individual system management when compared to other MJOLNIR suits. However the hardware of the armor had seen less success, while the body armor had seen some success, drawing many design cues from its GEN1 counterpart which allowed it impressive survivability at a comparatively light weight.

It was then in May 2556 that would diverge the design into two distinct iterations. The less technologically advanced but far more rugged and survivability focused suit took up the name of its precursor and became the. The other which was less rugged but featured a wide array of features and technology to increase the longevity of solo deployments, this would come to be known as COSSACK-class MJOLNIR.

Both armors were submitted to the under the tender for review. While several members in the Commission did like the idea of a more technologically advanced suit and its sheer number of features, the lack of survivability and much greater unit cost of COSSACK lead to it being rejected in favor of RANGER. COSSACK itself however was not abandoned, the armor was relegated to the Experimental Armor Division (EAD) of IMC where further improvements and modifications would be made through combat information obtained by RANGER and other MJOLNIR suits made by IMC.

Between 2556 and 2558 the COSSACK-class MJOLNIR saw many iterations and features both in its design and features. Such examples included a variant with ad hoc compatibility and a slew of modular armor panels to allow the suit to be adjusted both before and even during a mission to suit the situation. this was however abandoned as the running cost of the suit were estimated to be too high. Another variant was a stealth focused variant which derived signature masking systems and attachments from the and, however these were also rejected as their current form offered limited in the way of in field adaptation.

By January 2558 the suit had reached its final production model. The suit still retained the body armor and design from the RANGER-class MJOLNIR. But thanks to advancements in software and component miniaturization it also featured far more in the way of features. The suit formally entered service in April 2558 after trials in and the.

Design Specifications
COSSACK-class MJOLNIR shares many similarities with its sister suit, the RANGER-class MJOLNIR. Most notably the two share externally identical body armor with the only substantial differences being underneath the armor. However the helmet used in COSSACK is a far cry from the one used in RANGER, foregoing the larger and more blocky design along with the difficult to maintain bifocal visor. In their place the new helmet features a far more rounded design around the top of the head with a more angular design present around the jaw and eye line. Notable design cues would be the V-shaped visor which allows a better field of view for the operator while keeping the visor low profile enough to not easily break in harsh conditions or combat. The most striking difference between the two helmets would be the large bulbous protrusion from the forehead of the COSSACK-class MJOLNIR which houses the unified UST-47B (Coyote-D7) Sensor-Scanner Cluster.

However during the suits development there was much controversy surrounding the helmet due to the striking resemblance to the FENRIR-class MJOLNIR and was accused of industrial espionage however due to the lack of evidence the case was closed soon after it was opened.

The body armor has also seen a degree of reworking, as with Lethbridge Industrial acquiring damaged or disposed RANGER-class MJOLNIR there have been security concerns regarding the COSSACK-class MJOLNIR. In response a new and more advanced albeit easier to maintain software architecture was developed for the COSSACK-class MJOLNIR which bears little similarity to its previous iteration. The main reason for the stark differences between the two is the amount of technology that the software needs to support compared to the previous suit.