FACIDS
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Fully Automated Counter Intrusion Defense System

One of the main concerns with trusting America's nuclear arsenal to a single super computer system, albeit a first generation advanced neural net processor array, was how to defend that same system from a variety of attack scenarios, both from within and from outside the massive installation perimeter.  If SKYNET was going to defend America and American interests, the question became: what, in turn, was going to defend SKYNET?  What could arguably be termed the most expensive military asset in American history (let alone the world) would also have to be extensively protected with a multi-layered series of defense grids designed to overlap and coordinate seamlessly with the operation of the system and its assets.

SKYNET was like nothing the world had seen before and represented a tremendous (if not wholly historical) investment on the part of America (and to a lesser extent the price her allies paid in blind faith for the ingenuity and capability of the American super defense system).  SKYNET's total cost, including overruns and emergency budget appropriations, accounted to more than the GNP of several third world nations and perhaps even a lesser second world nation or two.  Not every country liked the idea of having an American computer controlling not only the greatest superpower's automated weapons but also the largest tactical and strategic nuclear arsenal on the planet.  The fact that the SDI system had been a success and that America did have what Russia and China often decried as an "orbiting ring of death" around the planet also put many otherwise neutral and some allied countries ill at ease.  America's newly developed orbital military presence caused tensions to grow, slowly at first but gaining strength over the years.  There were talks of sanctions in the UN if America continued to build it's "Frankenstein monster."  Jealously was apparent from the start, even among allies who didn't like the idea that they would have less say in any American strategic decision making or that what limited voice they did have might be replaced by the cold calculations of a machine.  American intelligence soon heard of plans being drawn up to defeat SKYNET, worst case scenarios, first strike missions and doomsday contingency plans.  The information that they received or intercepted scared the designers of SKYNET a whiter shade of pale.  SKYNET was born of an age of extreme paranoia but the designers never fully realized that SKYNET was a big part of that paranoia, that it was SKYNET itself and its continuing construction that fueled the ever increasing unease around the world.

If SKYNET was impressive, it was going to take equally if not more impressive countermeasures to defeat it and those countermeasures were already being drawn up by those who viewed America as anything but an ally.  Russia began a crash research effort into its own version of SKYNET, code named "Rasputin" but early failures, many of which quickly became public knowledge, bogged the project down in a hopeless mire of mistake after mistake and made it an endless source for anti-Soviet political satirists everywhere.  "Rasputin" would eventually be implemented as a system in the Russian weapons programs but it was merely an upgrade to their existing strategic strike capacity and no where near the SKYNET system in capacity or complexity.  Still, Russia was the most vocal opponent of the SKYNET system and the political saber rattling was the stuff of weekly headlines in all world newspapers.  Russia, and to a somewhat lesser extent China, had the greatest fears and the most to lose if SKYNET became operational let alone if it became the success that its creators and designers were claiming that it would be when it was brought online.

Any country that had a military and might one day be involved in an armed conflict of any size with America had to certainly take SKYNET and its myriad of decision making capabilities into consideration when doing long range planning for such a contingency.  SKYNET would change not only the way that wars were fought, on all scales, but also the way that wars were planned, from small police actions to full scale global conflicts.  SKYNET's destructive capacity would be unparalleled but so, too, would its capacity to gather intelligence on opposing forces, disseminate that intelligence to friendly units and coordinate friendly assets in a way that best used them against the threat.  SKYNET was the closest thing to Mars, the god of war, that Man could produce, that America could produce.

This knowledge also meant that SKYNET would have to be defended in a manner the likes of which no single piece of military hardware was ever protected before.  Cheyenne Mountain had been one of the most secure military facilities in the world before SKYNET ... after the SKYNET project, it became the world's first super-fortress, completely automated and built to handle every contingency that its designers could think of.

Defending against different types of nuclear strikes (both tactical and strategic) was the first part of the defense protocol and involved overlapping early warning, detection, tracking, and interception defense layers.  Coordinating SKYNET with the newly inserted and established American orbital based High Frontier satellite defense system, an integral part of the SKYNET program, was key to providing SKYNET not only with the electronic reconnaissance that it needed to keep tabs on its political foes but also the capacity to intercept and destroy any launches made against it from hostile nations.  The extensive and powerful satellite based electronic intelligence (ELINT) and weaponry gave SKYNET the capacity to detect, track and destroy the missiles and their warheads within seconds of detecting a launch signature.  SKYNET could detect, track and eliminate any strategic grade weapon system capable of a surface to surface or surface to orbit launch in the world and subsequently coordinate its post-launch destruction from a variety of dedicated American orbital weapons platforms, with a high probability of being able to cook the enemy warhead in the silo before it could ever clear its launch tube.  The American High Frontier system was as remarkable as the computer system which commanded it.  High Frontier included several 30 ton Westinghouse designed chemical exciter high energy lasers, General Dynamics built high amperage tritium charged particle beams, Raytheon built multi-stage variable warhead and warhead cloud generating interceptor missiles, General Electric built hyper velocity (HYVELOC) electromagnetic railguns (contained under the Near Orbit Mass Acceleration Driving System (NOMADS) array) and Vaught-Hughes built free fall, self guided, hyper velocity kinetic kill penetrators capable of orbit to surface strikes on hardened installations and of generating extremely wide area epic-force scale blunt trauma shock waves to troops and clustered armor columns that could shatter both tanks and personnel.

Seeded throughout the layers of orbital assets were small (GNAT) General Network Asset Tender satellites capable of limited repair and maintenance as well as Perimeter and Local Area Defense Integrated Network (PALADIN) capacity.  Small (FLEA) Fixed Lethal Enhanced Area defense pre-fragmented shaped charge chemical explosive mines were seeded around the larger assets,  command keyed to prevent any EVA sabotage of American assets by foreign astronauts or cosmonauts.  The FLEA mines were small, not much larger than a typical claymore AP mine but included a unique gravitic field lock system which varied its distance from its parent asset by gentle magnetic field manipulation on a very minor level, keying in on the gravity well of the parent asset and being pulled along with it through orbit.  FLEA mines could be detonated autonomously through a series of events detected by their programming or command detonated by the parent asset as needed.  Each FLEA mine had a lethal radius of several hundred meters (in orbit) and used a shaped charge effect to shred a pre-fragmented casing into five thousand shards moving in a rapidly expanding cloud at a velocity of several miles per second.  Resupply of FLEA mines around key assets could be accomplished via standard NASA EVA / satellite maintenance missions and involved the inclusion of two military technical specialists as well as an ordinance control handler aboard each shuttle flight.

All orbital assets were built on "smart sat" platforms capable of independent maneuvering and to a large degree, autonomous operation.  Indeed, these assets were programmed as the ultimate watchmen capable of acting on their own within the core aspect of their extensive programming limits.  Final approval for all actions and sanctions came from SKYNET but since the orbital assets were controlled from a first adaptation / fifth integral layer of the neural network; inherently what the satellites knew, SKYNET also knew and SKYNET knew that information instantly.  Approval of options and the execution of sanctions was merely a safety-catch in the system, allowing for error or mistakes that would ultimately have a human being to take political responsibility.  The smart sats were cutting edge platforms, capable of moving from orbit ring to orbit ring as required and were also capable of limited hunter killer ops if out of communication with the main system for a specified amount of time or if communication with the main system  was severed or unavailable due to damage.  In fact, one operations protocol dictated that if SKYNET were to ever go offline without the proper command authorization being given the American satellite assets would go into a failsafe pattern.  If SKYNET were to go offline due to damage from an attack by a foreign power then the satellites would switch over to a high alert autonomous function state that included a free-fire state as well as an active target search and destroy mode.

The greatest defensive asset afforded to SKYNET came from Nature and the location of the installation itself, directly in the heart of an ancient mountain.  It took a lot of physical force to shatter a mountain, even applied nuclear force, and the natural rock formations of Cheyenne Mountain made it a primary choice for location of the most sophisticated weapon management and control system ever created by man.  Work crews arrived at the Cheyenne Mountain complex and began in earnest to enlarge the complex internally by plasma tunneling out passageways and expanding plasma envelope shaping the huge artificial caverns beneath the mountain structure, building on already existing structures both natural and artificial, and extending the reach of the NORAD complex to over two and a half times its original displacement and depth.  It took two thousand workers six and a half months to complete the plasma shaping of the interior of the mountain as well as the many levels that were created below ground.

SKYNET was designed not only to win a nuclear exchange but also to survive such an all out attack and repair itself afterwards, emerging from the conflict with all of America's military, political, historical, medical, cultural and societal data stored safely away in fiber optic arrays.  SKYNET would be ready to become the nexus point for a proud nation to rebuild itself, a rallying point for the survivors to gather around, to heal their wounds, and to have access to the knowledge and technology required to rebuild their nation from the ashes.  In the event of a total global nuclear war, SKYNET would become the acting Commander in Chief of all American armed forces and military assets (subordinate only to the President or regular chain of command, if they survived), directing them as needed in order to insure a complete American victory and the rebuilding process afterwards.  It was not known for sure if the human staff who manned the installation would survive the exchange or live for very long afterwards even in protected isolation so SKYNET was made to be as self reliant and self supporting as possible.  Self reliant in capacity, from operations to defense, SKYNET could act and react without direct human intervention or approval in times of crisis.

Everything was automated and designed to protect SKYNET in the event that its compliment of assigned human soldiers and personnel were eliminated and could no longer protect it from an enemy which might be able to not only make it to the shores of America, but also to mount a large scale mechanized offense deep inland, even to the Cheyenne Mountain complex itself. 

The complete defense grid took into account all forms of assault from amphibious to trans polar injection of op-forces via air transport.  SKYNET was self sufficient, if America's stockpile of tanks, planes and weapons were destroyed or consumed in the first phase of a prolonged nuclear exchange, SKYNET had the capacity, albeit greatly diminished, to rebuild its own assets slowly using super advanced automated factories hardwired and direct linked through deep ground data trunks.  These factories were located around the country at locations that could be protected; the General Dynamics Advanced Automated Manufactory near Austin, TX; the Westinghouse Manufactory near Tulsa, OK, and the Raytheon Aerospace Manufactory near Los Angeles were just three of the twelve dedicated tie-ups to the complex after strike rebuilding protocol.

Large stockpiles of raw materials were kept on hand at any given moment at each site, ready to produce designs from pre-designated templates along a fully automated assembly line, an entire nation's arsenal ready to rise again from the ashes but the new weapons would not need human crews, they were the latest in ground mobile and aerospace capable semi-autonomous drones, robot vehicles mounted on a variety of light to heavy armored chassis, wheeled, walker, tracked and aerodyne configuration again overlapping in a combined arms doctrine to give support to each element.  SKYNET's available templates represented more than a decade of advanced research into combat drones and remotely piloted / controlled vehicles.  The microprocessors which would control America's new arsenal would be based on the technology that had enabled SKYNET itself to be created.  In peace time operations, SKYNET was charged with slowly removing most of the obsolete military equipment from America's order of battle and replacing it with new, automatic, high efficiency units.  Personnel in the standing armed forces would soon be cut back by 70% with the new breed of American soldier being a smart, educated, highly trained, quick thinking individual who could work closely with robotic weapon systems, reprogramming them on the fly if need be, and answering all to SKYNET who might deploy such a human and machine unit to points halfway or more around the world depending on political situations.  The new combat weapons of America's future were designed to be fully air transportable and ready to deploy the moment that they touched ground with minimal maintenance required to keep them combat worthy; it was the culmination of America's nearly decade long journey to transforming its military into a true Load / Transport / Drop / Set / Strike (LTDSS) protocol.

SKYNET was heralded as the wave of the future, a way to both consolidate the military forces of America and trim the unnecessary fat.  An increase in the deployment of unmanned fighting vehicles would both lower the cost of war and casualties in battle.  With an increase in telepresence remote fighting capacity, large standing armies could be reduced to a few groups supported by a far larger contingent of highly trained and specialized technicians and repair crews.  The Machines would do the fighting, it was up to the human staff to tell the Machines when, where and who or what to engage and it would be the humans that were left to pick up the pieces afterwards, both the political and physical pieces.  Budgets and appropriations would be linked to SKYNET's assessment of current political climates and threat signatures, always adjusting for what was best for America's defense.  The designers were very proud, the generals were happy to keep their jobs and the common soldier looked like they were about to be automated out of a job within the next two decades but such was the changing face of warfare as it developed in the late 1980's and early 1990's.  The 21st century, experts predicted, would be a century where the battlefields were ruled by autonomous machines.  They never knew how true their predictions would become.  During the 1980's, it was discovered that the Soviet Union and China were experimenting with both mobile high energy weapons and remote combat vehicle designs.  America had to be first in that respect and the completion of SKYNET with its master controlled production and readiness facilities would guarantee that America remained the leader in combat technology.  SKYNET was a tremendous gamble and a costly one at that.  Defending the most important American asset would be even more important than building it because, after all, what good was the greatest military asset in the world if you couldn't protect it?

With that scenario in mind, the designers of SKYNET opted for a multi-layered defense protocol, using humans to guide the initial defense situations but giving SKYNET full override with whatever authority it required in order to survive and carry out its programming.  Survival was the keyword; SKYNET was programmed to survive at all costs, against any attack it perceived against itself.  In hindsight, it was a very liberal set of permissions to be given to such a powerful entity with so much firepower at its control but at the time, it seemed logical to give SKYNET not only the will to survive but also a tenacity to do so and full control of all the tools necessary in order to carry out that protocol.  It made the budget minded members of congress happy to know that all of that money was being spent wisely on a system that would look after itself (at least that's what they told their constituents who argued about all of the money being spent on the SKYNET project).  As all human endeavors go, it was a case where hindsight would prove to be 20/20.

The primary computing core would be mounted deep within the Earth's crust at Cheyenne Mountain, protected by several thousand feet of indigenous rock layers providing a natural defense against even point fusing contact nuclear detonations in the multi-megaton range.  Dedicated surface mounted defense systems coordinating with orbital defense satellites would be used to set up overlapping, sympathetic interception grids blanketing every altitude range from tree top level to low Earth orbit (LOE) and able to track, engage and destroy any incoming strategic grade weapon, even short ranged, third generation long range rocket assisted "smart" munitions like those launched from heavy mortars or self propelled / towed artillery (providing for a worst case scenario of an hostile threat actually landing military forces on American shores and penetrating into the heartland with fully supported mechanized forces).  SKYNET's defense systems were designed to overlap and layer each other, able to respond to everything from a small group of commandos penetrating base perimeter security up to a full scale mechanized assault, including close air defense, strategic air defense and orbital defense grids.  Its networks were also designed to defend against invasions through the medium of cyberspace, on all levels, with self contained and self programming, self healing and self learning software that ranged in response power from simple denial of service up to gray area regulation lethal response.  Network intrusions of SKYNET's proprietary domain were often handled by quick response security teams located around the country and in every major city.  Nodes on its vast spider web of networked components were both armored and protected by dedicated support staff and armed security personnel.

Installation security was quite above the standard fare for such an advanced facility, DNA pattern recognition systems were as non-intrusive as they were secure and ever present.  A variety of standard low technology identification cards and security passes worked in conjunction with embedded next generation electronic IFF circuits to control access to the myriad non-essential functions.  Direct access to the core components of SKYNET would take far tougher defensive protocols and much more intense security measures and very few personnel except the technicians and scientists directly responsible for SKYNET's care (along with some high shining brass) had the security and protocol clearances required to penetrate into SKYNET's innermost sanctum.

SKYNET's defense matrix was multi-tiered.  The Cheyenne Mountain installation was protected on the surface by various fully advanced, semi- and fully autonomous integrated weapon systems that could respond and eliminate targets from ground level all the way up to near Earth orbit.  High threat aerospace targets were dealt with through a layer of threat analysis by orbiting surveilance and weapon platforms.  SKYNET also had access to ten cryogenically cooled, rocket pumped high energy very rapid pulse laser systems capable of clearing the North American aerospace sector of any unwanted object.  Twelve subordinate launch sites also contained batteries of multi-stage, multi-independent targeting warhead equipped surface to orbit interceptor missiles capable of defeating any satellite or cross polar transit capable weapon system.  The known positions and orbits of all foreign space objects had been cataloged and threat parameters assigned to them in the years before SKYNET was brought online and the responsibility for keeping that index updated fell to the new super computer.  In the event of a major conflict, SKYNET could use its ground based laser batteries to sweep the sky clean and blind the enemy up high by removing its capital intelligence assets in a matter of a few hours.  SKYNET's own multi-role attack satellites could move into the same orbit as other enemy satellites and either destroy them physically or take them over electronically, adding to SKYNETs capacity for gathering electronic intelligence by using the enemy's own assets against them.

Hostile intruders entering a sixteen hundred square kilometer protected aerospace buffer zone could be engaged over the horizon by using the new Raytheon T42D Black Arrow dual stage, active terminal guidance, multi-stage equipped surface to air missiles which had a practical range three hundred percent greater than that of the Phoenix air to air missile which it had replaced in America's arsenal.  Ten auto-loading, semi-autonomous capable armored pop-up batteries of T42Ds were located around the primary installation while another sixteen remote sites were located up to several hundred kilometers away, offering a layered defense approach and the ability to blanket an aerospace intruder from any angle of approach.  The standard warhead of the T42D was a 50kg continuous explosive  fragmenting core wrapped around six spinning rods designed to impart maximum structural damage to individual targets but Black Arrows could be armed with command detonated tactical nuclear warheads carrying up to 5kt nominal yields for use against bomber formations or missile flocks.    The Black Arrow SAMs were housed in armored quad mount launchers on retractable hydraulic sponsons which raised from armored doors set within the tarmac.  High speed mechanical track systems were capable of reloading the launcher in under thirty seconds from ready spare missiles stored nearby in an armored magazine.

Tactical High Energy Destruction of Target (THEDOT) defense measures against ground and fast moving aerial targets could be accomplished out to the horizon by the use of ten General Electric Type J CPAW High Amperage Charged Particle Accelerator Weapon systems.  Each 12 ton displacement CPAW system was mounted on its own dedicated armored fire tower, capable of full traverse, elevation and deflection.  Each fire tower was equipped with attendant capacitors for extended firing, 5000 liter deuterium fuel tanks to provide mass to the particle stream and heavy duty power links to draw energy directly from the underground reactors through power accumulation matrix arrays.  Each accelerator cannon had an effective throughput of over a hundred mega joules (Mj) with a burst radius greater than 150 meters effective.  Primary damage was from kinetic impact of particles traveling at nearly the speed of light.  Casualty enhancement through follow-up high speed redundant particle collisions and the sympathetic burst of short lived lethal radiation that accompanied a direct physical hit also increased the effectiveness of the CPAW system dramatically.

Close in aerial targets or NOE capable cruise missiles which penetrated to close range within the defensive matrix were engaged by one or more of twelve equally distant spaced, dedicated Area Defense Batteries.  Each ADB consisted of an armored turret on a dedicated fire tower, giving it complete traverse, elevation and deflection.  The ADB turrets were placed on armored telescopic towers and could be used to engage both aerial targets and ground targets out to 2km (the effective range of the subordinate weapon packs).  Each weapon system within the ADB housing had its own targeting and fire control system and could operate independently of the other weapons in the ADB and each turret could operate independently of other ADB units.  The ADB unit itself consisted of a powered remote electric drive turret (RED-T) mounting a General Electric M35D very rapid fire (VRF) 30mm tri-barrel chain driven automatic cannon with an effective range of 2.5km, a maximum range of 4km and a practical rate of fire of 5000 rounds per minute.  Each M35D was linklessly fed by a pair of 5000 round cassettes, alternating feed from HE high explosive and HEAP high explosive armor piercing.  Every tenth round in the HE cassette was an incendiary round.  Automated systems at the base of the ADB towers were capable of reloading a single cassette in less than fifteen seconds using powered servo systems and on-hand replacement stock stored below the base of the tower. 

Independently mounted in the ADB turret to the M35D automatic cannon was a 12.7mm General Electric M245A tri-barrel electric gatling gun intended for lightly armored targets (such as helicopters or RPVs) and anti-personnel work close in.  Capable of self targeting and operating in addition to the M35D cannon system, the M245A had an effective range of 2000m, with a practical rate of fire of 4000 rounds per minute.  Ammunition was provided by a linkless feed from a 5000 round cassette filled with SLAP Sabot Light Armor Piercing rounds (which are capable of penetrating up to 2cm of armor).  Mounted in the same turret and controlled by its own integrated FiConSys is an armored box launcher containing eight Lockeed Martin M490D1 "Sprinter" dual stage fire and forget multi-purpose tactical missiles, each weighing 50kg with a 20kg warhead and active terminal guidance.  The "Sprinter" TAC missiles are designed to defeat fast moving close in aerospace targets as well as slow moving ground targets, the dual purpose warhead is effective against light armor as well as heavy armor, with a smart fuse that determines target type and optimum detonation pattern (contact, proximity or enveloping proximity).  Reloading of the TAC missile launcher requires sixty-five seconds and necessitates that the ADB retract to its lowest point, aim the box launcher vertically and a fresh brace of TAC missiles be loaded from below.  When this is achieved, the ADB goes back online and resumes operations.  Each ADB has dedicated storage for 20,000 rounds (4 spare cassettes) of 30mm ammunition (50/50 HE, HEAP), 10,000 rounds of .50 BHMG SLAP (2 spare cassettes) and 24 standby "Sprinter" missiles allocated in reload packs of 8 missiles each (3 reloads).  This is in addition to the standard load out of the turret itself.  Automated systems can reload the ready stores of each ADB turret using automated processes and underground access ways in under five minutes.

The limited service roads and main access ways to the installation were seeded with advanced, command controlled, autonomous and smart mines consisting of various models of anti-personnel and anti-vehicular types.  The anti-personnel mines ranged from the small .5kg charge "Mangler" type AP mines to the larger "Bouncing Bob" mines and the "Screaming Mary" types as well.  All of the mines used around the Cheyenne Mountain complex were of the new Level IV-A series with their own dedicated diagnostic and computer control systems, with power being fed by an ultra-slim, high gain, high efficiency solar cell that worked to charge a small battery giving the mines almost unlimited duration when deployed.  With the defense matrix set to full alert, the mines went into autonomous mode, reacting to any intrusion into the security perimeter and engaging any target which failed a triple checked IFF send / receive response.  Individual personnel would be engaged at up to five meters distance by the Type 42 Mark III IFRIT "Efreet" InFraRed Individual Targeting class 3 anti-personnel mine which would discharge itself from its point of concealment, spinning in the air up to a height of 2 meters and used a small thermal sensor to detect the direction of the target.  Upon contact with a strong heat source (like the temp that a human body radiates) the mine would detonate in that direction using a shaped charge to disperse 2000 high density alloy pellets in a lethal cloud moving at greater than 700 meters per second.  The effective radius of the Type 42 IFRIT mine was an expanding cone fifteen meters long and five meters wide at end. 

The Type 42 IFRIT was supplemented by the Type 50 Mark V MTIRFEFAPDPS "Screaming Mary" AP mine which was designed to eliminate large groups of intruders.  The Type 50 consisted of a larger housing than the Type 42 but its operation was related in nature.  A passive thermal / infra-red scanner would detect movement within a 15 meter perimeter, activating the integral heat sensor.  If a reading analogous to a designated threat category was detected, the mine would activate a small explosive charge, propelling itself some four meters into the air, using a rifled spin to increase the search radius and zero in on the target source.  Once a target was identified, the MTIRFEFAPDPS warhead would detonate, at which point the Multi-Targeting Infra Red Explosively Formed Anti-Personnel Dual Purpose Submunition would fire from the warhead along a spin axis computed to ensure a hit to the center of mass of the target.  Up to eight explosively formed submunitions could be generated from the single warhead and each struck as a 40 gram penetrator moving at a velocity in excess of 900 meters per second.  Lethal burst radius is a killing sphere 20 meters in diameter and multiple targets can be hit from multiple directions.  The name of the mine is taken from the high pitched whine of the self forging projectile as it is composed from the warhead and traverses the distance from ignition point to target source.

Anti-vehicle and anti-armor duties were handled by the M340D and the M274F series "smart" mines.  Working in conjunction, the defense grid allowed the mines to be networked to each other and run off of a remote tap into the system mainframe.  Remote sensors would detect and assess the threat to the installation and adjust their response accordingly.  Vehicular threats known to possess light armor (less than 30mm standard hard steel index) would be engaged by the Type 65 Mark IV series mine.  The Type 65 was a command chain controlled / semi-autonomous response threat elimination element designed to destroy light vehicles with a dual core shaped charge warhead to allow penetration of an infra-red follow-up piggy-back high explosive warhead that insured target bursting.  The six point eight kilogram warhead was sufficient to destroy from the inside out most lightly armored vehicles and had an engagement range of 30 meters.  Activation of the mine caused the self-propelled warhead to eject from its carrier into the air approximately one and a half meters while a combination motion and thermal sensor looked for characteristic heat traces from engine exhausts and matched the signature to known profiles, angling the warhead for optimum impact against the target vehicle.  Upon determination of optimum impact point, the solid stage propellant system would ignite, accelerating the mine to a velocity in excess of 1200 meters per second.  Effective range was 800 meters.

Medium armored vehicles (up to 75mm standard hard steel index) would be engaged by the M290F Mark IV Series III anti-vehicular mines, differing from the Type 65 only in warhead and accelerator assembly.  The M290F Mark IV series AVM carried a ten point eight modular axial penetration warhead followed by two three point seven six kilogram high explosive follow up rounds designed to "balloon" the target from the inside out, lifting turrets, blowing hatches off their mounts and wrecking the interior thoroughly.  Infra-red follow up sensors in the submunition warheads insured an almost 94% chance of entering the target penetration point.

Heavy armored vehicles (greater than 75mm standard hard steel index) were engaged by a combination of anti-vehicular devices.  A Type 90 M310D Series IV AVM would be used from a horizontal angle of attack while a Type 42 M122C Series II AVM would be used from an overhead angle of attack.  The Mod 3 cluster packs for these munitions formed the basis of SKYNET's heavy anti-vehicular passive defense systems.  Upon contact with a heavy armored vehicle, the Mod 3 cluster pack would acquire a target signature, both infra-red and acoustic, matching it in its database of known enemy designs.  Once the design was determined (or a close enough match achieved), the Mod 3 cluster pack would activate, discharging the Type 90 mine into the air at a height of one meter and the Type 42 mine into the air at a distance of ten meters.  The Type 90 mine had an advanced version of the target acquisition hardware found in the Type 65 mine with more aggressive subroutines, able to adjust its angle of attack and point of impact to match known target weak points.  The semi-point detonating shaped charge warhead weighed twelve point nine kilograms and could penetrate armor up to 200mm thickness.  Two independently targeting follow-up IR HE dual purpose rounds achieved the internal target blooming desired.  Thee Type 42 mine was a modified self forging penetrator, firing a kinetic kill slug into the armored vehicle from above where armor was generally weakest, targeting the strongest heat source which tactically represented the vehicle's power plant and / or fuel storage area.

Enhancing the semi-autonomous and command controlled mine field was a pair of dedicated mortar batteries, each consisting of ten automatic Type 22 "revolver" 120mm heavy tube mounted mortars.  Each mortar was on a powered base which could adjust elevation and deflection hydraulically.  Each mortar was fed by a cylinder of six rounds which in turn was fed from a dedicated cassette of fifty rounds.  Ammunition for the mortars consisted of 120mm laser guided HEAP rounds with integral follow-up IR piggy back HE dual purpose rounds.  Optional ammunition included a bolt of 120mm airburst flechette for use against lightly armored personnel caught in the open.  A variety of chemical gas (ranging from tear gas to lethal toxins) and tactical smoke rounds (five colors) were also available to the computer controlled battery.  Using the heavy 120mm mortars, precision munitions could be fired and guided in on top of threat vehicles or exploded at optimum height over groups of enemy personnel.  The lethal burst radius of the Type 3G fragmenting anti-personnel rounds was 20 meters with critical wounds being achieved out to 30 meters.  The automated battery could lay out a salvo of 200 rounds in 60 seconds, averaging 1 round per 3 seconds per mortar.  Rounds for the 120mm mortars included a variety of armor piercing and anti-personnel warheads, both guided (including smart and brilliant class) and unguided as well as rocket assisted for engagement at twice normal effective range.

A second line of defense, supporting the indirect capability of the heavy mortars with a direct fire option was centered around two fully automated batteries of 120mm magazine fed recoilless repeaters with each battery comprising five repeaters, each in an independent powered mount.  Each repeater was supported by a dedicated autoloader which drew from a 100 round cassette.  Ammunition consisted of a variety of flechette (anti-personnel), high explosive (dual purpose), high explosive armor piercing (anti-vehicular) and self forging armor penetrator (heavy anti-vehicular).   Each repeater was gyrostabilized and laser targeted.  Practical rate of fire for each repeater was 30 rounds per minute giving each battery the capacity to put 150 rounds into the target zone per minute.  Individual rounds were also laser guided and stabilized by snap open fins which imparted spin bias to the rounds.  Integral spotting and target designating lasers covered the defense area, allowing multiple round hand-offs to supporting weapons on an ad-hoc basis as needed.

SKYNET had enough munitions on hand and in storage to completely use up the outer defensive perimeter six times and rebuild it six times.  Past that and it would have to start reallocating its resources along the routes of expected offenses in order to meet threats with any force.

The one massive bridge leading into the installation was wired at critical points for catastrophic elective demolition and could be demolished completely on command to slow invading forces though this tactic would also isolate the complex itself from ground access until the bridge could be rebuilt.  Enough materials and tools existed at the Cheyenne Mountain complex to rebuild the bridge using assistance from personnel or, if the personnel were incapacitated or dead, by automated means using a wide variety of multi-function work drones.

Four heavily armored, automated weapon towers guarded the main entrance to the complex.  Each tower was computer controlled with dedicated IFF as well as fire control and target acquisition systems.  Direct interface from SKYNET was possible due to a dedicated hard line linking the towers to the mainframe defense grid.   Each sentry tower was each equipped with a pair of gyrostabilized, laser targeted, rapid fire, auto loading 120mm high velocity smoothbore cannon, produced by Rheinmetal, in a fully stabilized mount.  The smoothbores were fed by a rotary magazine served by an autoloader.  Shell selection included HE, HEAP, flechette and discarding sabot.  A total of 200 rounds were carried for each cannon at the ready, consisting of 80 HE, 40 HEAP, 40 flechette and 40 DS.  Two independently operating and targeted 12.7mm General Electric M245A tri-barrel electric gatling guns were located on the sides of the turret in powered barbettes, each coupled with a single a 7.62mm General Electric M250 gatling gun and a 40mm Mark 21 automatic grenade launcher to allow the response to be adjusted to the threat level, from light insurgency to full armored contact.  The 12.7mm GE gatlings were fed from 5000 round linkless feed cassettes carrying SLAP ammo, every tenth round in the 12.7mm cassette was an incendiary tracer.  The 7.62mm GE gatling guns were fed from 5000 round linkless feed cassettes, alternating soft tip with hardball and every tenth round being an incendiary tracer.  The Mark 21 systems were fed by three, 250 round hoppers carrying HE, HEAP and fragmentation with ammo selection being available on demand.  The upper turret assembly held a modular, pop-up style box style launcher for six heavy fire and forget Teledyne M3AA Hellsprint anti-tank missiles which included the new IR follow up warhead design for repeat hits on the target vehicle and increased kill aspect.  The box launcher could retract into the tower for reloading, a process that was fully automated and took less than thirty seconds using a powered ram assembly.  A variety of different ammunition types was stored for each weapon system and due to the modular design and quick link ammunition feeds, different types of ammunition could be used as required based on target specs and criteria.  Each tower was equipped with a variety of sensors, from basic radio transponder to IFF, high resolution IR, thermal, acoustic and visual recognition / tracking.  Each weapon in the sentinel towers had two full reloads stored in the tower.  Further ammunition could be moved to the tower by underground conduits using automated carriers and robotic lifting equipment.  Reloading a completely empty tower would take twenty-five minutes drawing from available stores in the installation complex itself.  If the automated reload system was down, considerably more time would be required.

The four black sentry towers were each protected in turn by two dedicated automated bunkers.  Each bunker held its own subordinate fire control as well as target acquisition systems (full spectrum) and could operate independently even if the main defense grid went down.  Each guardian bunker was armed with a pair of gyro stabilized, laser designated 12.7mm General Electric M245A tri-barrel electric gatling guns, a Mark 21 40mm automatic grenade launcher, and a pair of 7.62mm General Electric M250 six barrel electric miniguns, all independently targetable and each with their own FiConSys and target acquisition / resolution software.  The 12.7mm GE gatlings were fed from linkless feed cassettes carrying 5000 rounds of SLAP and 1 per 10 incendiary.  The 40mm Mark 21 AGL fed from three rotary hoppers containing standard HE, HEAP and fragmentation.  The 7.62mm GE gatlings were fed from a linkless feed cassette carrying 3000 rounds of standard hard point ball with the 1 per 10 incendiary standard.

Several automated pillboxes were located throughout the installation, at least ten were on pop-up mounts that could raise or lower the pillbox beneath the dense tarmac for protection.  The pillboxes were designed as a last line of defense against intruders trying to breach the complex and were constructed so that each could overlap their lines of fire in such a way that any intruder would fall under the targeting systems (and thus the weapons) of several pillboxes at once.  Each pillbox was heavily armored, had a rotation capacity of + or - 120 degrees per second and was completely capable of autonomous operation.  Each pillbox was equipped with two 12.7mm General Electric M245A tri-barrel electric gatling guns, four 7.62mm General Electric six barrel electric miniguns, two Mark 21 40mm automatic grenade launchers and two 40mm incendiary units.  Ammunition was provided for the 12.7mm gatlings in linkless feed 5000 round cassettes which included the standard load out of SLAP with the 1 per 10 incendiary.  The 7.62mm gatlings were fed by 3000 round linkless feed cassettes containing 7.62mm NATO hardball ammo with the 1 per 10 incendiary load.  Three, 250 round ammunition hoppers supplied each of the 40mm grenade launchers, allowing the launchers to choose a mixture of HE, HEAP and fragmentation as needed.  Each 40mm incendiary anti-personnel unit was fueled by a 400 liter tank containing a mixture of jellied combustible accelerant which had an effective range, under pressure, of 40 meters.  Flow rate was one liter per second adjustable to four liters per second through variable aperture and pressure feed.  A single, pop-up style box launcher on the top of the turret housed six Sprint tactical multi-purpose missiles for use in either anti-vehicle or anti-aircraft roles.  Two complete reloads for each weapon system in the turret were housed in the area immediately beneath thee turret and reloading could be done at any time, the empty weapon acting independently of the others.

Twenty-four other powered, retractable turrets were built into the installation's grounds.  These turrets were smaller, mounting four independently operating weapon systems with dedicated FiConSys, battery backup and one reload apiece.  They were intended to be rapid fatigue systems designed to bolster the overall defense, ballooning the defensive strength of the other systems if only for a short time.  Each of these turrets housed a laser targeted, gyro stabilized 7.62mm General Electric M250 six barrel electric minigun fed by a 5000 round cassette.  Typical ammo load out represented 7.62mm NATO hard tip anti-personnel with 1 per 10 incendiary standard.  Mounted coaxial to the minigun and incapable of independent movement (the same mount held both weapons) was a Mark 21 automatic grenade launcher fed from a brace of three 250 round hoppers (HE, HEAP and fragmentation). Both weapons shared the same targeting system with a backup system in case of primary system failure.  A six shot M48 88mm folding fin rocket launcher loaded with DPHEAP dual purpose high explosive armor piercing rockets that offered excellent light to medium vehicle kill capacity with secondary anti-personnel capacity.  A Model 5 four pack launcher is loaded with four Hellfire IV missiles for use on heavy armored vehicles.  Slew rate of the remote electric drive turret was + / - 120 degrees per second allowing for fast target acquisition and engagement.

All defensive installations mounted extensive sensors, full spectrum analysis of threat subjects as well as high intensity white spot lights and supplemental infra-red spot lights to provide illumination when required.

Underground storage facilities, shelters, bunkers, bivouacs and facilities existed for the long term garrison of two light scout detachments, one air mobile company and one heavy armor company occupying three different levels of the main mountain complex and there were plans to double this compliment in times of crisis or impending national conflict.  Enough supplies would have been stockpiled to keep this compliment of troops and equipment running for twelve months effective combat, longer if rationing was included or depending on conflict escalation.

The interior defense of SKYNET fell to the newly designed HELICIS system.

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