Type: Armored Personnel Carrier
Manufacturer: Garion Armory/Panzer Industries
Crew: 2 (Driver, Gunner, Commander) +9 passengers
Dimensions: 7 meters long, 3.9 meters in width, and 2.54 meters tall
Mass: 25.6 tonnes
Variants: Type 320, Type 320(A)
Armaments:
--1x Twin Linked M70 HMG
--1x 25mm Autocannon, 1x coaxial M70 HMG
Armor: Medium cerami-metal
Active Defenses: Two smoke dischargers, Threat Sensor
Technology: NBCR protection, Computer Assisted Aiming, FLIR/NV
Powerplant: V10 turbo fenvarium fuel engine

History
A newer vehicle within Empire service, the Type 320 Armored Personnel Carrier can trace its roots up to and after the Sror Counter-Insurgency Campaign. As with the Panther IFV, it too had a large part of its development before the 17 Years War, however, the project was shelved due to the war and the eventual hyper-focus on the Panther IFV platform. During the Sror Counter-Insurgency Campaign, the Panther IFV proved to be an effective and deadly vehicle in urban warfare but it was often too heavy and excessive for every trooper formation to have at its disposal when transporting soldiers. Thus it was decided to revive the pre 17 Years War armored personnel carrier program and expand on the said platform to accommodate the modern standards.

During the updated design phases, most of the vehicle was upgraded to account for the lessons of the 17 Years war and the Counter-Insurgency Campaign, which ranged from the gun and engine. The vehicle received heavier armor, bumping it up from a light armored vehicle to a medium armored vehicle. The first batch of the APCs would be delivered to the Imperial Army three years before the Border Crisis and would eventually see combat within the conflict, often being deployed with Panther IFV support. Troopers reported that the Leopard APC provided ample protection from most small arms, rocket-propelled grenades, and landmines. However, with most vehicles in modern Imperial service, the vehicle was eventually upgraded with more armor and a wider array of weapons before being placed fully into Imperial service.

Design
The Leopard APC is a tracked armored personnel carrier that is extensively used by the Empire for transporting vast numbers of infantry across hostile battlefields without the heavier firepower of the Panther IFV. Coming in at 25.6 tonnes it is a rather light vehicle compared to the rest of the Imperial armored vehicles, but can hold its own thanks to its surprisingly heavy armament. Which consists of either a 25mm autocannon with a coaxial 14.7mm heavy machine gun, often designated as the Type 320(A), or twin 14.7mm heavy machine guns, which is considered to be the standard variant. It holds up to 9 troops and takes a crew of 3 to operate with the troop bay in the rear of the vehicle, which is accessed by a dual set of doors that swing outward. The vehicle also features eight escape hatches in the troop bay like that on the Panther IFV, which it is based off of.

Starting with the armor of the vehicle, because of its role as an armored troop transport rather than a frontline fighting vehicle the Leopard APC has received significantly lighter armor. However, it still features enough armor to make it protected against small arms up to 20mm. The vehicle also incorporates the same ‘V’ shape hull that the Panther has, allowing it to have some protection from mine blasts by attempting to deflect it.

Next comes the shape of the front hull, which has taken a sloped “pike” design. It was decided during its design phases that because of the ‘lighter’ armor that the APC was receiving, measures must be taken to increase its own survivability. One of the options was to angle some parts of the armor, thus designers decided to angle the front armor in the iconic “pike” design increasing the frontal armor protection. In addition to this slopped design, the front of the vehicle has four small view ports, two facing forward and two facing both sides. This section of the vehicle houses the driver and the squad commander. Because of the design to the frontal portion of the vehicle, the engine of the APC was moved behind the driving cabin and right beside the gunnery compartment.).