It was included in the Anchorage Reclamation simulation created by VSS at the behest of General Constantine Chase. Its actual deployment in Alaska is dubious, as unimplemented voice clips of VSS technicians in the add-on suggest that their presence is an outright fabrication[2] by General Chase.
The tank itself is basically a low chassis propelled by screws, with a laser cannon jury-rigged to the drill tower. Originally, it was used for oil drilling in the Alaskan tundra.[3]
Chimera tanks are roughly on par with sentry bots and deathclaws in terms of durability and combat threat, although they are significantly larger and more imposing in appearance. They are equipped with a unique laser weapon similar to Liberty Prime's eye laser. Chimeras take slightly increased damage when shot in the screws and noticeably increased damage when shot in the cannon or radar antenna.
The Chimera's turret cannot fully rotate, making the back of the tank a weak spot, a design flaw it appears to share with American tanks.
The player will most likely encounter Chimera tanks twice throughout the campaign, a column off in the distance during The Guns of Anchorage and at the fuel depot during Paving the Way.
The Chimeras are fully automated, and so are technically robots. Therefore, they can be disabled with the Robotics Expertperk.
When moving forward, the screws spin in such a way that the vehicle should be moving backward.
At the Chimera depot, there is a Chimera lacking a laser cannon, instead boasting a derrick.
Walking into a Chimera while crouching will knock the player down, causing some damage.
The Chimera is described as being superior to any American tank available.[4]
The following is based on unverified behind the scenes information and has not been confirmed by canon sources.
The Russian and German military both toyed with the idea of using screws for treads. The Russian vehicle, named ZIL-29061, was designed to rescue cosmonauts in extreme off-road conditions.
In Greek mythology, the Chimera is a monster with the body of a lion, the heads of a goat and lion, and the tail of a snake. In biology, the name has been used for any organism that appears to have a combination of traits of others. Its name is an obvious reference to how the Chimera tank is a piece of mining equipment equipped with weapons that were not made for it.
End of information based on unverified behind the scenes information.
↑Evident from the way deployed Chimeras look in the depot
↑Lt Morgan's dialogue - Line 40: Put simply, it's a co-opted mining rig that's been changed into an armored vehicle -- bigger and tougher than any tank we have in our arsenal.
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The tanks may not be hostile towards the player when first encountered.[verified]
