Armored Personnel Unit
From The Black Vault Encyclopedia Project
An APU (Armored Personnel Unit) is a fictional weapon in the Matrix series of films. The APUs are charged with the greater part of the defense of Zion.
Usage
The APU in the city of Zion plays much the same role as a tank in modern warfare. An APU is a bipedal robotic tank similar in design and function to mobile suits such as those seen in the various Gundam anime series. It could also be argued that it fulfills a similar role to the Marauder powered armour suits found in the CGI version of Starship Troopers. The pilot sits in a rollcage-like cockpit and controls the APU with foot pedals and flexible control arms which move the APU's arms and aim and fire its weapons. Movement appears to be based on not only the movements of the APU caused by the pilot, but also the pilots own sense of balance.
The APU is armed with two 20mm cannons mounted on its arms, which are fed by large ammo cases located to the rear of the unit. The guns seem to be effective against the Sentinels, as it commonly requires only one direct hit to disable a "squiddie".
Perhaps the greatest weakness of the APU is the lack of automatic targeting systems, relying solely on its pilot for shooting down the fast and maneuverable Sentinels. This is where experience comes to the fore as those who have used the machines previously are likely to be better shots.
An APU actually acts as a team with two parts, the APU itself (in constant combat conditions) and a reloading crew. Reloading is another major disadvantage, since the guns have to be reloaded manually by humans who are vulnerable to the "squiddies". In order to speed this operation the reloading crews are accompanied into the battlezone by at least one dedicated gunner with a directed energy weapon to act as close support.
The pilot is also very vulnerable to Sentinel attack, as the APU's cockpit is completely open and unarmoured. Were this not the case it is likely that the longevity of APUs in the field would be increased as fewer fatal "one-hit" attacks would occur. Then again, Sentinels have been seen to be capable of tearing through the armor plating on previous design variants of the APUs and even hovership hulls: it is possible that putting extra armor around the cockpit would not significantly increase protection, at the price of decreased pilot visibility or freedom of movement. Thus, the cockpit might be fairly exposed because it wouldn't really make a difference if it wasn't.
Copyright
"Original data received from Wikipedia on May 06, 2006. Credit given to original authors can be seen Here."
