Griffin (55t)
Model by Primus

The Griffin has been a workhorse for every house military for centuries. Both Defiance and Kallon Industries were an initial part of the Vicore Group and immediately began production of the new Griffin. The Griffin has been completely redesigned, inside and out. Designers made use of the light fusion engine to not only showcase the new technology but also to increase the 'Mech's battlefield survivability. Endo steel strengthened the chassis while at the same freeing up additional mass for weapons and armor. The 'Mech's armor plating uses layered sections of steeply-angled armor for better incoming weapons fire deflection. The PPC and lasers are all extended-range models, giving the 'Mech a significant medium- to long-range damage profile, a capability only enhanced by the Artemis-equipped missile rack. The design work did not concentrate solely on the offensive and defensive systems, though; additional space has been included in the Griffin's cockpit, giving MechWarriors a bit of extra comfort, while the entire cockpit section is a single module that can be ejected, providing more protection to the MechWarrior in the event of bail-out.
All three Houses are scrambling to recoup losses suffered over the past five years and are assigning these 'Mechs into their front-line units as quickly as they can be produced.
Two other variants are known at this time. One is a design that we are having built for our Com Guards. Intelligence from Caph shows that the Word of Blake is also fielding this variant.

Source: Technical Readout Project Phoenix
Armament:
1 ER PPC
2 ER Medium Lasers
1 LRM 15 (Artemis)