Great Kavir Research and Sovereignty Patrol Structure
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| Great Kavir Research and Sovereignty Patrol Structure
(Burg: Estructure recherce e patroleuer soveiranetat della Gran Kavir (ERPSGK)) | |
|---|---|
 Great Kavir Research and Sovereignty Patrol Structure | |
| Overview | |
| Also called | Steel haboob |
| Powertrain | |
| Propulsion | 16 Hydrogen internal combustion engines |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 385m |
| Width | 410m |
The Great Kavir Research and Sovereignty Patrol Structure (Burg: Estructure recherce e patroleuer soveiranetat della Gran Kavir (ERPSGK)), colloquially known as the steel haboob, is a mega-land crawler/mobile research and territorial management base that is operated in the Great Kavir by Bulkh and Burgundie. It operates within the borders of Bulkh and is primarily used for mapping and research on the Great Kavir and for climate control efforts in the deep desert. It was constructed from 2017 through 2021 and has been in service since 2022.
Concept and development
The ERPSGK is based on the Crawler-transporters of the late 1960s, shipping gantry cranes. The plan was first proposed by an engineering student as an oil exploration vehicle in 1996, but it was not taken seriously as no private firm had the equity to construct such a vehicle and the oil reserves in the Great Kavir were assumed not to be enough to cover the cost of the vehicle. In 2009, the design was dusted off by the Army of Bulkh as a sovereignty patrol vehicle, but in a much smaller scale. The idea was again shelved as it was determined to be too expensive, and the use of aircraft and drones were sufficient for the threat level at the time. In 2012-2013 the increased and more overt use of the Great Kavir by Alainfisal as a thoroughfare for terrorists and drug running raised demands by the international community that Bulkh and Burgundie do something about the use of Bulkh's sovereign territory. Deployments of troops and increased overwatch had limited success due to the massive size of the Great Kavir, and only agitated Alainfisal who started a bombing campaign of the railroad running through the desert connecting northern and southern Bulkh. In 2013-2014 there were 17 bombings, 4 of them were to passenger trains killing 1,439 in total. The infrastructure required to develop a permanent base in the middle of the desert was determined to be unfeasible so once again the proposed mobile-city idea was raised. The structure would be used as a platform for helicopters, drones, ATVs, and light armored cars to interdict Alainfisal operatives, enforce territorial sovereignty, and could act as a place of refuge in the event of a train emergency.
The project was estimated at $8.3 billion and that it would take 3 years to build. To get the funding needed through the Constituent Council of Bulkh the army entered into a year of negotiations with other government agencies to try to come to a multi-agency compromise that could move forward as its own appropriations request, outside of their regular annual agency appropriations requests. They were able to get buy in from the National Academies of Science within the Ministry of Education, the Air Force, and Ministry of the Interior's Land Management Bureau, the Ministry of Justice's Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement, with a promise of a 25% match from Burgundie if the request was granted. The request was accepted in 2015, but it scaled down the proposed size from 560m in width to 410m, required that they have a Ministry of Interior's Nomadic Relations team onboard, and added a requirement that the stanchions that the treads were on be able to be raised high enough that they could clear the rail tracks without damaging them. They also stipulated that once Alainfisal was dealt with, the design had to be modular enough that this military hardware could be swapped out and scientific and climate management modules could be swapped in.
Over the next two years the Army worked with its partners to redesign the structure to meet their needs and the new legislative requirements. In 2017 the plan was formally greenlit, and construction started. 12 Crawler-transporters were bought from Urcea, Kiravia, and Caphiria and they were retrofitted to be compatible and use standardized parts. The 16 massive Hydrogen internal combustion engines were built by three different ship wrights in Bulkh. The structure was 58% recycled steel from the ship breaking yards of Tapakdore
Operations
The Great Kavir Research and Sovereignty Patrol Structure was first deployed on March 16, 2022. It was accompanied by an inauguration attended by 23,000 people, mostly from the governments of Bulkh and Burgundie and the companies who worked on the structure. There were 1,500 other foreign dignitaries in attendance, including from Kiravia who were interested in the capabilities of the platform.
For the remainder of the sub-equatorial winter of 2022 and most of 2023, the structure served as a platform for long distance patrols against Alainfisal in the deep Great Kavir. They distributed 47 illegal crossings, captured 237 people suspected of Alainfisal membership, and impounded 812 tonnes of illicit substances, 163 firearms, 14 women and children being trafficked, and computer files detailing future and past Alainfisal structures, personnel, and plans.
In 2024, Alainfisal activity started to slow down and the missionary started to shift for the structure. Some of the combat-centric modules where switched out for humanitarian aid modules with personnel from the Ministry of Health. The platform would schedule stops and provide clinical services for the nomadic populations of the Great Kavir. They served 17 nomadic tribes over 21 visits, conducting 3,273 clinical consults and visits for 1,849 patients. In 2025, Alainfisal activity recommenced with operatives using the nomads as cover, paying them comparatively exhorbitant amounts of money, to be a cover. Through these infiltrations they learned more about the operations of the structure and in 2026, they laughed a series of suicide bombings that killed 28 Bulkhawan soldiers and clinicians over a two months span. The structure was damaged to the point that it needed retrofit in the third bombing, on April, 9th, 2025. The structure was overhauled from April 26th - November 18th, 2025, while under heavy surveillance and security.
Development as a marketable product
After the first three years of service, the project had proven itself viable enough for the Kiravian gouvernment to seriously consider having one built for them. In 2025, they commissioned one to be built for polar exploration and the terms for a $11 billion contract were signed. The increased cost would mostly be to have the Bulkhawan companies and staff moved to the polar icecaps to build the behemoth in place, as no ships were large or strong enough to carry any significant sections in an economical way from Bulkh to the icecaps north of Kiravia. In 2026 construction of the living quarters and the assembly plant began on the icecaps.