Comments - LonesomePolecat

If anyone has read any of the novels, what is transparent in a "cockpit", is NOT glass but a material called "ferroglass." This is most likely a transparent iron based armor material, or an transparent armor material with the properties of iron, or steel. Keep in mind that the time line is over 1,000 years in the future. A transparent armor plate would very likely be commonplace.
Also, many other items mentioned in the books and previous games are obsolete by todays standards. For example a rail gun or gauss rifle would have would have a range in the thousands of yards, not a thousand yards or less. Lasers are line of sight and even now have much more range than 800 or so yards. Light would travel line of sight into infinity with atenuation by atmospheric conditions or beam expansion in space. In space, or on an airless planet or moon, the effective range of these weapons would be in many perhaps, hundreds of kilometers.
The limited range of beam weapons and others weapons is in the Mechwarrior games is based on the limitations of the board games.