The original Cannoneer was a major sales disappointment. 
The main complaint was its XL engine being too prone to 
ammunition explosions and disabling shots.  Complaints 
were also made about the weakness of its secondary 
armament, so SWI's designers went back to the drawing 
board to see if they could salvage the design.

The first change was the swapping of the XL engine 
with a standard model.  This forced the designers to drop 
the engine from a 350-class to a 280, reducing the top 
speed from 86 kph to 64kph, but this was deemed 
acceptable for the closed-in areas this 'Mech was 
designed to fight in.  

It was decided to keep the main weapon the same, a 
Class-20 Ultra Autocannon, to minimize retooling costs for 
the new model.  It still only carries 4 tons of ammunition for 
this fearsome weapon, so the ammo bins can run dry 
quickly.  This makes the 'Mech better suited to operations 
with short supply lines, such as city defense and planetary 
garrisons.

Dropping the engine class allowed the designers to 
increase the secondary armament from 2 ER Medium 
Lasers to 3, giving it a better punch when it runs out of 
ammunition. 

One added benefit to these modifications is that the 
price of this 'Mech has dropped by nearly 60% while its 
survivability and effectiveness have both increased.  It is 
hoped that these benefits will allow the CNR-2SW to shake 
off the stigma attached to the CNR-1SW.