Zipper Interactive has been fairly quiet since the release of SOCOM 4. It appears the team was working on a brand new military shooter, this time for Sony's new Vita handheld. Unit 13 is a new launch game, announced today, that doesn't stray far from Zipper's roots. The military third-person shooter takes advantage of the Vita's dual analog sticks, and promises to utilize the front and rear touch panels for a "unique and fun way to interact quickly" with the world.

Unit 13 is focused on providing a smaller experience for on-the-go gameplay. "Missions come in a variety of sizes and difficulty," the PlayStation.Blog details. "Some are smaller bite-sized battles; others are longer, more challenging, multi-objective missions that are a good test for any skilled shooter fan."

Unlike SOCOM and MAG, Unit 13 doesn't have competitive multiplayer. Instead, it will feature a co-op mode. Unit 13's primary online functionality appears to be leaderboards, and new "Daily Challenge" content. In addition, the game utilizes Vita's NEAR functionality to transfer new "high value target" challenges.

A release date hasn't been set, but Zipper will have to ship the game by February to make the Vita launch window.