HK-36
The Iron Lord Protector (Neutral Good)
Image Source: Assault Cannon from Warhammer 40k Wiki link here
Intent: To upgrade the Shattergun Rotary Cannon by making a smaller version usable by ground troops.
Development Thread: Discussed in Overkill is a Myth (Completed) as part of weaponry for new dwarf walker, based on previous RC-1.
Manufacturer: Abregado-Rae Guild of Hammers and Firemane
Model: Hyper Velocity Kinetic Firearm- Rotary Cannon- 2
Affiliation: Barony of Abregado-Rae, Kaeshana Confederation
Modularity: Comes in Handheld, Mounted, and No-Gravity Variants. Handheld variant is carried on personnel, can be mounted on barricades or cover but its main utilization is as moving fire support. Mounted variants can be reloaded and fired through vehicle's systems. The No-Gravity Variant exchanges the gravity-fed reloading mechanism for a more mechanical one, giving the gun ability to work properly in a no-gravity setting in exchange for firing rate.
Production: Minor
Material: Durasteel with Bronzium coating for aesthetics, Echani Graphite Ammo Drums
Classification: Heavy Machine-Gun Slugthrower
Size: Handheld or Mounted
Length: 80 cm (Based on the length of Real-Life Minigun, 801.6 mm)
Weight: 22 kg (Based on the weight of Real-Life Minigun in Lightweight mod, 47.8 pounds)
Ammunition Type: Small-Caliber Metal Pellets
Ammunition Capacity: Weapon emplacements- barrels of 6,600 pellets for one minute of continuous firing, Vehicle models- barrels of 19,800 pellets for three minutes of continuous firing.
Effective Range: 450 meters (Compared it to the RC-1 whose range was 1000 meters)
Rate of Fire: Fully automatic, 6,600 rounds per minute
Special Features: Magnetic tractor pad for anchoring to metal barricades and a tripod for stabilization. Sockets for harness to stabilize it to soldier's armor.
Description: The next in line of Shattergun models made by Abregado was a smaller version of their Rotary Cannons. Originals were large and heavy, although devastating they could only be effectively used by teams of specialized soldiers, vehicles, or heavy droids. This version was supposed to make them even a more common sight on the battlefield as it would be issued to assault troops strong enough to carry these weapons as well as mount them on lighter vehicles.
It functioned much like other shatterguns, utilizing magnetic properties to propel small-caliber pellets at high-velocity in order to cause incredible amount of damage. The firing mechanism was housed along each barrel, much like a rail-gun, the feeding mechanism of the rotary cannon simply begun the process, utilizing gravity to place the pellet into chamber for the magnetic mechanisms to fire it. The six barrels would turn then as the pellet was fired and the next bullet was loaded into the next barrel, continuing the process. By the time the barrels completed the rotation, they initial barrel was charged and ready to fire, enabling for the first time to achieve a high continuous rate of fire with shatterguns. The maximum fire rate the weapon was able to achieve was 6,600 rounds per minute and the Gados scientists also discarded the multicaliber magazine and bore, making the weapon much easier, and cheaper, to manufacture, but in turn allowing only a single type of ammunition to be loaded into it- the small metal pellets manufactured by ARGH.
The increased length of the rail-barrel, when compared to shatter-pistol HK uses, has also allowed the pellets this rotary cannon fires to travel at higher velocity, dealing much more damage, and increasing their effective range. Its bullets can shatter any durasteel personal armor, of course armor made from denser metals such as beskar or phrik would be able to stand against such a weapon, but a question comes to mind for how long, as HK was able to dent a phrik personal armor with a single shot from his shatterpistol, and they can penetrate armor of most light vehicles, as opposed to the first RC which was able to damage medium vehicles, however this gun has shorter barrels which means less firepower.
While this is still a heavy weapon this time around it is light enough for humans and larger species to lift it and stabilize it during firing with their grip alone. Of course mounting it on barricades or weapons does make it easier on the user over long term but by no means are they confined to always mounting it. Another perk is that when this weapon is mounted it does not weight down the vehicle as much.
To further help with recoil and aiming this weapon it has a localized system of miniature inertial compensators, with the help of these devices a gunner handling the weapon is able to cancel out remaineder of the recoil the Rotary Cannon has to use it even more efficiently when the weapon is mounted. However, these additional system provide more room for error as they can always be damaged with a stray bolt of an ionic grenade, forcing the gunner or technician about to initialize repairs on the weapon.
The Rotary Cannon also required about 5 seconds to start the barrels rotation, in order for the rotating barrels to achieve proper speed, its inertia and sound dampening systems to boot up, and their magnetic firing mechanisms to charge up, as such, it is not an instantly-firing weapon, although once it does fire, it can do so continuously until its ammunition barrel empties. Speaking of the firing mechanisms, as they are electromagnets, although focused ones about the barrels, they can be affected by electro-magnetic pulses as well as ionic grenades, such anomalies would be able to disrupt the weapon's mechanisms and stop it from functioning, if not jam it and force repairs to be conducted. The high-rate of fire the gun achieves also means that it quickly runs through its ammunition, although that is not as much of a problem with vehicle mounted variants that can afford carry larger drums of pellets, the lighter versions can require a reload in just less than a minute, if they fire continuously. That, coupled with the few seconds the gun has to take in order to charge up its barrels and gain enough speed in the rotation of its barrels, can create pauses that could be potentially extorted by the enemy. The pauses it takes between reloads are smaller, 3 seconds when compared to initial 5, as between the reloads the inertia systems do not need to take time to engage.
Another downside is also the reloading mechanism, it required presence of gravity in order to load the pellets into the chambers properly. This means that in a No-Gravity setting the Rotary Cannon would not work as the pellets would not be able to load properly, often causing jams. A solution to this came in the No-Gravity Variant, it utilized a mechanical loading system, as opposed to the faster gravity-loading system, and allowed the gun to be fired in a No-Gravity setting without jams. However, this does lower the gun's rate of fire from 6,600 rounds per minute to 4,000 rounds per minute as the pellets take longer to load. During boarding actions, often two Light Emplacement variants of the Rotary Cannon are used among with one No-Gravity variant just in case there would be artificial gravity malfunction that would cause the Light variants to jam.
The last drawback of the weapon, although not as important one, is that, as opposed to original shatterguns, it is not a silent weapon. While the pellets are still fired silently, the loading and rotary mechanisms of the gun are far from silent, creating plenty of whirring and whooshing as the gun starts to fire. Although it was never to be designed as a weapon of stealth, and the battlefields are already plenty noisy enough without the gun being used, still it is quieter than the original RC-1.
While the shatterpistols did had a sound-dampening technology placed into their barrels to stop the weapons from exploding or thundering with each shot as their pellet broke the sound barrier, such technology could not have been placed effectively into this Rotary Canon by Gados, even though they were able to retro-engineer and replicate it for future creations. However, the Gados scientists were able to install a central dampening system in the middle rotary barrel, the one the six barrels rotate about. While this system saves on energy, as opposed to each barrel having their own sound dampening system similar to those of shatterguns, it is not as efficient. For saving the weapon crews effort to carry a bigger power pack, adding to the already heavy weight of the weapon, or the gun delpeting its current power pack quicker than before, the Gados installed a sound dampening that only partially droned out the thunders of this Rotary Cannon. As a result, the gun is not as loud as it would be with a multitude of sonic-booms going off every second, but it is still as loud as any rotary cannon. Thanks to smaller barrel length more power could have been diverted to the sound dampening systems, allowing it to be quieter than original RC-1.
