Shuklaar Kyrdol
CEO of Breshig War Forge Consolidated
- Intent: To create a powerful mass-driver cannon for use on small craft for Mandalorians and select others.
- Image Source: Here
- Canon Link: Mass-driver Cannon
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Breshig War Forge Consolidated
- Affiliation: Breshig War Forge Consolidated, Mandalorians, Closed-Market
- Model: RHM-04 Repeating Heavy Mass-driver
- Modularity: Yes. Ammunition.
- Production: Minor
- Material: Duranium frame, dallorian alloy coated barrel, reinforced duraplast reinforcement, cryoban cooling system, enhanced power cycler, dedicated capacitor component, combat de-ionizer and railgun components.
- Classification: Railgun
- Size: Large
- Weight: Heavy
- Ammunition Type: Slugs
- Ammunition Capacity: Average
- Effective Range: Long Range
- Rate of Fire: High
- Stopping Power: Very High
- Recoil: High
- Large Variety of Ammunition: Breshig War Forge Consolidated manufacture a large variety of ammunition for the RHM-04.
- Armor-Piercing: Armor-piercing rounds with a depleted baradium core designed to act as a penetrator upon impact with armor, excellent against most forms of armor.
- Durasteel-Neutronium: Standard round, used against most fighter craft given their relative lack of armor compared to the natural armor-piercing ability of the weapon.
- Ion-Detonator: An ion charge tipped round that's armed the moment it leaves the barrel. When it impacts against armor or a particle shield, the round detonates with about half the effect of an ion missile, capable of severely damaging shields and unshielded electronics.
- High Explosive: A baradium high explosive round, used against weak armored larger craft such as transports, or against soft targets on the ground.
- High Explosive Incendiary Armor Piercing: Using a baradium based explosive to trigger a gas incendiary charge (similar to the NOVA40 grenade) before driving a depleted baradium penetrator into the target, the HEIAP rounds are extremely deadly. Somewhat rarer than other rounds, and usually used against particularly well-defended targets.
- Cooling Systems: In order to prevent the large amounts of heat generated by the weapon from melting it, the RHM-04 has an integrated cooling system that will shut the weapon down in the event of it overheating in order to perform a coolant flush and to allow the weapon to cool down. Most mounting platforms can carry enough coolant for five coolant flushes.
- Dual Feed: The weapon's dual feed system allows the operator to select a different type of round without a new drum having to be loaded by the craft's ammunition handling system.
- High Damage Potential: With a high fire rate compared to most starfighter mounted mass-driver cannons, and a high damage per shot potential, the RHM-04 is a very deadly mass-driver cannon indeed.
- Accurate: The RHM-04 is extremely accurate, meaning that it's long range is not just a marketing ploy. Platforms with good targeting systems can put the weapon's inherent accuracy to good use at the hands of a capable pilot.
- Long Range: The weapon's long range paired with the advanced targeting computers of most platforms that this weapon is mounted on means that the RHM-04 can be effectively used at long ranges, giving any platform mounting this weapon a considerable alpha strike potential.
- Rotary Weapon: The weapon's rotary barrel assembly reduces the wear and tear on each barrel as well as gives it a higher practical rate of fire.
- Limited Ammunition Capacity: Compared to laser and blaster cannons, the RHM-04 has a significantly reduced ammunition capacity. Re-supply of ammunition during a battle is also significantly easier in the case of the aforementioned two weapon systems.
- Rotating Barrels: Should the weapon's rotary barrel mechanism become damaged, the weapon will become unable to fire.
- Vulnerable to EMP/Ion Damage: If the gun actually sustains enough EMP/Ion damage, it's accelerator rails will be permanently damaged, requiring a complete replacement of the barrels.
- Large and Heavy: The size of the weapon means that it will weigh down any platform its mounted on, and limits the craft that it can feasibly be mounted on.
When the Kyr'galaar Stealth Multi-role Fighter's development cycle began, one of the tasks was to develop a main weapon system for the new fighter. There was much backward and forward between the design team on whether to turn to a heavy laser cannon system or even a disruptor based system, but in the end the sheer versatility of a mass-driver cannon weapon couldn't be ignored. Breshig War Forge Consolidated had developed a few repeating mass-driver cannons in the past, but most of those suffered from long-term reliability issues and fa low fire rate. The new fighter's weapons had to have a fire rate similar to that of a laser based weapon, and had to have better longevity.
Months of research finally yielded the RHM-04, which reused the cryoban cooling system from the RHM-03 as well as the enhanced power cycler and dedicated capacitor component but added a rotating barrel assembly. While more mechanically complicated and having a technically higher chance of failure, the wear and tear on each barrel is reduced while increasing the weapon's practical rate of fire. The weapon system turned out to be a fantastic success, and to help recover the cost of developing the weapon as well as the Kyr'galaar, it was sold separately from the fighter.
However, in a galactic market saturated by starfighter scale mass-drivers, Breshig War Forge Consolidated did their very best to ensure that their weapon would stand out. The weapon's accuracy and made it's long range practical, and was a large part of the aggressive marketing campaign for the weapon. Its high damage potential, made possible by its higher fire rate than most starfighter mounted mass-driver cannons as well as its high damage per shot made it popular with the few export customers that purchased the export configuration of the Kyr'galaar. All in all, the RHM-03 was deemed one of the company's more successful designs.
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