Ayden Cater
Grumpy Goat
"Sir Issac Newton is the deadliest son of a queen in space!"
Image Source: Here
Intent: To sub the Protectorate's a miniature version of the HVG
Development Thread: Here
Manufacturer: Corellian Arms
Model: HVC-LH-39 'MINI-JAVELIN' Hypervelocity Cannon
Affiliation: Omega Protectorate
Modularity: None
Production: Minor Production
Material: Tungsten (Outer Shell), Gadolinium-Quarzite Alloy (Inner Barrel)
Description:
Code-named JAVELIN, the HVC-LH-71 was Corellian Arms' answer to the question of heavy capital ship combat. Combat analysis of Atrisian, Fringe, and Confederate ships revealed a favoring of large, heavy capital ships, so the weapon was designed from the ground up as a heavy capital ship killer.
The base of the weapon is the barrel, made of tungsten to resist warping, which extends a full seventy percent of the target ship's length (less in ships exceeding 2km). Along the barrel are between twelve and eighteen capacitors that charge massive electromagnets which propel the slug down the barrel with an exit velocity achieving a tiny fraction the speed of light. The exact weight of the slug varies depending on the shape and material of the slug, as well as the cannon itself, but is at least a full metric ton. A heavy variant of the cannon exists to fire larger slugs faster, at the obvious cost of increased power requirements.
The defining trait of the Javelin system is the method in which it fires. Rather than firing a single slug, the Javelin system fires a three-round burst. This gives the HVC-LH-71 tremendous penetration power. In field tests, it was not at all uncommon to find that the first two rounds stressed target ship shields enough to allow the third round to punch straight through and into the ship.
A tremendous system like this is not without its drawbacks. The Javelin cannons are ferocious energy hogs. To fire one without the aid of the capacitor system, which regulates the power drawn of the gun from the main reactor, would completely offline a ship for a period between forty-five and ninety seconds. To prevent this loss of power in combat, the designers included a capacitor system to regulate the weapon's energy draw. There are two downsides to this. First being that the weapon is not being fired at it's technical max, though this is a happy flaw as it keeps the ship in active combat and not a floating target.
The other drawback to the capacitor system itself is the vulnerability to surges. While the system is fully grounded and shielded, concentrated ion attacks, particularly across the barrel's exit, can create a feedback shock that bleeds into the capacitors. There exists a very minute chance that this would actually allow the ship to fire the weapon sooner. However, virtually every military simulation found that when subjected to a targeted ion barrage, the capacity system was overwhelmed and exploded, rather than absorbing the incoming energy. The damage can be as simple as taking the gun offline, or could potentially be catastrophic enough to cripple or destroy the ship.
As well, any damage to the forward cannon can result in a warped or blocked barrel. Firing through such an obstruction might have no effect or could rip apart the ship's bow. The ship's forward shields must also be brought down for roughly a second to fire the cannon, rendering firing the cannon under intense enemy fire a significant threat to the ship.
In the end however, the cannon's raw power was deemed sufficient to accept these flaws and drawbacks.
The base of the weapon is the barrel, made of tungsten to resist warping, which extends a full seventy percent of the target ship's length (less in ships exceeding 2km). Along the barrel are between twelve and eighteen capacitors that charge massive electromagnets which propel the slug down the barrel with an exit velocity achieving a tiny fraction the speed of light. The exact weight of the slug varies depending on the shape and material of the slug, as well as the cannon itself, but is at least a full metric ton. A heavy variant of the cannon exists to fire larger slugs faster, at the obvious cost of increased power requirements.
The defining trait of the Javelin system is the method in which it fires. Rather than firing a single slug, the Javelin system fires a three-round burst. This gives the HVC-LH-71 tremendous penetration power. In field tests, it was not at all uncommon to find that the first two rounds stressed target ship shields enough to allow the third round to punch straight through and into the ship.
A tremendous system like this is not without its drawbacks. The Javelin cannons are ferocious energy hogs. To fire one without the aid of the capacitor system, which regulates the power drawn of the gun from the main reactor, would completely offline a ship for a period between forty-five and ninety seconds. To prevent this loss of power in combat, the designers included a capacitor system to regulate the weapon's energy draw. There are two downsides to this. First being that the weapon is not being fired at it's technical max, though this is a happy flaw as it keeps the ship in active combat and not a floating target.
The other drawback to the capacitor system itself is the vulnerability to surges. While the system is fully grounded and shielded, concentrated ion attacks, particularly across the barrel's exit, can create a feedback shock that bleeds into the capacitors. There exists a very minute chance that this would actually allow the ship to fire the weapon sooner. However, virtually every military simulation found that when subjected to a targeted ion barrage, the capacity system was overwhelmed and exploded, rather than absorbing the incoming energy. The damage can be as simple as taking the gun offline, or could potentially be catastrophic enough to cripple or destroy the ship.
As well, any damage to the forward cannon can result in a warped or blocked barrel. Firing through such an obstruction might have no effect or could rip apart the ship's bow. The ship's forward shields must also be brought down for roughly a second to fire the cannon, rendering firing the cannon under intense enemy fire a significant threat to the ship.
In the end however, the cannon's raw power was deemed sufficient to accept these flaws and drawbacks.
After the complete success of the LV-71, designers set out to replicate its great success with a scaled down version. Unfortunately the designers ran into a wall almost immediately. As they scaled down the barrel, the barrel stresses increased. At the necessary scale to fit the weapon onto a cruiser or heavy cruiser, the barrel either snapped or melted.
Left at a loss, it wasn't until Ayden visited Ashin Varanin that he found the answer. By combining gadolinium with the quarzite crystals from the planet of the same name, he could achieve a barrel lining that melded with the superconductors while keeping the barrel strength intact. With that piece of the puzzle solved, the rest of the gun fell into place.
Scaled down in every regard, the LV-39 costs a fraction of the power, but also deals a fraction of the damage. Given the smaller nature of the targets, this isn't necessarily unwanted. As cruisers have shield strength only a fraction of a star destroyer, it needs only a fraction of the force to break through. However, the drawbacks of the system remain. Namely the vulnerability to capacitor overload, barrel damage, and possibility of taking the ship offline if fired without the capacitors. If fired without the capacitors online, the ship would go off-line for ten to twenty-two seconds; a marked decrease from its larger cousin, but dangerous all the same in pitched combat.
Classification: Hypervelocity Gun
Size: Ship Mounted
Length: 70% of the Parent ship
Ammunition Type: Ferromagnetic Slug
Ammunition Capacity: Limited by ship stores
Effective Range: Theoretically - Infinite, Practically - Slightly longer than a Long-Range Turbolaser
Rate of Fire:
- Standard: One three-round burst every minute
- Heavy: One three-round burst every two minutes
Power:
- Standard: One Heavy Long-Range Mass Driver (10 capital guns)
- Heavy: Two Heavy Long-Range Mass Drivers (20 capital guns)
