Popo
I'm Sexy and I Know It
Intent: To use 'obsolete' technology to create a powerful, yet temperamental, projectile.
Development Thread: N/A
Manufacturer: Tenloss
Model: BDK-M1
Affiliation: Tenloss, restricted sales
Modularity: N/A outside of some shell caliber variations.
Production: Limited
Material: Duralite, uranium, and other projectile components.
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Description:
War is terrible, and yet we glorify it. With weapons such as the BDK-M1, and now the BDK-M2, we're going to change things up. Shake the cage. Put fear and disgust back into the equation.
If the BDK-M1 is an anti-tank, armor penetrating round, the BDK-M2 is the High Explosive version. It has no disruptor blast, it has no true armor penetration ability. The M2 is solely designed for blast, using the shockwave, radiation, and thermal energy to do the damage. As a fission weapon, it does that and more making it highly effective at what it's designed to do.
Fired at infantry, in among buildings, lobbed into fortifications... the BDK-M2 will send the enemy running for cover. What it doesn't outright kill on impact, it kills slowly through radiation poisoning. Even if the loss of life against the enemy is low, the shells set fire to anything flammable. Trees, cloth, plastic... anything that can be burned, this shell can set it on fire. Used in great enough quantity, you can possibly set up a firestorm, though to be frank that's not the primary use of the weapon.
Like any high explosive weapon, the BDK-M2 is best used on infantry caught in the open, weak buildings, and light vehicles. What it's not supposed to be used against are targets designed for the M1 variant like tanks and bunkers. It might take one out, but its not intended to do so. Best to use the dedicated variant.
Like any HE round, there's some danger of friendly fire. Splash damage, area of effect, whatever you want to call it. Normally, this isn't that much of an issue. Drop a few howitzer rounds, some artillery shells, maybe even an airstrike. Steer clear or duck and cover and you should be safe enough on your own. Unfortunately the M2 variant is a little more... dangerous.
On impact you'll note there is a 20m fireball. Anything caught in that nuclear inferno is more or less dead short of a miracle, some sort of Force ability I've never heard of, or wearing some armor I want to get a hold of. Outside of that, you've got maybe a hundred and fifty or so meters of overpressure. That overpressure is high enough to kill an unprotected human caught in the open. For perhaps another score or two meters outward, the overpressure drops and it'll only probably kill an unprotected human in the open. Meanwhile, within all those areas is a massive amount of thermal radiation. Even if you somehow survive the overpressure, you're looking at widespread full thickness burns. If that doesn't kill you, the lethal doses of radiation will. Now, knowing all of that, let's be frank and honest here. Most armor will protect against those heat levels, those overpressure levels, and even the radiation. Despite all of that, there's the blast wave which will generally floor anyone caught in the shockwave. Toss in that everything is now on fire and you can't take your helmet off either because the seal's melted or the radiation is too high and you start seeing the pros of this type of weapon.
In fact, while there are ways to remove radiation from the actual terrain rather quickly, it doesn't help in the meantime when you can't even take off your helmet. Troops stuck in place can't eat or drink unless they have some means of getting it inside their armor uncontaminated. The M2 is designed primarily as a direct explosive weapon, but I find it's rather handy to deny terrain and even break morale.
The shell is currently in limited production and we have plans for use in the field. With luck, the first actual field use will be soon.
~ Popo, CEO of Tenloss, discussing the new series of munitions with his board of executives.
Primary Source: BDK-M1
Development Thread: N/A
Manufacturer: Tenloss
Model: BDK-M1
Affiliation: Tenloss, restricted sales
Modularity: N/A outside of some shell caliber variations.
Production: Limited
Material: Duralite, uranium, and other projectile components.
Strengths:
- Devastation - Fission weapons are far from precise, much less known for restraint. Impacts from the BDK-M2 are highly dangerous and volatile. As such, even near misses can be lethal to anyone nearby. Non-reinforced buildings, unprotected infantry in the open, tanks suffering penetrating hits, and direct hits on unarmored vehicles almost always result in catastrophic damage.
- Conflagration - Due to the thermal radiation given off by the explosion, anything flammable in the affected area of the explosion tends to catch fire and steadily burn. On its own, burning debris is a marginal issue, though in urban or forested - and dry - areas, this can cause problems as the fire spreads, especially if more BDK shells are used in the area.
- Radiation - Fission weapons are dangerous both in the short term and in the long term. Unprotected individuals caught in the explosion area of a BDK can suffer radiation-caused illnesses which, if not treated, can result in severe illness or even death depending on the radiation exposure.
- Prostration - With great fission comes great over-pressure. With the BDK-M2, the over-pressure caused by the shell's detonation can easily send things near to the target flying, sometimes with lethal force. Unprepared and poorly equipped troops will often be thrown to the ground or tossed into the air depending on how close they are to the blast. Note: the blast of a BDK-M2 is larger than that of a BDK-M1.
Weaknesses:
- Devastation - With most weapons incapable of precision destruction, BDK munitions are just as dangerous to friends as they are to foes. With a widespread blast radius and the ability to level many structures and vehicles, the fission shells are lethal to all sides. Care must be used in their use or friendly fire can easily, and quickly, become a very real thing.
- Penetration - Designed as a 'High Explosive' variant of the BDK series, the BDK-M2 is designed not for penetration, but for blast strength. As such, the BDK-M2 cannot penetrate heavy armor or exotic materials (such as beskar). Granted, it often-times doesn't need to penetrate armor to cause damage, but on the off chance of a direct hit against heavy armor plating, the shell will not penetrate, though depending on the strength of the armor and/or vehicle, damage might still be sustained.
- Conflagration - While the resultant explosion of the BDK-M2 can easily set the area on fire, those in sealed and fire-proof armor or in protected vehicles have nothing to fear from something so generic as common flames.
- Radiation - Fission weapons tend to poison the ground where they're utilized, the BDK-M2 being no different. While radiation is lethal to beings around the galaxy, medical technology and protective gear is more than a match for all but the highest levels. As a result, properly equipped troops have nothing to fear against the BDK-M2's radiation and even those suffering radiation poisoning need only seek proper medical attention in a timely manner.
Description:
War is terrible, and yet we glorify it. With weapons such as the BDK-M1, and now the BDK-M2, we're going to change things up. Shake the cage. Put fear and disgust back into the equation.
If the BDK-M1 is an anti-tank, armor penetrating round, the BDK-M2 is the High Explosive version. It has no disruptor blast, it has no true armor penetration ability. The M2 is solely designed for blast, using the shockwave, radiation, and thermal energy to do the damage. As a fission weapon, it does that and more making it highly effective at what it's designed to do.
Fired at infantry, in among buildings, lobbed into fortifications... the BDK-M2 will send the enemy running for cover. What it doesn't outright kill on impact, it kills slowly through radiation poisoning. Even if the loss of life against the enemy is low, the shells set fire to anything flammable. Trees, cloth, plastic... anything that can be burned, this shell can set it on fire. Used in great enough quantity, you can possibly set up a firestorm, though to be frank that's not the primary use of the weapon.
Like any high explosive weapon, the BDK-M2 is best used on infantry caught in the open, weak buildings, and light vehicles. What it's not supposed to be used against are targets designed for the M1 variant like tanks and bunkers. It might take one out, but its not intended to do so. Best to use the dedicated variant.
Like any HE round, there's some danger of friendly fire. Splash damage, area of effect, whatever you want to call it. Normally, this isn't that much of an issue. Drop a few howitzer rounds, some artillery shells, maybe even an airstrike. Steer clear or duck and cover and you should be safe enough on your own. Unfortunately the M2 variant is a little more... dangerous.
On impact you'll note there is a 20m fireball. Anything caught in that nuclear inferno is more or less dead short of a miracle, some sort of Force ability I've never heard of, or wearing some armor I want to get a hold of. Outside of that, you've got maybe a hundred and fifty or so meters of overpressure. That overpressure is high enough to kill an unprotected human caught in the open. For perhaps another score or two meters outward, the overpressure drops and it'll only probably kill an unprotected human in the open. Meanwhile, within all those areas is a massive amount of thermal radiation. Even if you somehow survive the overpressure, you're looking at widespread full thickness burns. If that doesn't kill you, the lethal doses of radiation will. Now, knowing all of that, let's be frank and honest here. Most armor will protect against those heat levels, those overpressure levels, and even the radiation. Despite all of that, there's the blast wave which will generally floor anyone caught in the shockwave. Toss in that everything is now on fire and you can't take your helmet off either because the seal's melted or the radiation is too high and you start seeing the pros of this type of weapon.
In fact, while there are ways to remove radiation from the actual terrain rather quickly, it doesn't help in the meantime when you can't even take off your helmet. Troops stuck in place can't eat or drink unless they have some means of getting it inside their armor uncontaminated. The M2 is designed primarily as a direct explosive weapon, but I find it's rather handy to deny terrain and even break morale.
The shell is currently in limited production and we have plans for use in the field. With luck, the first actual field use will be soon.
~ Popo, CEO of Tenloss, discussing the new series of munitions with his board of executives.
Primary Source: BDK-M1
