Shaddi
King of Shawken
Image Source: Battlefleet Gothic Google search.
Intent: To create an advanced Long range cannon with devastating possibilities.
Development Thread: If necessary
Manufacturer: ZTI
Model: Broad Nova Cannon
Affiliation: ZTI (Special projects division), Select protjects.
Modularity: No
Production: Production: Limited to Minor
Material: Alusteel hull, Gravatonic projectors, Shield projectors, Mass-driver cannon components, Power generator components.
Classification: Gravatonic acceleration Cannon
Size: Ship-Mounted
Length: 36m + 8m long barrels
With: 36m
Height: 16m
Weight: 2 tons
Ammunition Type: Tungsten tipped Alusteel rounds containing within them proton torpedoes components and hollow interior with an internal battery to supply the energy required to make the proton torpedoes.
Ammunition Capacity: 3, one for each barrel.
Effective Range: Long range to very Long range ship combat ranges
Rate of Fire: Single shot, Each barrel can be fired at once or one at a time.
Cost to a ships weapons 240 Turbolasers for a single emplacement.
Special Features:
Very Long ranged
Very explosive impact.
Strengths
Immense range. (Even if the target is missed the round keeps going until it hits something and that something will have a very bad day.)
Heavy Destructive power.
Heavily Armored.
Piercing quality.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Accurate of up to 100 km with a 60m margin for error at 100km ranges.
Weaknesses
Cannot have more than two triple barreled installations on a single ship due to power drain. (Unless it's larger than 2200m then another can be added at every 600m intervals)
Cannot be installed on ships Under 1600M.
Projectiles have to have traveled at least 26 Km to be able to explode on impact. 50km is required for the full effect of the explosion.
Very, Very long reload time.
If all triple barreled cannons are fired at the same time, shields cut out. Only if more than one installation is on the ship, when there is only one it takes half the shields power to help it fire.
Description
A Nova Cannon consists of an array of potent gravimetric propellers designed to accelerate a projectile to mach 12. These projectiles carry a sophisticated plasma warhead which burns with the ferocity of a small star for a fraction of a second. As such a well-used Nova Cannon is a terrifying thing to face, as much a psychological tool as a weapon. Those who favor the weapon understand that it is difficult to use and often rendered useless at close ranges.
The Nova Cannon itself is large and energy consuming. The projectiles have a diameter of at least 2 meters and are fired at well beyond mach 12 after being accelerated by gravimetric coils. When the projectile has traveled the predetermined distance, the warhead is capable of exploding with a force equivalent to eight proton torpedoes. This creates a blast zone the size of a large fighter and some have described the blast as reminiscent of a small minuscule star being born. However when put into militaristic terms a single shot is roughly equivalent to 120 turbolaser cannon shots.
Despite it's impressive power these cannons are only really effective at many Kilometer ranges making it highly dangerous to both ships if used in a close range broadside battle if the rounds trigger systems fail, when not taking into account that the projectiles can only explode after some travel time. If used within that range the rounds would simply punch through Durasteel and only leave a small hole in it's wake instead of wreaking it's devastating payload which would do at least ten times that damage.
The cannon barrels themselves are 6 meters in diameter which gives them a 4 meter thick armor to protect the barrel and projectiles. The cannons require a minimum of 16 meter high, 36 meter long and 28 meter wide housing which also holds dedicated shields to protect it as well as it's own power generators to help with the ships energy reserves that are required for the gravimetric coils that accelerate the projectiles. Even though it has it's own power generators firing the Nova cannons still requires great amounts of energy as such if two of these triple barreled installations are on a ship then firing both at the same time would disable the shields due to the power drain to the ship.
Each Round is charged with energy from the ship in a battery that is then utilized to create the large proton bomb that is housed within the round itself. Due to the time it requires to begin making the proton bombs the round has already traveled 50km in space before the proton bomb is complete within it. As soon as the cannon fires the round the internal mechanism begins to create the torpedo bomb housed inside the round as such the round can explode at 26km ranges but isn't nearly as powerful as it would be at the 50km ranges.
The housing of the cannons takes time to deploy as when not in use the barrels are pulled into the housing which then closes of, forming a sort of shielded hub on the ships exterior.
