Errreembuhr
CEO of EODD
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To develop a standard air-to-air missile using advanced technology
- Image Source: Trekkie313
- Canon Link: N/A
- Restricted Missions: N/A
- Primary Source: Concussion Missile, Baradium
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
- Manufacturer: EODD
- Model: EAM-9 “Glutton” Baradium Missile
- Affiliation: Closed Market
- Modularity: Can be loaded into SAM launchers or starships
- Production: Minor
- Material: Plasteel casing, baradium, targeting and flight electronics, ion drive
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
- Classification: Anti-Air Missile
- Size: Average
- Weight: Large
- Ammunition Type: Missile
- Ammunition Capacity: Up to 4 for starfighters, SAM capacity varies depending on emplacement
- Reload Speed: N/A (Cannot be replaced in combat)
- Effective Range: Long Range
- Rate of Fire: Very Low (single-shot)
- Stopping Power: Very High
- Recoil: N/A
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Drop-And-Lock Capability
Strengths:
- High Explosive: The EAM-7 contains a powerful baradium warhead rather than the usual concussion charge included in most anti-air missiles. This gives it several advantages, the most obvious of which is that baradium explosions have the capability to vaporize almost anything within its sphere of energy, making it incredibly useful against fighters and weak spots on larger ships.
- Controlled Blast: While baradium itself is a relatively unstable element, baradium explosions have the preferable side-effect of producing a particle field around the blast, keeping its effects contained within a 10m perimeter and limiting collateral damage.
- Dumb-Fire and Lock-On Capabilities: To add to the lethality of the missile, its targeting systems aren’t required to lock in order to fire, allowing pilots in ships armed with them to dumb-fire the missiles in a straight line against capital ships as well as being able to lock them on to fighters in combat.
- Drop-And-Lock Capability: A special feature of the EAM-7 is its ability to drop-and-lock, allowing the missiles to be expelled from a fighter craft without arming or activating their tracking system, and then activate the system and arm afterwards. This gives fighters an advantage while being followed closely by enemy craft, as they can expel the missile, lead the enemy fighter past it, and lock on to the following craft, turning the hunter into the hunted.
Weaknesses:
- ECM: Both the ship-launched and emplacement-launched missiles contain in-unit targeting systems. Without any equipped ECM of their own, this leaves the missiles vulnerable to enemy electronic countermeasures, meaning they can be jammed, deactivated, or with a sufficient ECM system, prevented from locking onto a target in the first place.
- Turn Rate: While the EAM-7’s tracking system is quite advanced and capable of following fighters attempting evasive maneuvers, its turn rate is very much lacking, and against more nimble craft can be out-turned to a point where the missile’s lock is broken and it flies off harmlessly.
- Fragile Casing: With Plasteel holding it together the EAM-7 lacks in protection, making it easy to shoot down and negate its effectiveness in combat.
- Drop-And-Lock Targeting Issues: Despite the advantages that the drop-and-lock capability possesses, there is always a risk of the missile targeting its home craft by mistake, and without a kill-switch to prevent friendly fire, the pilot would be forced to either trick the missile into colliding with a separate object and detonating, or enacting their own evasive maneuvers, which in a combat situation can distract the pilot and lead to death.
- Post-Use Effects: The nature of the EAM-7’s primary payload, baradium, means that using them will result in adverse environmental effects due to the poisonous emissions of a baradium explosion. In space this is not so much of a concern, however use of the weapons in-atmosphere will need to be controlled and monitored to prevent adverse effects on local wildlife or inhabitants.
DESCRIPTION
Based on the success of the EGM-7, the EAM-7 was developed as an effort to transplant the lethal effectiveness into an anti-air missile. Trading a concussion charge for a baradium charge, the goal was to produce a missile whose payload would be exceptionally powerful against anything in the air, something that baradium would excel at. Using a deuterium-based proton charge as a trigger explosive, the missile’s payload erupts into a spherical field with a 10m radius, taking advantage of the two natural properties of baradium explosions. The proton field caused by the explosion contains the effects to limit collateral damage, while the explosion itself can vaporize a majority of common materials used in starship construction, making it an exceptional threat in dogfights or against capital ships. This act of vaporizing a target led to the missile being nicknamed the ‘Glutton’ during development, after the way that it appears to ‘eat’ the target on detonation.
What truly makes the EAM-7 though are its tracking capabilities. Like the majority of missiles used in modern combat it contains both lock-on and dumb-fire capabilities, but it also contains a drop-and-lock function, allowing it to track fighters pursuing the firing ship by locking on to them after the module is expelled. While this puts the pilot at risk for an accidental self-lock-on, it can turn the tides against a pursuing enemy, forcing them to break off a chase to allow an escape or for the pilot to turn back around and take the offensive.
An unavoidable side effect of utilizing baradium in weapons is the element’s natural poisonous properties once detonated. This can have long-term adverse effects on organic beings exposed to a baradium explosion, which can be significant if used in atmospheric operations as trees, plants, animals, and local sentient inhabitants can be exposed to the fallout of a baradium discharge. Use of such weapons on inhabited worlds should be monitored by the operator and utilized responsibly.
