HVs-2 hypervelocity gun
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The HVs-2 hypervelocity gun, sometimes called a hypervelocity cannon, is a fixed planetary defense weapon used against orbiting space-craft such as capital ships.
The hypervelocity gun fires bursts of super-accelerated solid slugs at a rate of up to 120 slugs per minute, though will not fire for more than ten seconds at a time. To protect the hypervelocity gun against bombardment, it is protected by both ray and particle shield generators buried underground along with the large power plant used to drive the gun and the generators.
The gun's slugs can penetrate a ship's ray shielding and quickly batter down its particle shields intended to absorb slower and fewer impacts. Once a ship's shields are down, the slugs batter its armor, eventually rupturing its hull and causing depressurization.
Development
The hypervelocity gun was created by the Republic of Coruscant as a supplementary planetary defense in lieu of a space-borne garrison.[1] The concept borrows heavily from the Eastern Union's Mjolnir network, providing static ultra-long-range fire support from planets, moons and even local asteroids. On Earth, the gun emplacements are linked together by a command nexus codenamed Project Valkyrie.[2] While an underpowered gun is technically capable of surface-to-surface bombardment, Coruscanti military protocol is fiercely adamant that the weapon not be used outside of surface-to-space engagements; to this end, operational safeguards have been built into the control mechanism.
Development of the HVs-2 began in the aftermath of the Avatar Wars, Combine-Coruscant War, and the Third Nazi War. While gun emplacements were completed by the time of the Battle of the Bulge, the network was not brought into an operational state until after the war.
Sometime after Mariko's Coup, The Republic Navy developed their own railgun/gauss-cannon emplacements to be installed aboard their fleet of ships and lead to the development of the Lancer-Class cruiser and suplementary gun emplacements for the third generation of Star Destroyer lines.
Design
Safety measures
In accordance with military doctrine concerning the weapon's use, internal safeguards will prevent the gun from firing if available/allotted power is insufficient to propel the projectile into sub-orbit.
Stolen field reports from Space Nazi forces brought the Mjolnir lockdown protocol to Coruscanti attention,[3] and with little delay similar failsafes were investigated for the network in the event Coruscanti defence in North America should be compromised. Facility activity is monitored by security cameras equipped with infrared sensors to negate stealth equipment, complemented by an array of motion sensors. Security staff are under orders to shoot to kill unauthorized persons.[4] Complexes are linked by an encrypted network, and the base commander is the sole keeper of the decryption key.
Power plant
The common hypervelocity gun platform has a dedicated fusion reactor built by General Atomics to power the gun and supporting infrastructure (living space, etc). This makes the gun self-sufficient and avoids encumbering local power grids, although facilities can provide surplus electricity to the grids where they are connected.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=8941449#post8941449
- ↑ http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=8941449#post8941449
- ↑ http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=8930749#post8930749
- ↑ This harkens back to World War II when Grand Central Station's M42 sub-basement and power station were heavily guarded to prevent sabotage to East Coast troop movement.
