Slade Impulse Rifle

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Overview

The massive SIR (pronounced "sear" by soldiers in the field) signals a return of the vaunted "Anti-Tank Rifle" of Wars Past. Featuring a massive 25mm bore and spanning nearly five feet in length, the SIR is truly a behemoth of a weapon, capable of striking down Main Battle Tanks at ranges in excess of 1500 meters.

Action

The SIR fires a special warhead, a rod of copper encased in a sabot, which is further embedded inside of an explosive compound. The shell is loaded into a magnetic accelerator built of stacked charged coils (coilgun), and is held in place by the "push" of the fields. Upon firing, the voltage is vastly increased to the coilgun, causing a systematic overload cascade. As the overload begins, an arc is discharged into the explosive compound, hurling the sabot and rod forward, through the first restraint coil. As the rod moves, the overload works up the barrel, hurtling the projectile towards open air.

As the rod and sabot accelerate and heat inside the explosive assisted coilgun, the copper is reduced to plasma, and shaped by the acceleration and spin, forming an aerodynamically perfect projectile, referred to as a "Forged Copper Projectile", or FCP. By the time the FCP exits the barrel, it is traveling at speeds in approximating 8000 feet per second (fps), and much of the mass is in the form of a high density copper plasma at approximately 20,000 K (36,549° Fahrenheit).

The instant the FCP strikes the air outside the barrel, the plasma corona ignites the oxygen in the surrounding area, resulting in a sudden concussive “backslap” that can kill an unaware spotter too close to the muzzle blast. The FCP is driven onto its lethal course, vaporizing any loose obstacle in its path, and punching through lower density objects with ease. Upon contact with a high density object, such as a structure, vehicle, or person, the FCP penetrates the target, resulting in massive hydrodynamic or hydrostatic (depending on the target) shock, causing the target to explosively rupture from the sheer force of impact. The fiery corona then splashes over the area of contact into a cone, causing a massive secondary blast as the target, the surrounding area, and even the air itself detonate under the plasma wash, resulting in a blast equal in power to more than two hundred pounds of TNT.

In the aftermath of the penetration, detonation, and incineration, the target area is often left in flames, with little remnant of the target or the surrounding vicinity.

Field Data

The common reports of seeing the SIR fire are of a golden bolt with a fiery comet’s trail, streaking through the air. Immediately following the bolt, there is a series of explosions as the superheated oxygen detonates along the ballistic flight-path, cutting from the SIR barrel to the target. The target explodes instantly, but the full effect of the plasma wash is only felt a moment later, leading to a horrific eerie silence before the storm.

Due to the peculiar nature of the SIR, it is highly dangerous to use in any dense combat environments. Merely being near the FCP’s flight-path can lead to fatalities as the air explodes, and being within the same room as a SIR impact is almost certain death. Only at long ranges can one even hope that enough plasma has stripped away to even chance survival within a ten meter radius.

The SIR can only be fired from a prone, deployed position, and it becomes so hot from firing that the massive cooling system must be given a full thirty seconds to work before attempting a follow-on shot.

Doctrine

  • The Slade is an anti-material rifle of the highest order, and so is only to be utilized against armored assets. Use against light infantry is overkill, and the price of the round would probably exceed the cost of the unit killed.
  • A secondary use has emerged for the SIR, as an anti-mechanized weapon, particularly against upright Armored Combat Suits. Against these Armored Infantry, the high center of mass and the relatively delicate servometric systems become a massive bane, and the Slade has shown high effectiveness, beyond that of the traditional AMR role.
  • Every SIR will be operated by a two man spotter/engineer and shooter crew. The rifle can be broken down and moved in under thirty seconds, with both soldiers active.
  • If position is compromised, the Slade's massive IR signature will be a beacon for incoming fire. The soldiers should arm the remaining shells and evacuate the area, letting the weapon destroy itself.

Concept Sketches - Not Used for Actual Weapon

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