Recoilless Graviton Howitzer

Designed and produced by the Frontier Manufacturing Service in YE 41, this limited production weapon is the natural evolution of the Recoilless Graviton Cannon. Reengineered for combat at extreme ranges, this howitzer is meant to serve as both direct and indirect artillery in a mobile package. Developed in parallel with the Cordoba Combat Mecha, this mighty weapon is intended to be carried by mecha granting the king of the battlefield greater access to targets and providing mecha pilots with the biggest sniper they could ever hope for. This weapon is only sold to the most trusted of buyers and is currently only being employed in the Frontier Defense Force.

Built in parallel with the Cordoba Combat Mech, the RGH was designed as an artillery piece for combat at extreme ranges. With both direct and indirect firing capabilities this portable artillery system is capable of threatening even heavy starships and gaining the advantage against even superior forces.

With the success of the Recoilless Graviton Cannon the development of its artillery counterpart was greatly accelerated, though slowed by the delays in the Cordoba Combat Mecha's development cycle. During these delays the production team made advancements in indirect targeting and streamlined the weapon's power systems to not only increase its firerate to be closer to that of the cannon but also operate with less power draw and waste heat. These advancements even made it to the Cordoba in the form of improved mapping and telemetry networking to facilitate improvements all around.

• Year Created: YE 41
• Designer: Frontier Manufacturing Service
• Manufacturer: Frontier Manufacturing Service
• Name: Recoilless Graviton Howitzer
• Nomenclature: Fs-YM2-W4100
• Type: Graviton Projection Device and solid munition hybrid
• Role: Artillery, sniper
• Length: 10 meters
• Weight: 5 tons
• Production: Limited Production

When deployed the RGH appears to be a very long cannon, measuring 10 meters tip to tip, Depending on how many drivers are installed. The barrel is circular with armor spanning its entire length. The opening of the barrel reveals field modulation devices along the inside. The barrel is attached to a boxy structure under which is a large bracket to attach the weapon to a vehicle. Protruding from the rear of the boxy structure is are two large cylindrical parts with the appearance of a combustion engine's manifold, the graviton drivers. Beneath the first driver is a breach in where the projectiles can be loaded into the boxy structure, the receiver. At the end of the last driver is an armored cap to protect the innards of the driver.

• Muzzle Flash: Light is heavily distorted around the graviton emission. A white flash can be seen when the coil gun fires.
• Retort: Deep humming followed by a thunderous roar. Capable of causing significant bodily harm to those too close to the weapon.
• Projectile/Beam Appearance: The beam of compressed gravity is too dense for light to escape, thus it appears black, yet casts a bright glow.
• Effective Range:
  • Space: 1,000,000 Kilometers
  • Atmosphere: 50 Kilometers
• Rate of Fire: 30 rounds per minute.
• Recoil: Light, due to recoilless damper.

The RGH can be fired without a munition chambered. It is the default option and firing a projectile is the alternative. When the capacitor bank is charged the built in generator powers the graviton projectors and creates a linear field within its large barrel. When fired the capacitors are drained and the linear field of gravitons are instantly accelerated away at a quarter of the speed of light. Upon collision the immense inertial force is instantly transferred into the target to inflict damage. The part that actually sends the graviton pulse is called a driver and they come in two stages, each stage important to the firing the destructive pulse as it passes through the gravitons in the barrel.

• Power source: A dedicated generator is built into the weapon and powers all functions.
• Average DR: Light anti-starship(Tier 10)
• Round Capacity: A bank of heavy-duty capacitors can hold charge for only a single attack, after which the on-board Hyperspace Tap generator recharges the capacitors. A solid 150mm projectile can be loaded in under a second, though capacitors must be recharged to fire. 150mm projectiles are carried in a 20 round armored bin and breach-loaded by way of an automated loading arm.

When desired, a 150mm projectile can be loaded into the breach from the 20 round ammo bin to augment the effects of the weapon.

• Ammunition: Surface Penetrator-Artificial Diamond Rod
  • Purpose: Tier 10 that can punch through light structures and thin armor.
  • Round Capacity: 20-round Ammunition Bin
• Ammunition: Needle Canister Projectile
  • Purpose: Tier 10 damage delivered in a 15° cone-shaped wave that leaves the target covered in sharp shards of diamond.
  • Round Capacity: 20-round Ammunition Bin
• Ammunition: HEC Projectiles
  • Purpose: Tier 10 explosion with a 100m blast radius
  • Round Capacity: 20-round Ammunition Bin

The weapon mechanisms are as follows:

• Firing Mechanism: The weapon is fired electrically by dumping massive amperage from the capacitors into the graviton projectors.
• Loading: Autoloader
• Mode Selector: Electronically operated from the cockpit.
• Firing Modes: A pull of the trigger will cause the weapon to fire a single graviton pulse. Pressing a button just under the arming switch on the dashboard will cause the weapon to load a projectile, after which a pull of the trigger will launch it. By selecting NLoS mode the cannon will use low powered graviton pulses to only fire projectiles with the exact amount of force needed to reach the location designated on a map.
• Weapon Sight: Digital crosshairs with a firing line are displayed on a HUD. In NLoS mode the firing computer generates telemetry from a map display.

• W4100 RGC: 40,000 KS

• Barrel: 10,000 KS
• Reciever/Accelerator: 10,000
• Stage 1 Driver: 10,000
• Stage 2 Driver: 10,000

Article created by Rizzo on 2023/09/29 17:45

The article was approved by Andrew on 2023/10/05.¹⁾

Art was done in Midjourney by Rizzo.