MODEL LPG18A2AP


LATE 2ND GEN / EARLY 3RD GEN LIGHT PLASMA GUN MODEL 18A2 ANTI-PERSONNEL

 


Model LPG18A2AP Series Weapon System Specifications

MANUFACTURER:

Automated Manufactory Block A5, Sector 4

Also available in template form at any Series III or higher construction facility

PRODUCTION:

05:15:2008 to 07:04:2029 A.D. 

TYPE:  

Integrated very high energy plasma weapon system - anti-personnel

CONSTRUCTION:

Enduralloy components mated to carbon fiber and moly fiber carrier, misc. plastics and metals with superconducting filaments.  Gyrostabilized mounting for full accuracy of fire during movement. 

OPERATION:

Level III magnetic field containment of refined hydrogen fuel excited with thermal rapid pulse chemical high energy laser ignition system.  Caseless fuel / power integration.

BORE SIZE: 

6mm / 3mm magnetically stabilized and insulated smoothbore

WEIGHT: 

2.86kg, unloaded.
Loaded power cell containing enough fuel and battery energy
for 100 plasma pulses weighs 1.25kg

Total loaded weapon weight: 4.11kg

DIMENSIONS:

Length overall, 0.35 meters (705mm)

AMMUNITION:

M37B Integrated Fuel Power (IFP) type stacked array containing enough refined hydrogen core fuel and battery power to initiate and produce 250 plasma pulses.  Later capacity increased to 500 shots with introduction of M40A high capacity power clip.

FEED SOURCE:

250 pulse capable refined hydrogen fuel cell combined with coaxial high density Type V crystal storage array.  Later models are fed by 500 pulse capable fuel cell combo.  M18A2 LPPG's mounted in combat chassis arrays retain feed source but also are hooked directly into chassis power subsystem for sustained feed which results in a practically infinite supply of

RATE OF FIRE:

60 pulses per minute sustained given cooling cycle and single rate of fire.  Unit capable of select fire in three round bursts or full automatic fire.  Cyclic rate of fire on full auto is 500 pulses per minute.  Onboard diagnostic and safety interface systems prevent weapon overheating by locking out firing system if core temp rises beyond acceptable levels.

PROJECTILE:

0.45 Mj phased plasma bolt, flow wash temp at +4500 degrees

MUZZLE VELOCITY:

Staged hand-off linear velocity coils magnetically accelerate bolt to a velocity of 9000 meters per second (9.0kps).

MAXIMUM RANGE:

900 meters (bolt integrity destabilizes and cohesion factor approaches .85% dispersal).  Bolt reaches maximum range in 0.1 seconds.

EFFECTIVE RANGE:

300 meters (at this point bolt begins to lose cohesion, dispersal factor starts to rise).  Bolt reaches effective range in 0.03 seconds.

PERFORMANCE:

Contact hit produces 3 mm diameter entry point forming destructive tunneling of target material through kinetic energy and super thermal contact.  Upon negative penetration or contact with a superior surface, bolt will destabilize into high speed thermal tributary fragments with a one meter lethal splash radius.  Laser excited, magnetically accelerated 3mm x 200mm pre-emptive phased conversion thermal bolt will penetrate 3.25cm of case hardened steel up to effective range with loss of overall penetration commensurate with range after that.  Immediate transfer of thermo-kinetic energy to soft target tissues and standing fluids rated at greater than 95% with high speed liquid to vapor thermal expansion.  High duration of residual thermal effects noted in hard surfaces struck by plasma fire.  Explosive displacement of up to one cubic meter of material may result from bolt impact with material having trapped water or water vapor inside (porous rock, concrete, masonry, etc.) with lethal spall out to one point five meters from point of explosive decoupling of material cohesive structure.

 

DAMAGE INDEX:

Consistent Damage Index of  100 / 4.2 representing at effective range the 3 mm x 200mm bolt will penetrate 100 cm of standard ballistic gelatin with a wound channel radiating out 4.2 cm from the point of impact narrowing from that radius in accordance with depth and tensile strength of target material as the bolt loses temperature and velocity.  This index rating does not take into account any standing liquids such as water or blood that may be encountered as such liquids will be instantaneously vaporized thus greatly increasing the wound channel radius through flash heating causing high velocity steam expansion and lethal bursting of soft tissues over a large volume of body area.

HISTORY-    

SKYNET filled its need for a light anti-personnel plasma gun with the M18A2 series weapon system, built on late 2nd Gen / early 3rd Gen plasma weapon technology..  Compact and high powered, the M18A2 served as the main high energy weapon system for many of SKYNET's integrated anti-intruder perimeter and installation defense systems as well as the primary offensive ranged weapon of the smaller series of HK units like the scuttlers and the runnerpods, among others.  From the start of research and later at the beginning of production, the M18A2 series weapon was intended to be anti-personnel or rather anti-human in nature of design and operation.  SKYNET had long since witnessed the Resistance capture, reverse engineer and later turn its own weapons and technology against it and its designs.  By creating a high gain, low yield plasma gun, SKYNET in effect created an ideal weapon for its forces; something that was effective against humans but not very effective against the main elements of its deployed forces.  The M18A2 was designed to be highly effective against unarmored or lightly armored targets, striking with better lethality than a .44 magnum handgun round but offering carbine or light rifle accuracy and range.  Special damping fields allowed the weapon to be stabilized so that recoil was negligible and it could be fired on the move, even at most units maximum ground speed.

It was inevitable that the M18A2 would fall into Resistance hands and be used in an anti-machine role, SKYNET foresaw this outcome during the early design process of the weapon, but by making the energy weapon primarily an anti-personnel weapon from the outset, mainly effective against "soft" targets, SKYNET limited the power that could be channeled into the design, thereby limiting the weapon's anti-machine role (and limiting the ability of the Resistance to turn the weapon on its own creator).  The M18A2 series of plasma weapons enjoyed far more success when wielded by SKYNET's units than when wielded by Resistance forces.  The M18A2 could still be effective in an anti-machine role, but it was generally only used in such a role when multiple units could be brought to bear on a single target and then only at close range.  When salvaged from a machine and reinstalled in a pistol based stock, the M18A2 made an excellent personal defense weapon in the hands of the Resistance.  Although the weapon could draw the same processed fuel and energy to replenish its charge cell, the small nature of the charge cell meant that it was incompatible with other plasma weapons, being proprietary in nature and design to the M18A2 series weapon exclusively.

The first recorded field use of the M18A2 series weapon was when the Resistance encountered the air mobile / air deployable "mini-hunters" that became the prevalent rapid fatigue automated hunter killer units from 2008 A.D. to 2020 A.D.

 

 

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