Ship ordnance is categorised into two types - energy guns and missiles. Guns include all multiple-fire blasters that draw energy from a ship's reserves to function. Missiles, on the other hand, include all single-shot munitions, both dumb-mechanism warheads and those equipped with targeting systems.
Ionic Pulse Cannon
Name | Ionic Pulse Cannon |
Penetration | 30 du |
Energy | 30 nJ |
Range | 4500 k |
Refire Delay | 0.35 sec |
Found mainly on fighters and also used as an anti-fighter gun, the ion cannon imparts energy and radiation damage to targets. Charged atomic particles are magnetically accelerated to high speeds, then discharged in pulses. This cannon delivers more damage than a laser and can cause severe pilot injuries. However, the ion cannon has higher energy consumption and a slower retire rate than the laser.
Laser Cannon
Name | Laser Cannon |
Penetration | 18 du |
Energy | 10 nJ |
Range | 5000 k |
Refire Delay | 0.25 sec |
The laser is the backbone of today's energy guns. Consistently improved upon and perfected over the last half-century, the laser provides the standard against which most other blasters are judged. Low maintenance and a low energy cost make it standard armament for almost every ship in existence. The laser is ideally suited to deep-space combat (in atmospheric conditions, rays refract and lose their effectiveness), and has no effect against shields on larger ships.
Name | Mass Driver Cannon |
Penetration | 35 du |
Energy | 12 nJ |
Range | 2000 k |
Refire Delay | 0.30 sec |
A solid gun in either case, the mass driver cannon is common on both fighters and light defender ships in the fleet. It uses a linear accelerator to fire projectiles of metallic mass at a target. The mass driver is a staple in the Terran arsenal and has even been used against planets and asteroids. A long-range gun, it requires less energy per shot than most blasters and has a relatively fast retire rate.
Name | Meson Blaster |
Penetration | 35 du |
Energy | 8 nJ |
Range | 4500 k |
Refire Delay | 0.40 sec |
The meson blaster is a unique, powerful gun that utilises subatomic particles with a short half-life. These particles, called mesons, are accelerated and flung toward a target. The most damage occurs once the particles decay inside the target - they cause internal explosions and give off radiation. Energised shields can stop these particles, and atmospheric conditions render this gun ineffective.
Name | Neutron Gun |
Penetration | 40 du |
Energy | 20 nJ |
Range | 2500 k |
Refire Delay | 0.40 sec |
The neutron gun was specifically created as a weapon for medium and heavy fighters when the war first began. It releases energized blasts of charged neutrons, drawing more power then the mass driver or the laser. For the majority of the past two decades, no other energy blaster was able to provide an equivalent level of destructive capability. The down side is that neutron guns heat up rapidly and eat up power at an alarming rate. The neutron gun's lack of range has led many foolhardy and underskilled pilots into close-quarter combat for which they were ill-prepared; some never made it home.
Recently Terran scientists have been able to come up with new energy weapons with more hitting power, longer range and less power drain, in effect making neutron guns all but obsolete. As of right now, Confed is in the process of now retiring all neutron guns in service and replacing them with particle cannons.
Name | Particle Cannon |
Penetration | 43 du |
Energy | 22 nJ |
Range | 4200 k |
Refire Delay | 0.35 sec |
The particle cannon is perhaps the most significant energy technology we possess. Prototypes were first developed three years into the war, when a similar cannon was extracted from a captured Kilrathi fighter. Engineers built a comparable version capable of hurling minute nuclear particles at high speeds. Any impact results in a small nuclear explosion that gives off blast, heat and radiation damage. This gun is useless, however, in atmospheric conditions.
Photon Cannon
Name | Photon Cannon |
Penetration | 32 du |
Energy | 30 nJ |
Range | 4500 k |
Refire Delay | 0.45 sec |
When Terran forces first went to war, the photon cannon was the most popular gun next to the standard laser. It emits laser pulses and solicits similar effects upon impact. However, the photon cannon drains more energy and has a slower refire rate. This gun requires little maintenance - the mirror robotics are the only adjustable component - and functions best in deep-space combat.
Name | Plasma Gun |
Penetration | 67 du |
Energy | 44 nJ |
Range | 3000 k |
Refire Delay | 0.50 sec |
The plasma gun was originally developed to attack heavy fighters and corvettes with light armor. It uses electrically charged hydrogen molecules that are in a state of near-fusion. These molecules are similar to those found in the inner plasma of most young stars. Upon impact, plasma projectiles cause radiation, blast and heat damage.
Reaper Cannon
Name | Reaper Cannon |
Penetration | 35 du |
Energy | 17 nJ |
Range | 4500 k |
Refire Delay | 0.30 sec |
The reaper cannon evolved from the standard ion cannon, and its refire rate is slightly faster. This gun delivers high-speed pulses of charged atomic particles that give off energy and radiation damage. Fighters find this gun especially useful against ships with shields that regenerate quickly, and any ship with slow shield generation is sure to take damage.
Name | Tachyon Cannon |
Penetration | 70 du |
Energy | 40 nJ |
Range | 3200 k |
Refire Delay | 0.35 sec |
A power-hungry blaster, the tachyon gun is the most devastating energy gun found on Terran fighters. It slows down tachyon particles, which naturally travel faster than the speed of light. Once these particles ore decelerated and forced into streams, their potential damage increases monumentally. In several documented cases, the powerful tachyon gun has been used to attack the shields of capital ships.
Anti-Ship Missile
Name | Torpedo |
Speed | 1000 k/s |
Maneuverability | 20 dps |
Duration | 14 sec |
Lock Time | 12 sec |
Penetration | 8000 |
A mainstay in both Terran and Kilrathi fleets, the torpedo is a large, maneuverable warhead used against capital ships and bases. It has a built-in image-recognition system that locks onto the target, and even laser turrets can't shoot it down. Although the lock time is longer than that of any other missile, the torpedo is the only fighter weapon that can easily destroy carriers.
Dumb-Fire (DF) Missile
Name | Dart |
Speed | 3000 k/s |
Maneuverability | 0 dps |
Duration | 3 sec |
Lock Time | 0 sec |
Penetration | 800 |
A simple weapon, the Dart dumbfire (DF) missile is a point-and-shoot weapon carried on almost every fighter in the Terran fleet. It is unjammable due to the absence of guidance systems, and costs less than any other missile type. The dumbfire doesn't require any type of lock and has no homing capability. Pilots find it most useful against targets with predictable reactions - at close range, a single dumbfire can diminish shields enough to plant a few devastating shots from an energy gun.
Heat-Seeking (HS) Missile
Name | Javelin |
Speed | 2000 k/s |
Maneuverability | 80 dps |
Duration | 5 sec |
Lock Time | 2 sec |
Penetration | 400 |
The Javelin heat-seeker (HS) is an inexpensive, simple weapon that has served in various armed forces since the late 1900s. The engines of fighters and capital ships generate significant heat, a fact that the HS uses to its advantage. The operation is simple - the missile tracks down the thermal signature of the target's engines. This requires the lock to be acquired from the rear. Heat-seekers, along with dumbfire missiles, are the most common missile carried on fighters.
Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) Missile
Name | Pilum |
Speed | 1200 k/s |
Maneuverability | 80 dps |
Duration | 20 sec |
Lock Time | 0 sec |
Penetration | 250 |
The Pilum friend-or-foe (FF) missile was developed once ship systems were able to distinguish between friendly and enemy ships. Capable of identifying the distinctive Confederation ship signal, it makes a beeline for the nearest ship that isn't broadcasting that signal. This has resulted in the destruction of several Terran ships whose communications systems were damaged. In spite of this inherent danger, both sides continue to use the FF as standard armament for medium and heavy fighters. This missile doesn't require a lock, and it will acquire a new target if the current one is destroyed before detonation.
Image Recognition (IR) Missile
Name | Spiculum |
Speed | 1600 k/s |
Maneuverability | 80 dps |
Duration | 15 sec |
Lock Time | 1 sec |
Penetration | 350 |
The Spiculum image-recognition (IR) missile uses computer imaging to identify and "memorise" a targeted ship. Once a fighter gains a lock and launches the IR, electronic and visual signatures specific to that target are copied to the missile's AI program. It's difficult to evade.