Warp Gun / Micro Warp Gun Replacement for the main torpedo launchers. Uses similar technology as used in warp propulsion for ships to create a temporary warp field around a magnetically suspended projectile. The entire design is based on a technique called a 'high-intensity warp pulse', which is an instantaneous discharge of warp energy from a pair of field-saturated nacelles (or in this case, energy from field-saturated emitters). It can launch various types of projectiles at speeds reaching warp 9.98 (if adequate power is used). Warp sustainer engines on the projectile 'catch' the field and keep it stable. The Warp Gun can be used when the ship (or station, etc) is in sublight or warp velocities (or stationary). Warp 1 is the standard setting while higher settings require more power and more warp field emitter charge time. Emitters on the outside of the launch tube continue to generate the warp field around the projectile launcher. The Warp Gun is larger than a standard torpedo launch tube to handle various sized of projectiles (including quantum and tri-cobalt torpedoes). The Warp Gun can launch at the same rate of speed of a standard torpedo launcher (that is, without the torpedo launcher's annoying cool-down time). Up to 10 photon torpedoes (or similar-sized projectiles) can be launched at once--the individual devices generally take over after they are 15 km away from the launcher but can take over at a 150 m distance. This can be effective when a torpedo 'spread' is required, but also when all torpedoes are to hit at once in a single area (torpedoes don't separate from one-another in flight). If the projectile is intended to go further than 15 km from the ship without coasting (the limit of the external field emitters), the projectile must have a warp sustainer engine. The intended benefits of the Warp Gun are as follows: Increased variability in payload Extremely increased speed, and thus, impact velocity Increased range Extremely increased versatility in when torpedoes can be used (speed of starship and cooling of the launcher are both irrelevant) The Warp Gun takes up more space than a standard launcher and has 2 loading elevators (1 top, 1 bottom) and no reactant injector systems (if using photon torpedoes, reactants must be injected beforehand). The Micro Warp Gun (for 13.3 cm Micro Photon / Micro Quantum and other torpedoes) is the same, only smaller, for small craft such as runabouts and larger shuttlecraft. |