Latest revision as of 10:05, 11 June 2012

UFOpaedia Entry

Proposal

TO: Base Commander, PHALANX, Atlantic Operations Command

FROM: Cdr. Paul Navarre, R&D: Engineering Division, PHALANX, Atlantic Operations Command

DATE: %02i %s %i

SUB: Proposal: Laser Pistol

This is one of several proposals I'm submitting for the research and development of new laser weaponry. Each of these will have to be developed separately due to the size differences, power levels and complexity of the systems involved.

Our notes on Continuous Wave Laser Operation have produced a lot of designs, and this is possibly the most difficult one to bring into reality: a deuterium-fluoride laser weapon the size of an ordinary pistol.

The difficulty in making this a reality will be to get the parts small enough and light enough so that they will:

1) Fit into a pistol-sized package, and 2) Be light enough to aim and fire one-handed.

As always, it's going to be a tradeoff between size and power, but with enough work I believe we can indeed build a functioning laser pistol. We're just waiting for your authorisation, Commander.

--Cdr. Navarre

Result

TO: Base Commander, PHALANX, Atlantic Operations Command

FROM: Cdr. Paul Navarre, R&D: Engineering Division, PHALANX, Atlantic Operations Command

DATE: %02i %s %i

SUB: Re: Laser Pistol

Commander, I apologise in advance if my typing isn't up to standard in this message. We've had a lot of sleepless nights down here in DivEngine working on the laser pistol project. It's been a gruelling amount of work, but I'm very proud to say that we've pulled it off. We have prototyped a working laser pistol.

The system is essentially the same as the one I've outlined for you in my report on Continuous Wave Laser Operation. Excited molecules of deuterium fluoride are lased and focused through a series of intelligent lenses. Waste gases are put through our custom filtering system, which we've scaled down even further. However, the reduced capacity of the filtering system and the smaller optical resonator have demanded some tradeoffs.

The laser pistol can only lase deuterium-fluoride at about half the rate as our old Continuous Wave Laser prototype. Naturally this produces only a weaker beam, doing less damage than a larger weapon. It requires a period of continuous exposure -- several seconds at least -- for the beam to inflict enough damage to kill an unarmoured target. Armour will complicate the issue even further. Still, as long as the target isn't obscured or immune to highly-focused light or heat, the laser will burn through anything given enough time.

All the usual advantages of laser weaponry are present in the pistol. It's very quick to fire, and if the soldier misses his target at first, he can adjust his aim without letting go of the trigger. The weapon can send out Wave Fire, a short burst, or switched to a Pulse Fire mode for a more sustained and deadly beam.

We've designed the pistol to use the standard deuterium-fluoride cartridges which we've drawn up to power all of our laser weaponry. This means it uses the same amount of D-F as the larger designs, but uses it up at a much lower rate, effectively giving the laser pistol more ammunition than any of our other laser weapons.

As with all handguns, the laser pistol is strictly a backup weapon. It isn't powerful enough to compete with rifles of any kind. On the other hand, its range is quite impressive for a handgun.

We will need to have at least one D-F Cartridge on hand at all times in order to be able to load and use a laser pistol.

--Cdr. Navarre

Damage Type

laser

Skill

close

Links

Stat Suggestions

(This information for reference only; do not translate or include in-game.)

Pro:

1) High accuracy.

2) Quick-firing.

3) Large magazine.

Con:

1) Very low damage.

2) Cannot shoot through smoke/gas/fire.

Research Tree Data