NationStates Jolt Archive

PCC Reveals Newest Technology, Ten Years Later
PCC Technology Newsline

The PrattCo Conglomerate, in typically close cooperation with Groovelico Fashion Electric (GFE), revealed today to the international press that the latest technologies in Santa Barbara now "officially" include the GFE-4052 Heavy Electromagnetic Weaon (HEMW). The first prototypes were built ten years ago(August 6 RL, according to the year/day timeline), and are already said to be outdated compared to the latest weapons research breakthroughs.

Officials stated that the HEMW is designed with an anti-ship or anti-orbital role in mind. Its exact capabilities and dimensions are still being withheld from the general public, but Eric Love, Director for the PCCIDG, had this to say:

"The heavy EM gun, or more correctly coaxial accelerated stator coil gun or CASCG, works on a similar principle to the now-standardized counterparts in just about any modern nation or university. Although our electromagnetic research got off to a somewhat slow start, it has rapidly accelerated with the increased funding from the very generous Santa Barbarian government. The weapon, well the weapon itself has a barrel length of only 4 meters, which according to our technologies makes the projectile difficult to slow down or customize its speed. It just comes whooping out of there."

In prototype testing, the gun was used to destroy both M1A1 tanks and their Santa Barbarian grandchildren, the SCI-9 Enforcer. Reports indicate that the head of the WMUA project was suitably impressed with the "outstanding results" against armored vehicles.

In later testing the weapon proved to be capable of piercing even "large amounts" of metallic, matrix, ceramic and composite armor. The GFE 4053 is to be the first of a line of new EMW being developed, all for the purpose of what the ITDO troops call "rock shooting," or defense against very large, heavily armored space and naval craft.
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[OOC: Nations with *extremely* good spy technology (and the motive to have been using it against the PCC) will, if they search hard, discover that the GFE 4052 fires a 10 kilogram depleted-uranium armor-penetrating rod, and has a rate of fire of at least 20 rounds per minute. Spies will also hear rumors about the weapons defensive capabilities being able to basically incinerate tanks, sink any conventional naval craft, and punch through spaceships like swiss cheese.]

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OOC: I don't think so. A few other nations will know about it, Whispering Voices and Austrin-Ontis, among others. Plans for it haven't been released to anybody and are highly confidential. If you can pull a spy satellite record from the exact date 10ish years ago, you'd note the involvement of 500 M1 tanks moving to a testing facility and never returning. However the testing, the weapon, and most anything else wouldn't have been observable by this method as the testing occurred underground.

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PCC Tests New Electromagnetic Weapon
PCC Newsline

At 400 meters long, the Groovelico Fashion Electric model 4070 is larger than all its predecessors. It is designed with effectiveness against very large attacking ships, orbital and naval crafts in mind. With its large size it is not fit at all for ground vehicle mounting, but may be suited for orbital vehicles.

In operation, hundreds of these will be built and located strategically to provide maximum firepower, with the intention of knocking any approaching hostile ships out of the sky or sea like rag dolls with 10 ton ultraheavy projectiles moving at several thousand meters per second.

In testing the 4070 has proven itself well enough to bolster research into the field of electromagnetic weaponry. The device was able to penetrate and destroy test ships built of the latest composite armor created in microgravity research facilities.

(OOC: Same deal as above regarding spies. In this case, you'd discover the gun fires only once every ten minutes and can heat targets up to 1466 degrees Kelvin, and deal 121,647 mJ of kinetic energy.)

OOC: Most spaceships are made of swiss cheese...or the equivalent. *grin*

When the first weapon was revealed, was its size revealed?

Wazzu was not physically spying on Santa Barbara, and though its satelite network is top-notch, it certainly could not see what was going on underground. It may have noted tanks disappearing underground, but SB is not a priority threat (in Wazzu's eyes) and there are soooooo many nations to see out there. If any tech observed anything, it was flagged, stored on disk, and never viewed again.

The previous gun was described has having a 4-meter barrel. However, the size of the overall system or the generators/capacitors needed to power it was never revealed (OOC: Because I don't really know :oops: ) for security purposes.

Perhaps in anticipation, Whispering Voices has begun to perfect seismic dampeners (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=62416&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0) suitable for use in the construction of large coilgun emplacements. Initial tests are due to begin very soon.

Santa Barbara's Fleet of Tomorrow
PCC Technology Newsline

Beginning with a series of technology purchases from an undisclosed number of countries, including (but not limited to) the Evil Overlord and Whispering Voices, the Conglomerate has embarked on a massive and ambitious plan to upgrade the Naval Operations Theatre Group ships and weapons systems.

Already seen travelling the many coastlines off the mainland are the twelve Hama class TEO battleships. Large, heavy, and traditional, many considered the handover of large, classic heavy gun vessels to be nothing more than a drain on the economy. However, these are battleships with a purpose: they will be employing the very latest PCC weapons and power systems, and serving their traditional role as heavy fire support in an even greater capacity.

Going in the opposite direction, as PCC technology is often prone to do simultaneously, a new fleet of lighter, faster, advanced-hull design surface warships is currently being researched. These are hoped to eventually fully replace the Suzy Jo class destroyers and similar archaic vessel designs.

"Its really quite exciting!" exclaimed Jenna Timothy, director of the Public Assets Department. "We decided it would be best to take existing successful hull and ship systems, and then use them as a basis for our new naval weapons platforms."

With the arms manufacturing sector recently rated 40th in (and out!) the world, the production of the new ship designs, once completed, is expected to proceed very rapidly, and many civilian contractors have been lining up in anticipation of the extra work required, not only in dismantling the old fleet as it is phased out, but in getting the new constructed and operational.

Jovian "Tritium Trade" Proposal Rejected
PCC Technology Newsline

A recent ambitious plan to begin hauling loads of tritium, an isotope of hydrogen, after harvesting it from the Jovian moons and atmosphere, was cancelled today by the Chief Executive Offices.

The projects abortion was undertaken, according to PCC spokesmen, "not on account of any flaws with the concept or operation," but simply because "we have discovered a new and, in the end, much more cost-effective method."

Tritium, of course, is essential to the nations deuterium-tritium fusion thermoelectric generators, as well as to several systems in use by the OOTG. Up until recently, meson accelerators and bulk purchase have been the only means of obtaining the valuable gas.

The "new... more cost-effective method," however, is rumored to be a new industrial organism produced by Whispering Voices researchers, however PCCTNL was unable to question authorities on the issue.

Whispering Voices, in addition to using highly advanced shock absorbers to create the tunnels for extended electromagnetic devices, has recently unveiled its primary weapons : neutral PBDEWS. The em-coilguns will be used for beyond-orbit saturation attacks.

The first extended test firing was conducted today, powered by the new deuterium-tritium products of the advanced algae.

All targets, debris deployed from the New Babel space station, were instantly obliterated.

Plans are being extended.