The Strategic Hypervelocity Interplanetary Vector Artillery (or SHIVA) is a siege cannon that provide strategic bombardment capabilities above and beyond all existing artillery pieces, as well as heavy fire support. It was built in YE 39 by the Frontier Manufacturing Service, and is currently being used by the Sky Guard.

The SHIVA was designed to provide strategic heavy bombardment to USO's hodgepodge armed forces in the form of guided shells. It is deceptively accurate, and therefore useful in precision strikes. Due to the inherent hazards of operating such a weapon, all personnel within 150 meters are required to wear special environment suits whenever live ammunition is present.

• Designers: Jay Nagato, Yinsar "Mouse" Kine
• Manufacturer: Frontier Manufacturing Service, Department Of Engineering
• Name: Strategic Hypervelocity Interplanetary Vector Artillery
• Nomenclature: W3904
• Type: Superheavy rail cannon.
• Role: Heavy siege cannon/Heavy fire support.
• Size: Base: 160m diameter. Gun assembly: 100m long (Barrel: 70m), 15m high
• Mass: 3000 tonnes (3307 short tons)

The SHIVA is mounted on the SHIVA Heavy Weapons Platform. This is a huge circular platform with two sets of rails running all the way around - a smaller outer pair for transportation of ammunition, and a larger inner one for rotation of the gun assembly. Extending straight down are six stabilizing legs that are adjusted during setup to level the assembly. The gun itself is huge, with several recoil tubes on the outside of the barrel assembly as well as scaffolding along the sides to access the various parts.

• Muzzle Flash: A bright orange plume of flame, extending 10-15m straight out.
• Retort: A deafening boom, followed by a sharp 'chak' as the barrel hits full recoil and a loud hiss as exhaust gasses are vented out. The shells produce a loud sonic boom wherever they go, as they travel at several times the speed of sound.
  • Projectile Appearance: The shots appear as orange streaks when firing their rocket motors, but are much less visible without.
• Effective Range Can fire anywhere within the planet it is based on and - situationally - on other planets in the same system.
• Rate of Fire: Depends on the round to be loaded. HE is quickest at about 3 minutes, while IPS and AP take 4 or so.
• Recoil: Barrel travels 10m back, then the assembly itself travels back about 15-20m.

The SHIVA is mounted on the SHIVA Heavy Weapons Platform.

• Power: Energy is provided by two banks of 28 BW-PC-1A Plasma Core. Even so, only one bank is required to run it - the extra is redundant systems.
• Protection: The SHIVA relies mostly on existing fortifications and its own sheer power for protection.
• Traverse: Although the platform is immobile it can traverse 360°, albeit very slowly. On average, the platform takes 90 seconds to traverse 360°.

The SHIVA utilizes 112cm artillery shells with semi-active homing.

Ammunition

• High Explosive: Pretty self-explanatory. It can be set to explode above ground, or to penetrate a small amount of armour (ie a civilian-grade building) and then explode. Typical blast radius: 50m
• Armour Piercing: A rigid shell with a high explosive core, these are for use against heavy fortifications - and it does quite well in this regard.
• Interplanetary Slug: As the name implies it is capable of interplanetary bombardment, but only when the target planet is reasonably close. Essentially a cross between a space rocket and an APDS shell, it excels in penetrating heavy fortifications. However, the lack of explosive filler means they are only effective against individual targets (ex: bunker artillery, ammunition storage) or as Rods from God.
• Round Capacity: The ammunition storage shed can safely store up to 20 each of HE and AP, as well as 10 IPS.

Damage Quickchart

IMPORTANT: Slug shells deal T11 damage for interplanetary bombardment.

The SHIVA is a unique and complex beast, and therefore required a few adaptations from regular artillery.

• Loading: A small tram carries the shell from a reasonably distant ammo storage shed to the gun itself. Here the shell is linked, primed, and then finally loaded into the gun.
• Targeting: Not much aiming is required on the part of the ground crew beyond ensuring the weapon is facing in the general direction of the target. this is due to the shells' long range and homing capabilities.
  • Firing: The SHIVA accelerates projectiles through a combination of electromagnetic acceleration and rocket engines in the shells themselves.

Air Admiral created this article on 2017/05/06 17:02.