First developed by the Arachnid Hegemony, the plasma gun is a short-ranged weapon system. It fires a bolt of fusing plasma that detonates in a nuclear explosion on impact. While it is possible for point defense to shoot down these plasma packets, they present an extremely difficult point defense solution due to their high velocity. The primary advantage of the plasma gun is the small size of the projector, which takes up only half as much hull space as a Force Beam or laser. They also exhibit high accuracy over their effective range, and are deadly against fighters. The primary disadvantage, other than the possibility of the bolt being intercepted by point defense, is that the launcher overheats and has to cool down between shots, giving it only half the firing rate of most other beam weapons. Despite this, the firepower of massed plasma gun batteries makes them popular with some navies, notably the Arachnids.
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