Continental Class weapon systems: Mass drivers

This node is fictional. Refer to Continental Class Space Battleships.

This system works a lot like Gauss rifles and railguns. Basically, a mass driver as installed aboard the Continental Class is a tubular framework of superconducting coils that accelerates massive metal projectiles to high speeds.

The system includes:

• Mass driver mounts
• The projectile depot
• Projectile conveyors

There are the following mass driver mounts:

• Rigid bow mount (2 parallel accelerators)
• Chin turret (ventral)
• Stern turret (ventral)
• Port turret (dorsal)
• Starboard turret (dorsal)

The Continental Class mass driver turrets are the biggest rotating turrets ever mounted on any kind of ship, be it in water or in space. This is because a mass driver is a very long and generally unwieldy weapon. Their projectiles are about the size of a family-size bottle of soda and are made of a special alloy with favorable magnetic properties and high capacity for excess heat.

The rate of fire can be set to any value up to about 1200 rounds per second per driver, but is usually kept below 300 rps. Projectile speed is usually around three kilometres per second.

The usual mission of mass-drivers, other than midrange missile defence, is simply putting as much metal as possible on paths where it will irritate the enemy. It is not uncommon for a driver to keep firing for several minutes.