Demolisher cannon

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The Demolisher Cannon is a short-range, large-bore direct fire cannon mounted on various Imperial vehicles, but most commonly on the Baneblade, Leman Russ Demolisher and Vindicator. Primarily designed with siege, urban, and bunker-busting warfare in mind, the cannon has also been known to be of great use against enemy vehicles and infantry, destroying both with equal ease.[1][4a][4b]

Overview

A Vindicator equipped with a Demolisher cannon.

The Demolisher Cannon fires siege shells weighing 350 pounds,[7] special ammunition much larger than that used in the Battle Cannon, allowing it to punch through layers of concrete and plasteel alike. A Demolisher shell is constructed with an outer layer of standard high explosive and shrapnel, which surrounds a chemical core. Upon impact, the explosive layer detonates, punching a hole in the enemy's armour and spreading shrapnel over a wide area. It also starts a chemical reaction in the core, causing it to super-heat into a jet of plasma, which lances through the compromised armour, spreading molten death over a wide area and literally ripping the target from the inside out. The tremendous recoil produced by firing the cannon is capable of lifting the front end of a tank off the ground and, were it fired while moving, risk causing it to roll over.[1] A Demolisher shell has the strength to topple armoured fortress gates, tear open bunkers made from reinforced ferrocrete[7] and is so massive, its weight alone could crush a tank and the force of its blast can atomise the most heavily armed target, leaving only a crater.[6] Its immediate lethal blast-radius is estimated to be at around forty yards. Due to the balloon effect and overpressure shock the Demolisher Cannon can even inflict kills up to three times this distance.[7] However, the cannon has an effective range of one kilometre,[3] limiting its utility to short-ranged combat such as urban and siege warfare.[1][4a] At point-blank range even the tank the Demolisher Cannon was fired from will sustain damage and its crew will most likely suffer from burst blood vessels, ruptured eardrums, severe nosebleeds and even more serious consequences.[7]

The Demolisher Cannon used by Vindicators fires a special siege shell, consisting of an armour-piercing tip, heavy shell casing and a massive explosive charge micro-fused to allow penetration of a building or bunker before detonating.[5] The siege shell is launched thanks to an on-board rocket engine, which uses solid propellant shaped to control its time and rate of burn for maximum accuracy. In order to avoid the build-up of rocket blast-back, this gas is vented when the cannon is fired to prevent the barrel from deforming or bursting from over-pressure. The sheer size and mass of the shell, however, reduces its stowage capacity and accuracy over long ranges, even with fin stabilisation and booster burns.[2a][2b] As such it is also limited to being used for destroying enemy fortifications and fighting in close-quarters combat such as jungle warfare.[2a][2b][4b]

See also

Sources

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