Improved Heavy Gauss Rifle

Description
Work on the Improved Heavy Gauss Rifle began in 3061 after the Heavy Gauss Rifle entered production. Though the Heavy Gauss Rifle was mostly effective, engineers thought they could improve the ballistic performance of the projectile. This would lead to a more consistent damage profile, making the Improved Heavy Gauss Rifle effective at all ranges. After four years of work, the engineers had created a weapon that occupied the same amount of space as the Heavy Gauss Rifle but was able to inflict consistent damage at all ranges. The Improved Heavy Gauss Rifle inflicts 10% more damage than an Autocannon/20, and occupies as much space as the standard Heavy Gauss Rifle. The minimum engagement range has also been reduced by 25%. In most other respects, the Improved Heavy Gauss Rifle functions like a Heavy Gauss Rifle.

In order to get this improved damage profile the engineers had to make a few compromises. The first is the Improved Heavy Gauss Rifle's weight. At 20 tons, it weighs as much as a Wasp or Stinger, and seriously limits the units that can carry it into battle. Though the damage inflicted by the slug is consistent across all ranges, it doesn't inflict as much damage at short range as the Heavy Gauss Rifle's slug. In addition, like all Gauss weapons, the capacitors that charge the Improved Heavy Gauss Rifle are fragile and will explode if hit by enemy weapon fire. These capacitors also require so much energy that they can only be charged by a fission or fusion engine. The Improved Heavy Gauss Rifle also inflicts a great deal of structural stress when it fires; This limits the Improved Heavy Gauss Rifle to torso locations on BattleMechs or hull mountings on combat vehicles, as the recoil and stress would rip the arm or turret off the vehicle. These immense forces also destabilize the unit, making it more difficult to operate in combat.

The weapon's status as an Experimental Weapon would end just as the Jihad would officially end, and would enter regular production by 3081 and become a standard technology in the Inner Sphere.

Models
The Improved Heavy Gauss Rifle is manufactured on the following planets: