Particle Projector Cannon

Description
The Particle Projector Cannon (or PPC) is an energy weapon, firing a concentrated stream of protons or ions at a target, with damage resulting from both thermal and kinetic energy. Despite being an energy weapon, it produces recoil. The lethality of the weapon rivals that of higher-caliber autocannons; just three shots from a PPC will vaporize nearly two tons of standard military-grade armor. Targets hit by multiple, simultaneous PPCs can also suffer electrical side-effects, such as overloaded computer systems or targeting sensors. The ion beam also extends to much farther ranges than autocannon fire, though PPCs generate large amounts of waste heat. The earlier prototype versions (produced between 2439 and 2460) even more so.

PPCs are equipped with a Field Inhibitor to prevent feedback which could damage the firing unit's electronic systems. This inhibitor degrades the performance of the weapon at close ranges of less than 90 meters. Particularly daring warriors have been known to disengage the inhibitor and risk damage to their own machine when a target is at close range.

Models
The PPC is manufactured on the following planets:

Ceres Arms Smasher
When mounted in the right arm of the Vindicator the weapon features an innovative cooling jacket which possesses water intake ports around the muzzle, allowing the pilot to dip the PPC into a body of water and quickly cool it, with steam exiting via a nozzle at the opposite end.

Donal
Used in the armament of the original Warhammer 6R and Battlemaster BLR-1G. Manufactured at various locations throughout the Inner Sphere and Periphery, it is distinct for the long 'barrel' and blocky power chamber.

Lord's Light
The most common PPC produced in the Draconis Combine, the Lord's Light is an exceptional noted for its compactness and flexibility, allowing it to be mounted on the right arm of 35-ton Panther while still retaining the hand.

Parti-Kill Heavy Cannon
Unlike other PPCs, the Parti-Kill Heavy Cannon does not use an energy collection capacitor or similar chamber, instead using a series of magnetic collection bottles that gather plasma straight from the 'Mech or vehicle's Fusion Reactor. The resulting energies are then channeled through a larger magnetic bottle and released from the cannon as an energy "shell" that is unstable at ranges of less than ninety meters and loses cohesion and disintegrates at 540 meters.

Tiegart
The Tiegart Particle Projection Cannon provides similar performance to the Donal PPC while being ten percent smaller. Unlike the more common Donal however, even during the Star League era Tiegart replacement parts were more scarce with fire control suffering greatly without a steady supply of parts, even with several redundancy circuits providing backup if needed. Production of the Tiegart PPC ended during the destruction of the early Succession War with designs utlizing the more compact PPC being reworked to use the more common Donal PPCs.



Variants

 * Prototype: The Mackie used an older prototype for the Particle Projector Cannon, seeing as it was equipped with one before the weapon is even introduced. According to the rules in Interstellar Operations regarding prototype energy weapons, the primary difference between the prototype and the mass production models is a considerably increased heat output (around 50% higher).
 * Improved PPC: Developed by the Clans shortly after the Exodus, the only differences between the Improved PPC and a normal PPC would be that the mass is only 6000 kilograms, and that the weapon only occupies 2 Critical Slots. All other performance characteristics remain same, and it would go on to become obsolete when the Clans perfected the ER-PPC. This weapon was also described in Interstellar Operations.
 * Light and Heavy PPCs: Developed by the Draconis Combine in 3067, the Light model significantly cut down on the size and weight of the weapon at the expense of damage output, and the Heavy model increased the damage output at the expense of increased heat and mass.
 * Snub-Nose PPC: By modifying the PPC to have a much shorter barrel and plasma focus, the Snub-Nose PPC sacrifices its maximum effective range (especially since damage starts to drop significantly as distance increases), but makes up for it by lacking a minimum range and being much better suited for close-quarters engagements. Additionally, it is actually easier for some mechs to carry these things when a regular PPC wouldn't fit.
 * ER PPC: The Extended Range Particle Projector Cannon has a much further maximum range than its ancestor, along with the additional benefit of not having a minimum range. The downside to this, however, is the increased heat output. Though the weapon became Lostech for use in the Inner Sphere, the Clans never lost the technology, and managed to make improvements.