Magnetic Accelerator Cannon

A magnetic accelerator cannon (colloquially "MAC") is a "super" weapon developed by the New Republic. The first prototype was demonstrated around 16 ABY, and the first working model was installed aboard the Krayli's Valour.^(ref) By 33 ABY, these weapons were widely used aboard New Republic dreadnoughts.^(ref)

Operation

A magnetic accelerator cannon is a magnetically-driven "rail gun" that operates by accelerating a large, metal slug (usually of durasteel) to a significant fraction of the speed of light. The slug's extremely high relativistic energy provides an shield- and armour-piercing projectile. The damage dealt is both specific, as a result of the projectile's ability to penetrate to a specific, vulnerable point (usually the target ship's main reactor), and systemic, as a result of the immense amount of energy transfered to the structure of the target vessel as the slug shears structural members. The former effect usually prompts a secondary explosion of the ship's power systems as reactor containment is lost and hypermatter fuel is vented.

Specific Installations

Krayli's Valour

The first working model was commissioned aboard the Valour-class prototype, later named the Krayli's Valour, in 17 ABY. This version fired 200 metric tonne round durasteel slugs, about 1 meter in diameter and 40 meters in length. These slugs were accelerated to approximately 80% of the speed of light, yielding a relativistic energy in excess of 30 trillion gigajoules (8,000 gigatons of TNT).

Drawbacks

The primary limiting factor in the Valour-class installation was power distribution and storage. Miniaturization of large-scale reactors as those found aboard the Death Star platforms was still in its early stages, and the Valour-class required upwards of 30 minutes at full steam, and over 2.5 hours in combat configuration, to prepare a shot. Additionally, energy routing and storage facilities of the time were limited, and the ship's capacitors would quickly overheat. If a charge was not dissipated in a timely fashion, the ship faced system-wide damage to the power distribution system, and eventually a failure of the energy capacitors which would result in an explosion that would destroy the entire ship.

Ackbar

In 33 ABY, the New Republic flagship, Nobility-class Star Destroyer Ackbar, was fitted with the most powerful MAC of its time.