OCC-4 "Sungazer" Torpedo
The OCC-4 torpedo, nicknamed the 'Sungazer,' is a type of guided torpedo designed to be launched en mass from the cells of space cruisers like the Tetrain and Dolo Classes. Nimble, compact, and capable of multiple damaging effects simultaneously, Sungazers are rightly feared by raiders throughout the Cobalt Protectorate sphere of influence.
Mechanics & Inner Workings
Sungazers are named as such because they are said to resemble large eyeballs. The Sungazer's spherical shape is part of what makes it so nimble, as this minimizes its moment of inertia and allows each weapon to be pre-oriented towards a target by a system of rails and casters within the missile cell containing it.
The outer jacket of a sungazer contains fuel cells layered such that, as they are expended in accelerating the torpedo towards the target, the loss of weight changes the torpedo's center of mass as little as possible. The rocket motor of the sungazer has a plug nozzle to allow for better thrust vectoring and uses a proprietary pressurized bipropellant mixture.
The OCC-4 comes in two varieties depending on resource availability and the desired level of force to be used against the target. Both varieties feature submunitions which can be aimed independently of the torpedo fuselage in the moments before impact, allowing the weapon to strike in concentrated or diffuse pattern as required by the gunner. Sungazers can be thrown free of a vehicle and immediately sent after a target or left in an orbit as loitering munitions. The computer systems aboard all the sungazers in a complement are networked together in the manner of a drone swarm; when launched in a volley, each can observe the effects of its fellows and automatically adjust its yield or targeting to inflict maximum damage on the target.
The OCC-4c is a simple high explosive shaped charge with hardened tungsten flechettes as submunitions. A backing plate in the OCC-4c can be extended forward or backward along these flechettes to vary their spread in the manner of a shotgun choke. Some flechettes are solid througout for maximum penetration, while others are actually numerous finer needles bound together by a softer metal for maximum stopping power. This variant of the sungazer is less damaging overall, tending to puncture hulls and vent out the fuel or atmosphere within, but is much faster than the OCC-4n (see below) because its warhead is lighter and there is more room for rocket fuel inside. Sometimes, this reduced damage is preferable from an operational standpoint, such as when the objective is to capture the target relatively intact rather than destroying it outright. Point defense systems are less likely to intercept an OCC-4c volley, but targets can more easily evade the submunitions of the OCC-4c if it is detonated prematurely.
The OCC-4n is a type of 'cassaba howitzer,' a nuclear fission shaped charge capped with a combination of neutron-opaque metal powder and several independantly-actuated rods of laser media. The explosive yield of a typical OCC-4n is around one kiloton, although more or less powerful fission cores may be used depending on resource availability. A detonating OCC-4n pelts a target first with beams of coherent x-rays, then a wave of metallic plasma, then finally with the case-hardened fragments of its forward fuselage. This sustained onslaught is difficult to effectively evade and inflicts ruinous damage on vehicles, structures, and organic crew caught in the blast, but the mass of the OCC-4n's components mean that the torpedo is slower than it's OCC-4c variant.
Significance
Sungazers are typically packed into general purpose modules modified to serve as munitions packages. These GPMs have channels which mate with missile cells on the ship into which they have been installed, as was the case with the CKV Mercury Sable.
Item type
Weapon, Explosive
Owning Organization
Rarity
Sungazers are mass-produced aboard orbital fortresses and star carriers, but are generally only made available to military spacecraft.
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