Continental Arsenal MRG-8

We made this weapon to engage everything, so I'm bloody engaging everything with it!

— Anonymous mercenary, 367

The Continental Arsenal MRG-8 is a 52mm (52x115mm) multi-role coilgun designed and manufactured by Continental Arsenal. It is used extensively by the Vestan Defense Forces on vehicles, ships, aircrafts and defensive emplacements, and is one of the most common weapon found on military vehicles. It is the main armament of the Warden IFV as well as several other vehicle and aircrafts. The MRG-8 is meant to engage a multitude of targets thanks to its high rate of fire and accuracy. From infantry to aircrafts, the MRG-8 has the capability to engage and destroy them.

Designed in 320, the MGR-8 was meant to be as universal as possible, serving as the main armament of most of the VDF's vehicles. With excellent performances in its trials, the MRG-8 rapidly became a myth in the military, known as the perfect gun that required low maintenance and could engage almost any target. As the doctrines of the time favored speed and mobility in place of armor, the MGR-8 was well suited to modern conflicts, and its mass production left the price relatively low. The only major disadvantage of the MGR-8 was its low armor penetration against heavily armored targets.

Design

The MRG-8 is a magazine-fed dual feed coilgun built around an array of 16 superconducting coils in a similar fashion to the HVC-78. Like the HVC-78 it is based on, the number of coils powered for each shot is configurable, allowing the MRG-8 to adjust its muzzle velocity to match the ammunition it fires. This makes it capable of direct and indirect fire, a feat only matched by the larger AGS-51. With a rate of fire of 180 rounds per minutes, the MRG-8 is cooled by a resilium-graphene thermal sleeve and an integrated liquid cooling system.

Placeholder by Negev1812

General Characteristics

Type

Multi-role coilgun

Place of origin

Vesta

In service

322-present

Used by

Vestan Defense Forces

Specifications

Mass

3 600 kg

Length

7.6 m

Caliber

52x115mm

Muzzle velocity

2 130 m/s

Effective range

8.6 km

Rate of fire

120 rds/min

History

The MRG-8 was designed in 320 as the go-to weapon for vehicles of the GDF. As such, it was meant to be usable in all conditions against a wide variety of threats, from infantry to aircrafts, without changing any components. While the design met these optimistic requirements, the wide range of ammunition to use for each target type was deemed unpractical, leading the weapon to be used as a simple autocannon. The standard loadout of most vehicles would be using armor piercing and explosive shells, while some more specialized vehicles would carry more specialized ammunition against aircrafts or as artillery pieces.

Operators

Vestan Ground Defense Force

The main operators of the MRG-8 are the Vestan Defense Forces, especially the Ground Defense Force. The weapon can be found on a multitude of vehicles, ships and aircrafts as the standard autocannon used against most threats. Some rarer vehicles also use the MRG-8 as an artillery gun or as an anti-aircraft gun, although these variants are uncommon.

Private Military Companies

The MRG-8's versatility was quickly employed by private military companies. These civilian owners found many uses for the MRG-8's export variant, using in on multi-role vehicles that provided direct and indirect fire support to fiel teams around the world.