Red Viper

The Viper 3, the first viable response to the advent of fullerene armour, designed by Maytec. Light and extremely accurate due to utilising lasers*, and reliable in harsh conditions due to its comprising fullerene alloys and having no moving parts.
Initial attempts to create energy-based (laser) weapons were thwarted by the power requirements of handheld units, which had not been a problem for anti-aircraft and missile defence systems. Maytec got around this limitation by combining a patented solid crystal gain medium with Maytec's own unrivaled power cells.
*Despite popular misconception, the red beam of light emitted from the Viper is used only for targeting and is harmless. The damage of the Viper comes from intense pulses of infrared light that burn the target.
Despite its effectiveness, the Viper is not in widespread use as shiny surfaces reflect the lasers' energy, in addition to the short battery life and rather high price tag (one Viper costs the CORE the same or more as thirty M52 Goo Guns).
Retroactively renamed the "Red Viper" after the creation of the greatly upgraded Blue Viper.
Category:Weapons
Category:Maytec