Project ION BLAST

Project ION BLAST was a failed human attempt at creating a "plasma laser" weapon, that focused plasma similarly to the the process used in the Particle Beam Rifle. The idea was that the dense, uncontained plasma, moving at high speed, would burn through armor more effectively than less dense, but contained plasma utilized in Covenant weapons. Unfortunately, the Project found that either the weapon drained too much battery power to be feasible, or not enough plasma was focused on the target to be useful. However, Tiers 3 and 4 saw success as Anti Shield weapons. There were 5 tiers to Project ION BLAST:
*Tier 1: A pistol sized weapon, however its battery only contained enough power for one shot, which was low power enough that it could kill an unarmored target within 50 meters with a lucky shot, but could not do much beyond that.
*Tier 2: A shotgun Style weapon, it fired several beams of plasma, but was unable to kill at any range beyond 10-20 meters for an armored target, or 70 meters for an unarmored target. Its battery only held 4 shots.
*Tier 3: An Assault Rifle style weapon, it was designed to fire 12 shot batteries. It was found not to be lethal at ranges past 50 meters for unarmored targets, but it also had plasma pistol style shield draining effects on shields out to 600 meters. This lead to its production and use alongside the M90 as a weapon for CQC teams, with one member carrying the M72 SDPR, or Shield-Draining Plasma Rifle, as it was designated, to down enemy shields and allow other members of the team to finish them off.
*Tier 4: Tier 4 was built off of the successful role given to Tier 3, It was a sniper rifle with a 5 shot battery, and shield draining effects out to 2300m. It was usually fitted with a HUD linked 3-15x zoom scope. It was, unfortunately, ineffective at killing enemies at ranges past 200 meters.
*Tier 5: Tier 5 was perhaps the most ambitious, and most effective in its design niche of all of the Tiers. It was designed as a replacement for the Spartan Laser. At this it failed, though it succeeded in becoming a good anti tank weapon. It was able to fire 4 shots, and each shot was capable of piercing the frontal armor of a Wraith, and the plasma bloom resulting from the impact of the plasma with the armor was able to disintegrate the front half of a wraith tank. However, it was more expensive than the Spartan Laser, and like the M465D, it was put on hold indefinately, pending cooperation from Sangheili Weapons Masters with plasma technology.
Category:Weapons