Barrett announces 25mm man-portable assault cannon in testing

Sound cool? There's more...

"For some long-range sniper missions, a .50 caliber (12.7mm) round just
isn’t big enough. The Barrett company, which pioneered the development of the
modern .50 caliber sniper rifle, has now built a 25mm sniper rifle (although
shoulder cannon may be a more precise term), the XM109. Ten prototype weapons
are being made available for testing this month. Designed to destroy light
armor, the XM109 is a semi-automatic 25mm rifle that has a 17.6 inch long barrel
and an overall length of 46 inches. It weighs in at 46 pounds and has a 5 round
magazine. In comparison, the Barrett M107 .50 caliber sniper rifle in general
use today has a 29 inch barrel, overall length of 57 inches, and weighs in at a
mere 32 pounds, with a magazine capacity of 10 rounds...

Effective distance armor piercing “lethality” for the rifle is listed at
2000 meters. The 25mm round is derivative design from the AH-64 Apache
helicopter’s M789 high-explosive dual purpose (good against armor and personnel)
30mm ammunition and will penetrate at least 50 millimeters of armor plating,
making it capable of destroying light armored vehicles, SCUD launchers, and
other equipment. According to the ammunition manufacturer, the 25mm round is 2.5
times more effective at destroying targets than a .50 caliber armor-piercing
round. At some point the system will also be integrated to use 25mm airburst
ammunition designed for the OCWS."


What's that in HERO terms?

The gun is listed as being able to penetrate 50mm of armor plate.
According to the 5th Rules Edition, 64mm of Medium armor is Def 13 and 9 Body, so it needs to do 22 Body. Assuming average results, that's a 6d6 RKA... or more likely 4d6 AP RKA. It's going to need increased range to be able to shoot out to 2000 meters. And then 2 clips of 5 charges.

4d6 AP RKA, Increased Maximum range (105 points Active), 2 clips of 5
Charges, OAF, Real Weapon, Beam. Total cost: 35 points (the real cost
will drop once we can figure out the STR min this beast should have).

Add BORS +14 penalty levels with range (42 points active), OAF, Real
weapon. Total Cost: 19 points.

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