Electron Beam Cannon

The Electron Beam Cannon (EBC, E-Beam) is a Stellar Age anti-ship space weapon. While surpassed by the Neutral Beam Cannon in range and effectiveness, the simplicity of the EBC has kept it relevant as a close range secondary armament for many spaceborne vessels.

Electron Beam Cannons function by stripping electrons from a plasma cloud and then accelerating them to 99% the speed of light before projecting them out through an opening magnetically. Electron beams cause structural, electronic, and biological damage through immense heat and radiation on impact.

Due to the charged nature of electrons, the EBC has issues with dispersion which greatly limits its range. Despite this, since electrons weigh very little, they can be readily accelerated to relativistic velocities compared to their heavy neutron or proton beam counterparts. Furthermore, because electrons are comparatively small, they have a higher armor piercing ability compared to other weapon types.

Due to dispersion, the EBC only has an effective range of 1 light second.

With the advent of advanced metamaterials, EBCs have trouble piercing plasteel and other composite metamats.

Compared to Neutral Beam Cannons, EBCs do very little kinetic damage, relying on extreme heat and radiation instead to cripple targets.

EBCs were the product of early space warfare trials. Missiles had extreme range but were limited, slow, and expensive. Traditional kinetics had plentiful ammunition but had an engagement range in the scale of hundreds of kilometers. The Electron Beam Cannon extended the effective range of kinetic weapons out to a light second with its relativistic speeds.

Early starship designs incorporated EBCs into the spine of the ship, allowing it as much distance to accelerate as possible before exiting the barrel. Improvements with the EBC accelerator eventually resulted in an efficient compact cyclotron which allowed EBCs to be installed into turrets.

Only a few years after the introduction of the EBC, the NBC was perfected and approved for full production, replacing the EBC as the main weapon of choice for space warfare.

Modern EBCs are energy efficient and compact, and are usually installed as an all-in-one unit on ships as point defense or a secondary battery.