BARD Icon BARD Icon BARD PAPER: VERA5002

| Home | Traveller | BARD | VERA |

Laser Handweapons

by Antti Lahtinen

LP-1-10 DEI The "one-ten" is an old laser pistol design, based on the Solomani sidearm originally manufactured during the Rule of Man. The name "LP-1-10 DEI" comes from and old weapon classification code, and it means "Laser Pistol, 1 kJ pulse, 10 kW output power, Direct Energy Input". One-ten is light and rugged fully automatic laser pistol intended to be used as side arm in defense against "soft" targets.

The 1 kJ laser pulse does approximately as much damage as a bullet from 9x19mm Luger pistol round. However, one-ten is much nastier weapon then 9mm pistol since the laser has long range, high magazine capacity, no recoil and can fire up to 10 pulses in second.

LP-1-10 DEI

Weapon Details
Weapon Type: TL-12 4cm DEI laser handgun
Pulse Energy: 1 kJ, required energy: 1.818 kJ
Weapon Length: 20.8 cm
Weapon Weight: 0.588 kg loaded, 0.468 kg empty, with no magazine
Weapon Price: Cr119
Magazine Weight: 0.12 kg
Magazine Price: Cr2.7 (177-shot grip battery)
Features:Hollow pistol grip, build-in laser sight, reinforced body. (To melee weapon standard.)

NameROF DamDice PenRtg Bulk Magaz SSBurst S Range
LP-1-10 DEI 10 2 Nil 1 177 0 0 80 (80)

Notes: The weapon has medium-sized grip frame, so the 60 cm3 battery pack fits snugly inside the grip magazine well. HPG and cooler are cylindrical, and are placed directly behind the focal array. Thus the whole upper frame of the pistol forms a 4 x 18.54 cm cylinder. Focal array lenses are protected from dirt and scratches by a spoon shroud (a diagonally cut cylinder around the muzzle). The cooler fluids must be replaced after every 50000 shots (282 battery packs).

Atmospheric effect of laser damage at various ranges. When DV is less than 1, the table shows optional damage dice (assuming that d10 is used as normal damage dice).

Atmosphere 80 m 160 m 320 m 640 m Wavelength
Vacuum 2 2 2 2 FUV
Trace 2 2 2 2 FUV
Very Thin 2 2 2 1 VL
Thin 2 2 1 1d4 VL
Standard 2 1 1d4 1d2 VL
Dense 11d4 1d21d1VL
Exotic 1d41d21d1- VL

LP-1-10 DEI
Pistols DV(PenRecoilRangeBulk TL Mass ExtMag ROF Magaz Price
2(Nil) None 80 m 1 12 0.6 kg 0.1 kg 10177119

LP-3-30 DEI: The "3-30" is sometimes called "Laser Uzi" for its distinctive appearance. The weapon is light, fully automatic laser SMG with 400 shot battery. "3-30" may be fitted with a collapsible stock, but since there is no recoil, the weapon is usually used like a large pistol. As with all other DEI lasers, the focal array will also operate as a laser sight, making aimed hip-firing possible.

The "3-30" is a good suppression weapon against soft-skinned targets, since one battery has enough energy for 40 seconds of continuous full- auto firing.

LP-3-30 DEI

Weapon Details
Weapon Type: TL-12 4cm DEI laser handgun
Pulse Energy: 3 kJ, required energy: 5.455 kJ
Weapon Length: 32 cm
Weapon Weight: 2.014 kg loaded, 1.206 kg empty, with no magazine
Weapon Price: Cr309
Magaz Weight: 0.808 kg
Magaz Price: Cr18.18 (400-shot box battery)
Features:Hollow pistol grip, build-in laser sight, reinforced body (to melee weapon standard)

NameROF DamVal PenRtg Bulk Magaz SS Burst S Range
LP-3-30 DEI 10 3 Nil 2 400 0 0 80 (80)

Notes: The weapon is shortened by placing the HPG under the focal array. The battery is inserted through the hollow pistol grip. A smaller battery (59 shots, 0.12 kg, Cr2.7) will fit completely inside the grip. Atmospheric effect of laser damage at various ranges. When DV is less than 1, the table shows optional damage dice (assuming that d10 is used as normal damage dice).

Atmosphere 80 m 160 m 320 m 640 m Wavelength
Vacuum 3 3 3 3 FUV
Trace 3 3 3 3 FUV
Very Thin 3 3 3 2 VL
Thin 3 3 1 1 VL
Standard 3 1 1 1d3 VL
Dense 1 1 1d3 1d2 VL
Exotic 1d31d1 1d10 VL

PistolsDV(Pen) Recoil Range Bulk TL Mass ExtMag ROF Magaz Price
LP-3-30 DEI3(Nil) None 80 m 212 2 kg 0.8 kg 10 400 309

LP-40-8 Var: The "Variable Pistol" is peculiar weapon concept which attempts to overcome the HPG's long term charge holding losses by utilizing variable laser pulse charger and release trigger. When the trigger is pressed, the HPG begins to build up the charge, reaching maximum charge in 5 seconds. The accumulated charge is released as a laser pulse when the trigger is released, which may happen before or after the 53 kJ maximum value is reached. A small LED bar display at the rear of the pistol shows the accumulated charge. Pressing the trigger will also light up the aiming beam (using 5 mW trickle power), unless this option is turned off. An ambidextrous thumb-operated de-charging lever will safely return the accumulated energy from HPG to battery.

People who are unfamiliar with the release trigger operation are likely to fire 1.6 kJ "tap-shots", and may wonder why the laser appears to be firing too late. However, those who know the weapon tend to fire accurate aimed shots with 5 second aiming time.

Variable Pistol

Weapon Details
Weapon Type: TL-14 4cm DEI laser handgun
Pulse Energy: 40 kJ, required energy: 53.333 kJ
Weapon Length: 22.34 cm
Weapon Weight: 0.514 kg (pistol only)
Weapon Price: Cr307
Pack Weight: 5.876 kg, including removable battery
Pack Price: Cr277
Battery Weight: 0.593 kg
Battery Price: Cr22 (40-shot power pack battery)
Features:Hollow pistol grip, release trigger, build-in laser sight, reinforced body (to melee weapon standard).
NameROF DamDice PenRtg Bulk Magaz SS Burst S Range
Variable Pistol 1* 10 Nil1400 0 80 (80)

Effect of charging time on laser's damage in various ranges, assuming standard atmosphere.
TimeEnergy 80 m160 m 320 m 640 m
0.2s 1.6kJ 2 11 (1d3)
0.5s4kJ 3 2 1 (1d4)
1s 8kJ 4 2 1 1
2s 16kJ 6 3 2 1
3s 24kJ 8 4 2 1
4s 32kJ 9 4 2 1
5s 40kJ 10 5 3 1

PistolsDV(Pen) Recoil Range Bulk TL Mass ExtMag ROF Magaz Price
LP-40-8 Var10(Nil) None 80 1 14 0.5+5.9 0.6 kg 1* 40 307

®1996. Traveller is a registered trademark of FarFuture Enterprises. All rights reserved.
BARD Logo Copyright ©1996 by Lawrence C. Cox.