Vanagandr Armaments VM-37 'Bishop'
When these guns start shooting, you better run, because they won't stop firing until you're dead.
The Vanagandr Armaments VM-37, also known as the Bishop, is an electronically fired machine gun developed by the Aurigan manufacturer Vanagandr Armaments. Designed as a more capable alternative to the Herald infantry machine gun, the Bishop is used extensively as a mounted weapon on vehicles, aircrafts and fortifications. It is solely used by the Aurigan Defense Forces, who are the only ones capable of purchasing the vast quantities of ammunition this weapon can consume.
Ever since its adoption in 341, the design has seen few changes, with only a handful of variants created to adapt to some particular mounts and environmental conditions. This testament to its reliability and effectiveness has bolstered Vanagandr Armaments and its parent company Fenrir Dynamics, both financially and in terms of influence, making them the favored military suppliers of the Aurigan Federation.
History
Development
The development of the VM-37 began in late 337 when it became apparent than the earlier VR-12 series of weapons would be approved for use in the Aurigan Defense Forces. Knowing that the Herald was never meant to be used as a general purpose machine gun, but only as an infantry weapon, Vanagandr Armaments' engineers devised a draft to fulfil the gap required to provide the military with a general purpose weapon. Extrapolated from the Interstellar War's ground battles, it was estimated that the military would primarily use the weapon for sustained fire at average ranges.
Unfortunately, it was quickly determined that the heat generated by the sustained use of the weapon's coils made it nearly impossibly to evacuate without an external coolant. As a result, the VM-37 became the first liquid cooled weapon developed by the Aurigan Federation and by humanity as a whole after centuries of using heat sink-based systems. With this feature in mind, it eventually became obvious that only a fixed mount could properly handle the weapon, and more and more systems were removed from the weapon to be integrated into the mount itself.
General Characteristics
Specifications
Design
The VM-37 is meant to provide sustained firepower over the course of any engagement, and does so by having an excellent effective rate of fire. Capable of maintaining long bursts at its cyclic rate of fire of 800 rpm, the VM-37 uses similar components, albeit in a different configuration, as the well-known Advocator, making it relatively easy to maintain and allowing it to engage targets at the same ranges as other infantry units.
- Mass: 14.8 kg
- Length: 86.2 cm
- Barrel Length: 57 cm
- Rate of fire: 800 rounds/min
- Muzzle velocity: 67 500 m/s
- Effective range: 1 050m
- Kinetic energy: 6.8kJ
Dual barrel assembly
The VM-37 uses a dual barrel configuration, meaning that each barrel only has to sustain a cyclic rate of fire of 400 rpm, which is significantly easier to manage for both barrel durability as well as capacitor recharge. As a result, the components used to manufacture the VM37's firing mechanism and barrel assembly are nearly 90% identical to those used for the Advocator rifles. The barrels and capacitors are directly cooled by an array of copper heat pipes, interwoven with the weapon's distinctive liquid cooling circuit. The entire assembly is then shielded by a resilium heat shield that doubles as a shroud for physical protection against minor damage.
Ammunition feed
The VM-37 uses the same 28x76mm Oström cartridges as most Aurigan infantry weapons, making it easy to procure ammunition on the field. However, unlike the Herald LMG which uses a magazine to increase its own ammunition capacity, the Bishop favors the use of a belt-fed system, making it technically possible to sustain extremely long engagements depending on the belt used. These belts are typically made of polymer linkers and count up to 150 cartridges for a standard load, totaling around 7500 shots before a reload is needed. This can naturally be further increased in mounts such as vehicles or fortifications where more room is available.
Fire Control System
The VM-37's Fire Control System in itself is remarkably simple, with only one fire mode and no adjustments possible. What makes it slightly more different, however, is the fact that some components are duplicated to handle each barrel independently, making it possible for the weapon to automatically adjust to using only one barrel should the other fail. All other systems, such as heat management and ammunition count, are instead transferred into whatever mount is used by the weapon, forcing it to be mounted in a location where computing power is available to properly manage all of the weapon's features.
Liquid cooling system
A distinctive feature of the VM-37 is the use of a liquid cooling circuit, both inside and outside of the weapon. Both barrels are cooled actively through this circuit, requiring cool fluid, usually water but sometimes using a more effective chemical mixture, to be injected into the system. this fluid is then extracted out of the weapon to be cooled by the mount, requiring the installation of a dedicated cooling system. This makes the VM-37 virtually impossible to overheat, but also restricts which mount can effectively use this weapon.
Power supply
The VM-37 is powered by a single UTLC battery located at the rear of the weapon. Its mass serves as a counterweight to the heavy barrel assembly, making the weapon less taxing on the mount that uses it. The battery itself can hold enough power for nearly 25 000 shots, more than enough for an entire battle, but can easily be replaced in the field by twisting and pulling it out of its socket thanks to its industrial nature. Most of this energy is spent on the array of 32 liquid-core capacitors that feed into the weapon's coils, with the rest being used by the FCS.
Comments