r/SuperStructures • u/DustWorlds • 1d ago
Original Content UMAVPO, Ultra-Massive Anti-Vessel Percussive Ordinance.
The largest guided missile to ever be mass produced, the UMAVPO is designed to take down even the most heavily armored capitol ships in a single strike. Once fired, the missile will intercept the target, aligning itself roughly perpendicularly with a flat section of armor at distance before barreling into said target.
The warhead itself is simple, yet effective at what it does. A shallow inverted cone of osmium. This arrangement is not built to punch through the armor, but rather to cause massive backside spalling in a way similar to HESH rounds. The shape of the warhead focuses the pressure wave in the armor into a single point, with far more pressure than a flat sheet would.
With thicker armor, the pressure wave causes the back of the plate to break apart, sending shrapnel into the innards of the target. With thinner armor, the plate is pulverized and the pressure wave causes the center to shoot inwards as a hypervelocity jet.
The missile measures almost a kilometer end-to-end, and is often carried by similarly gargantuan ships. It is most commonly used in the semi-stationary defensive systems of the Oasis, however.
The UMAVPO does show up in less-than-conventional weaponry systems as well. For example, a relatively small KotRS vessel carried one in tow behind it, with the missile almost being as long as the ship towing it.
Trivia: There is a derelict UMAVPO partially submerged just off the coast of the Senjir Jungle Cliffs on Graelitha. This specific missile had become detached from it's carrier ship around a century ago, falling into the sea. Now, it has been almost completely engulfed by the Senjiri ecosystem.
