Chandelier

Weapon Information
Purpose: Ulysses Meteor Interception

Manufacturer(s): Estovakia

Date Started: Prior to Ulysses Impact

Date Completed: Never

Date Destroyed: 1st April, 2016

Location: Vicinity of Sonne Island, Northern Coast of Estovakia

Firing Range: (minimal estimate) 1000 miles

Armaments

 * Multiple AA and SAM Sites


 * 3 Flak Emplacement


 * Six AA Gun Towers


 * One Railgun


 * "Stauros" Cruise Missile


 * One Estovakian Naval Battlegroup


 * One Air Field with Air Defense Unit which includes the Strigon team

Weaknesses

 * Cooling Units
 * Backup Cooling Unit(Activates when all Cooling units are destroyed)
 * Core(Behind the barrel of the Railgun itself)

History
The Chandelier was part of the Estovakian effort in defending against the possibility of an asteroid impact (similar to Erusea's Stonehenge and Megalith systems). It was not completed in time to defend the nation against the meteoric fragments of the Ulysses 1994XF04 Asteroid which resulted in widespread devastation within its borders, crippling its infrastructure and ushering in a civil war that would ultimately bring the country under military rule.

The weapon was not completed prior to the start of the Estovakian-Emmerian War, which was also known as the Anean Continental War. It was designed as a colossal railgun cooled by a series of external, shielded systems that allowed it to repeatedly fire. Warhead loading was handled via a conveyor system that ran along a partially protected trench under the gun, delivering the ordinance from what may have been an underground ammunition storage bunker. Because it was hastily completed for the war effort, it had several exposed weaknesses that made it vulnerable to attack. The cooling systems were the most obvious targets, followed by the exposed sections of the conveyor trench that transported warheads into the Chandelier's Railgun.

On March 31, 2016, (in the Ace Combat Timeline) during the negotiations for a cease fire for the Emmerian-Estovakian War, it was used by the Estovakian military in an effort to destroy the Emmerian capital of Gracemeria. The warheads fired from the weapon were specialized delivery systems, similar to a MIRV, that would burst open over a targeted area to release a cargo of cruise missiles that would then go on to their targets. This attack came during an Emmeria Celebration of the war's end and would have resulted in massive amounts of lives lost in the city, if not for patrolling Emmerian Air Force aircraft. During the attack, Emmerian AWACS Ghost Eye cooperated with a military headquarters in Gracemeria and managed to trace the missile trajectory back to the Chandelier.

As Emmerian Fighters flew to destroy the Chandelier, their radio waves were suddenly flooded with information, coming from a female civilian (Melissa Herman) in Gracemeria. This information was provided by Lt. Col. Victor Voychek, an Estovakian intelligence officer, and exposed all of Chandelier's weaknesses.

After all Cooling Units had been destroyed, the Chandelier was still able to stay active because of a Backup Cooling Unit located inside the battery. Garuda Two "Shamrock" went on a reconnaissance to expose the location of the Backup Cooling Unit but was shot down. Miraculously, he ejected before he crashed. After this "suicidal" recon run, Garuda One "Talisman" flew into the service gutter and destroyed the Backup Cooling Unit. With no functioning cooling units remaining, the Chandelier was then forced to start venting excess heat from the barrel, after which Garuda One flew into the barrel while the barrel was still opened and destroyed the core. Thus, the war ended with Republic of Emmeria's victory and the Federal Republic of Estovakia's defeat.

Chandelier Statics