Strategic Orbital Linear Gun

This article concerns the Strangereal superweapon. For the satellite from the Infinity universe, see SOLG program.

Strategic Orbital Linear Gun
Manufacturer	Osean Federation
Function	Orbital weapons platform
Creation	Early 1995
Operators	Osean Federation Grey Men
Deployment	Circum-Pacific War
Destruction	December 31, 2010 Operation Arcadia

"The SOLG. A military attack satellite that your country began building during the war 15 years ago, then abandoned in the peace that followed."

― Nastasya Vasilievna Obertas to Albert Genette

The Strategic Orbital Linear Gun, often shortened to SOLG, was an orbital weapons platform developed by the Osean Federation in the midst of the Belkan War. It was commandeered by the Grey Men in late 2010 and equipped with multiple Kinetic Energy Weapons (KEWs), including a V2 warhead.

History

Creation

The SOLG was developed by Osea in 1995 in response to the Principality of Belka's aggressive invasion of neighboring countries, including Osea. The creation of the weapon, involving space-weapons technologies produced during the Cold War, proceeded without problems until the events of June 6, 1995 and the subsequent surrender of Belka several weeks later. The SOLG project was cancelled, and the partially completed satellite was abandoned in orbit.

Circum-Pacific War

Main article: Battle of Sudentor or Operation Arcadia

Sometime in late 2010, the SOLG was seized by the Belkan Grey Men, who planned to make use of its offensive capabilities against Osea and Yuktobania. At some point, the Grey Men obtained control of Basset Space Center and began launching cargo shipments to the SOLG. The Belkans completed the long abandoned kinetic-energy weapon, equipped it with KEW shells and a V2 warhead, and constructed a remote control system within Gründer Industries' tunnel network beneath the Waldreich Mountains.

The SOLG's role in the war was eventually discovered by a Yuktobanian reconnaissance officer, Major Nastasya Vasilievna Obertas, who obtained technical data on the SOLG and its V2 arsenal. Nastasya encoded the information on a disk, which she gave to Osean intelligence personnel in the Kestrel FLeet after her escape from Yuktobania.

On December 30, 2010, Osean and Yuktobanian aircraft and ground forces attacked the SOLG control facility in Sudentor, North Osea. The SOLG, which had been hastily completed by the Belkans, opened fire, launching several KEW shells into the mountains north of the industrial sector. Razgriz Squadron, assisted by Captain Jack Bartlett, flew into the massive tunnel and disabled the SOLG's control systems, severing its communication with the surface.

However, the Belkans had planned for this scenario by adding a fail-safe to the SOLG: the satellite's navigational systems began a controlled descent into the atmosphere, placing it on a collision course with the Osean capital of Oured. The SOLG's descent was quickly detected by ground-based observations. In the early morning of December 31, the SOLG descended over Oured Bay on a northwest-southeast heading; it was soon escorted by Ofnir and Grabacr Squadrons. The SOLG was ultimately destroyed after the Razgriz eliminated its core components; the satellite and its V2 warhead were subsequently vaporized in a massive explosion.

Design

As its name suggests, the Strategic Orbital Linear Gun is a maneuverable Kinetic Energy Weapon system designed to fire on surface targets from high orbit altitudes. The SOLG's structure consisted of a long, rectangular gun barrel that was several hundred meters in length. The SOLG's payload was stored within four long "auto-loader" magazines, which extended perpendicularly from the gun barrel. These magazines rotated counterclockwise along the barrel's axis; four counterweights located at the "butt" of the gun barrel rotated clockwise. Together, the centripetal force generated by this rotational motion (similar to that of a spinning top) stabilized the launcher's oblong barrel during firing. The SOLG's critical systems—powered by an array of solar panels affixed to the barrel—were housed in four stationary modules located between the counterweights and auto-loader magazines.

Firing first required the SOLG to receive target coordinates from a ground-based relay station. The SOLG then used either compressed gas thrusters or adjustments in the rotational rate of its counterweights and magazines to aim its gun barrel. Warheads stored vertically within the auto-loader magazines descend into the chamber, where they were accelerated and launched down the barrel towards the target.

Gallery

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  The SOLG descending through the atmosphere over Oured Bay

• 

  The SOLG exploding upon its destruction

Trivia

• The SOLG is shown to have full long-range firing capabilities when it strikes the ground forces during ACES. However, as a high orbit satellite, the SOLG itself is defenseless at close range.
  • This was changed in its Ace Combat Infinity counterpart, which supports multiple defensive TLS turrets along its barrel and ammunition storage units.