Sonic Cannon

General Information

UFOpaedia entry

Sonic Cannon Official Entry "The Sonic Cannon is the most potent of the Sonic weapons family. Featuring a higher range audio oscillator and a larger reverberation chamber than the Blasta. The Cannon also has a pulse detonation system that alters the ultra-sonic wave by modulation to produce a more effective Sonic Shock." Cannon Power Clip Official Entry "This compact device is used as ammunition for a Heavy Sonic Gun. It contains a small quantity of Zrbite."

Source:

The Sonic Cannon is the last of the hand-held sonic weapons. It is the workhorse of the aquatic alien invaders and is capable of dealing a superfluous amounts of damage.

In general function, the Sonic Cannon is a very high powered sniping weapon.

The Sonic Cannon benefits mainly from its very high snap and aimed accuracy as well as its ability to deal very high damage per round fired. On the other hand it carries the least ammunition amongst the Sonic Weapons and is slow, heavy and cumbersome to handle. With these extreme positive and negative attributes, this weapon can be classified as a 'heavy weapon'.

A common trait shared amongst the Sonic weapons is a lack of autofire.

Unlike its predecessors, the Sonic Cannon eventually becomes the standard issue weapon that is carried by the bulk of the alien forces. Due to its prolific nature, the cannon and its ammunition can easily be obtained from fallen aliens during many battles. There will rarely be an ammunition shortage of Cannon Power Clips throughout the campaign. This greatly assists with the Cannon Power Clip's otherwise low ammunition capacity and high Zrbite production cost. In effect, the cannon and its ammunition almost never need to be manufactured.

Overall the Sonic Cannon is a very powerful weapon, but its various limitations do not make it a particularly suitable weapon to arm the entire squad on its own. The Sonic Cannon greatly hampers the shooter's mobility with its high Time Unit expenditure, and the shooter is often heavily exhausted after firing just one shot. This is a disastrous situation to be put into if caught in close quarter combat. On the other hand, from a sniping perspective, there are few weapons bar the Thermal Shok Launcher that can equal the Sonic Cannon's ability to snipe in a straight line.

Very strong aquanauts with good accuracy can take a more extreme approach to the use of the Sonic Cannon. It can, in effect, be used like an over sized Sonic Pistol and used with other weapons or tools held out at the same time to provide that extra little bit of oomph at crucial moments. This works because the naturally high accuracy of the Sonic Cannon mitigates much of the accuracy penalty. The drills in particular are an excellent accompaniment for the Sonic Cannon, filling in the Sonic Cannon's close quarter combat limitations.

This weapon appears in Terror from the Deep. For the UFO: Enemy Unknown equivalent, refer to the Heavy Plasma.

Key Features
Sonic Damage
Pros	Cons
Very High Power Very High Accuracy Recoverable Very common	Very Slow Heavy Cumbersome Low Ammunition Zrbite for ammo manufacture

Weapon Statistics

Sonic Cannon

• Size: 3 high x 2 wide
• Firing Accuracy:
  • 80% Snapshot
  • 115% Aimed

• Firing Cost:
  • 50% Snapshot
  • 70% Aimed

• Selling Cost: $171,600
• Build Cost: $122,000 plus:
  • Technician Hrs: 1000
  • Workshop Space: 4
  • Aqua Plastics: 1
  • Zrbite: 0

Ammo Statistics

Sonic Cannon Clip

• Size: 1 high x 1 wide
• Damage: 130 Sonic
• Ammo Capacity: 10
• Selling Cost: $9,590
• Build Cost: $6,000 plus:
  • Technician Hrs: 80
  • Workshop Space: 4
  • Aqua Plastics: 0
  • Zrbite: 3

See Also

• Cannon Power Clip
• Weapons
• Sonic Pistol
• Sonic-Blasta Rifle
• Heavy Plasma vs Sonic Cannon