Autocannon

An Autocannon is a type of rapid-firing, auto-loading direct-fire ballistic weapon, firing HEAP (High-Explosive Armor-Piercing) or kinetic rounds at targets in bursts. It is, basically, a giant "machine gun." Among the earliest tank/BattleMech scale weaponry produced, autocannons produce far less heat than energy weapons, but are considerably bulkier and dependent upon limited stores of ammunition.

Autocannons range in caliber from 30mm up to 120mm or larger, with the lower calibers having longer effective ranges than high calibers, and are grouped into four broad damage classes:

• Autocannon/2
• Autocannon/5
• Autocannon/10
• Autocannon/20

Beyond the "standard" models, variants include the shotgun-like LBX and quick-firing Ultra and Rotary, and capital ship scale models also exist.