Electromagnetic needle-gun

An electromagnetic needle-gun, or colloquially needler, is a more advanced handheld projectile weapon that shoots needle-like projectiles via electromagnetic acceleration (on the basis of a coilgun).

Description

One particular description of a needler, an electromagnetic needle-gun occurs in Chapter Twenty-six of Revelation Space, from the point of view of Ana Khouri:

At first she had restricted her choices to those arms which were arrayed along the walls, stowed behind glass with little illuminated plaques detailing their operation, era-of-origin and history of usage. That was fine, in principle, and she had soon selected lightweight weapons for herself and Volyova, choosing a pair of electromagnetic needle-guns which were similar in design to Shadowplay equipment.

The guns are later used as sidearms by Khouri and Ilia Volyova in Chapter Twenty-seven:

Volyova, who had obviously anticipated her next move, jetted her seat down towards Khouri, and when they were barely five metres apart, Khouri threw her one of the lightweight guns; the needle-projectors she had found on the warchive's wall.

Volyova later switches from using the needler, in favour of a more conventional slug-gun pistol:

She slipped the needler into her belt, then slung over one shoulder the heavy ordnance Khouri had obtained from the warchive. It was a dual-gripped hypervelocity sports slug-gun from the twenty-third century; a product of the first Europan Demarchy, clad in curving black neoprene, ruby-eyed Chinese dragons in beaten gold and silver worked into the sides.

Appearances

• Inhibitor trilogy
  • Revelation Space (2000)

See also

• Magnetic railgun - A large, spacecraft-mounted or orbital platform mounted ranged weapon, utilising electromagnetic propulsion of a projectile along a set of magnetically conductive rails.