Neutron Beam Cannons

From Gineipaedia, the Legend of Galactic Heroes wiki

Neutron beam cannons were the primary weapon utlized in space combat during the 8th century UC. They projected a concentrated stream of energized particles at the speed of light, and had an effective range of at least several million kilometers.

History

Neutron beam weapons were introduced some time prior to the founding of the Galactic Federation, and were a standard armament in space combat as early as (640 UC (331 IC / 3440 CE)).

By the end of the FPA-Imperial War they were the primary armament for interstellar combat, and had also been miniaturized to the point where they could be used as handheld weapons. (Legend of Galactic Heroes Volume 1: Dawn)

Common tactics

Beam cannons would typically be fired in synchronized volleys. While these volleys were often evenly-spread throughout the target formations, Free Planets Alliance tactician Yang Wen-li favored focusing his fleets' volleys at a single point in the enemy formation in order to maximize their destabilizing affect on energy-dampening shields.

These volleys would often be times to coincide with the impact of fusion missile volleys, launched earlier.

Most warships were designed to present the narrowest possible forward-profile, which minimized the target they presented to the enemy while simultaneously restricting the number of beam cannons that could be fired at once. Warships also boasted many laterally-oriented beam cannons which could be used to defend against flanking attacks and in close-range combat. (Legend of Galactic Heroes Volume 2: Ambition)