Yamato cannon

"Alright boys, hit 'em with the Yamato cannon! Couple of shots from that'll flatten anything!"

- Jim Raynor

The Yamato cannon (a.k.a. Yamato gun) is a feared terran particle weapon.

By the Great War, recent research had led to the development of the weapon. It uses an intense magnetic field to focus a small nuclear explosion into a cohesive beam of energy. The cannon requires a huge energy reserve to fire, but the effects make it worthwhile. In 2499, terran engineers were working overtime to retrofit existing battlecruisers with the weapon. Behemoth-class battlecruisers recieved such retrofits.

By 2502, the Minotaur-class battlecruiser was in service, equipped with a Type-V yamato cannon.

Game Effect
In both StarCraft and StarCraft II, the Yamato cannon's range of ten makes it an effective siege weapon, able to destroy stationary defenses and anti-air units out of their range, leaving the battlecruiser safe. However, it takes a few seconds to charge before firing once a target is acquired. Only the strongest units can survive a shot from a Yamato cannon. The Yamato cannon is best used to eliminate strong anti-air defenders, such as enemy battlecruisers, carriers, and void rays.