The plasma cannon on a Barbarian-class cruiser firing, with Corsair fighters in the background
A Plasma Cannon is a heavy weapons system firing compact clouds of hot charged plasma at targets using an electromagnetic ring system. Such weapons range in size from a heavy Plasma Rifle carried by an individual soldier in Power Armor, all the way up to enormous starship-mounted antiship weapons. Their inability to penetrate electromagnetic deflector shields has caused them to be mostly phased out of service as heavy starship armament, but lighter versions are still used for point defense as Plasma Phalanxes on smaller starships, and the devastating effects of hot plasma on living tissue make it a popular and effective antipersonel weapon system.