LX-80

The LX-80 was an anti-infantry missile launcher emplacement. It was developed by Merr-Sonn and used missiles designed for the company's PLX series of portable missile launchers. Eighty missile tubes contained as many missiles, and an automatic loader could load a reserve of eighty more missiles when the first payload was expended.

Description
The LX-80 was an emplacement missile launcher developed by Merr-Sonn for installation at bases and other facilities. The emplacement utilized missiles originally designed for Merr-Sonn's PLX series of portable missile launchers, ordnance that was readily available from arms dealers. These missiles were stored in a rack of missile tubes stacked four high and twenty wide, providing a load-out of eighty missiles. An automatic loader could load the LX-80's reserve of eighty additional missiles if all of the tubes were empty, though a misfire in even one tube could prevent this reloading until the misfire was cleared.

Like the PLX series, "dumb" rockets, "smart" GAM rockets, and "savant" rockets could be used in the LX-80. "Dumb" rockets had no guidance system, flying in a given direction until either contacting the target or expending their fuel. "Smart" missiles were of the Gravity-Activated Mode guided missile type developed specifically for the PLX, which could follow either infrared signatures in EPR mode, or gravity-wave anomalies created by repulsorlifts in GAM mode. "Savant" missiles fired like "dumb" missiles, allowing pilots to believe they had evaded it; but after flying for a short time it would activate its targeting systems and establish a lock, homing in on its target. These missiles had a range of approximately ten kilometers when fired from the LX-80, though GAM missiles could pursue their targets for up to forty kilometers.

The LX-80 launcher retailed for 75,000 credits.

Behind the scenes
The LX-80 has so far only appeared in Hideouts & Strongholds, a 1998 supplement for use with Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded. The book refers to the launcher's manufacturer as "MerrSonn" instead of the much more common "Merr-Sonn."