Despite the superior power of the DC-15A, many clone units preferred to use the lighter, more compact DC-15S rifle. The blaster could be outfitted with ascension cable projectors to climb up walls or cliffs as seen during the Battle of Teth. On maximum power, a shot from a DC-15A could leave a 0.5 meter wide hole in any ferroconcrete wall however, firing at maximum power demanded a higher rate of power consumption while on the low power setting a DC-15A gas cartridge would last for 500 shots (300 shots on high power). Mounted on a tripod, the maximum effective range of a DC-15A was 10 kilometers. It also included a sniper scope that could double as a handhold in storage position. In addition to standard iron sights on the rifle's upper surface, the DC-15A could interface with the helmets of clones to project a graphical gun-sight on the clone trooper's heads up display. On the high setting, the large rifle's powerful blue plasma bolts were more than capable of penetrating the armor of most infantry personnel, and because of the hyper-ionization, they were exceptionally effective against both droids and living targets. The octagonal-like barrel would compress the plasma into a thin bolt. These bolts would then be accelerated out of the rifle electromagnetically. Its power-charge magazines ionized the gas into charged plasma within its ignition chamber. On the top of the blaster was a triangular object that encased circuitry, with a wiry switch on it that controlled the power settings to the weapon. Like its smaller cousin, holding the trigger down produced sustained fire, with the drawback of decreased accuracy. The wielder snapped open the blaster and removed the old cartridge from the buttstock, and then snapped it back in place. To replace the tibanna cartridge was more difficult. The weapon's tibanna gas cartridge carried enough gas for up to 500 shots, depending on the power settings of the weapon, while the charge pack lasted about 50 shots To replace a charge pack, the user hit the release button located directly behind the pack, slid it out, and put in a fresh one. Even so, the DC-15A was very powerful and deadly in the hands of the skilled clone troopers that received extensive training in its use. While the use of blasters allowed a clone trooper to carry significantly more ammunition than a projectile weapon, the DC-15A weighed a heavy 9.5 pounds, and despite the weapon's size, it was not a true dedicated repeating blaster rifle the inherent instability of plasma gas in the blasters reduced the weapon's accuracy under sustained fire. The DC-15A blaster rifle was one of the standard issue weapons for clone troopers.

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