A Plasma Artillery Cannon is a weapon installed on the shoulder of Elite Pirates in Metroid Prime. It is connected to the Elite Pirate's energy siphon system to fuel their cannons with absorbed shots from Samus. The cannon can be scanned seperately (not possible in the Trilogy version), similar to an Ingsmasher Missile Launcher. Samus can target the cannons seperately with her Thermal Visor and attack (eventually destroying) it.

The Omega Pirate uses a variation, called the Plasma Incendiary Launcher. The Phazon Elite does not use this technology.

ScanEdit

"Plasma Artillery Cannon. Unit has extreme thermal signature due to lack of shielding. Cannon connected to energy-siphon systems to augment performance. Avoid Beam weapon fire when energy-siphon unit is active."

Related scansEdit

• "A shipment of military-grade Plasma Artillery Cannons is en route to Tallon IV. The Egenoid Star Marines we 'acquired' them from were letting them sit in a warehouse. Our Elite Pirates, on the other hand, will put them to good use very soon."
• "Evaluation of Plasma Artillery Cannons is complete. The weapons are fully functional, but a flaw has been discovered. Subpar thermal shielding gives them a high heat signature. This could make them easier to target for enemies with enhanced vision capabilities."