Related articles here.
The primary dedicated heavy anti-ship and anti-installation munition of the Colonial Pact, the Starfish-1 Advanced Heavyweight Anti-Ship Torpedo is a mixed guidance fire and forget capable munition primarily used on combat vessels. Designed as a very long range anti-ship and anti-installation weapon, the Starfish-1 is a massive construct roughly the size of an ICBM. Slower then missiles of comparable range, it trades speed for a much larger warhead capability packaged in a very tough and capable delivery system. Combing a vehicle grade shield system, heavy armor, and a well rounded electronic warfare system for confusing attempts at intercepting it. Guiding the monstrosity is a fighter grade radar system with a range of passive sensors to increase its overall capabilities. However due to its size as well as its cost it is typically restricted to shipboard use as well as installation defensive mounts, typically in three shot rotary fed torpedo tubes.
This section covers the more general information of the Asper MRSAAM missile.
(40.38 Gigatons Nominal Yield for direct KKV Impact - Vacuum Velocity Only)
Like most Pact weapons the principle and primary mechanism of destruction for the A-HAST system is simple mass times velocity, effectively simply smashing into the target at relativistic speeds often to catastrophic effect especially on targets without shielding at the time of impact. However the launching platform and the torpedo itself have two other options, the first being a 'burst' fragmentation method in which charges inside the torpedo body explode and shatter it into thousands of lethal fragments. This can be used to suppress enemy formations or target a vast surface area of a world or habitat. Finally just behind the torpedo's sensor package is a high yield callenite boosted fusion device with a RAAD or Rapid Antimatter Accelerator Device to produce the initiating AM agent for the binary warhead. This device is 'dial a yield' and capable of producing a yield of 455 Kt at the low end up to 2.5 Gigatons at the other end. While lower in destructive capability when compared to direct impact it none the less covers a larger area with its blast as well as the associated sensor blinding effects of a antimatter fusion reaction.