Plasma Accelerator
Plasma Accelerators are mounted on one of your ship's hardpoints and need assigning to a fire group before they can be used. They are very large and powerful weapons. After firing, they take a few seconds to recharge. Two variants are commonly available, imaginatively named 'Large' and 'Small'.
Military battleships, cruisers, and also battlestations, are often equipped with this weapon. They're also fitted to large trading ships and passenger liners operating in the more dangerous regions of space.
Even a Small Plasma Accelerator will destroy a well armed hundred tonne ship with a single shot. The large version has been known to be used as a planetary assault weapon, destroying selected areas of cities from orbit. This has a devastating effect on the local population, because the terrifying noise of the beam cutting through the atmosphere can be heard for hundreds of kilometres, and will deafen anyone unprotected in the vicinity.
In Elite: Dangerous the Anaconda is the only ship currently available which is capable of fitting the plasma accelerator and the class 8 model currently costs a little over 700,000 CR.