realistic spaceship combat

[Mercator]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
On top of that, missiles will cause recoil also.

Not necessarily. They can be released first and then "launch" (like airplane-launched "smart bombs" or so)...

Furthermore, spaceships would already be travelling at great speeds so you can wonder how much more speed those missiles would really need.
You just release a bomb, and let it find its target with its "steering boosters".

[GePap]

Originally posted by gsmoove23
I think putting all that weaponry into the hands of an AI is just a little too frightening. You would need someone on hand, though the crew can be very small in proportion to the size of the ship, making the areas that need radiation shielding and oxygen storage very small.

Why? Most of the weaponsry would not be to heavy nor really be able to do much to planetary target, which would still be the home to people. Besides, auto-destruct sequences could always be put in as a safeguard.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Mercator
Not necessarily. They can be released first and then "launch" (like airplane-launched "smart bombs" or so)...

Then they'd have to be carried externally, where they would be suceptable to debris. Things don't "drop" in microgravity. You could, however, give the missile a slight nudge, and it could fire when away from the ship. Even that, however, will cause recoil, just at a much lower strength.

[gsmoove23]

Originally posted by GePap


Why? Most of the weaponsry would not be to heavy nor really be able to do much to planetary target, which would still be the home to people. Besides, auto-destruct sequences could always be put in as a safeguard.

If your talking about a large ship the crew compartments can take up a negligable amount of space while providing maintenance and flexibility of command that would be incomparable to any AI. Smaller ships could possibly be drones, but I still think AI would not be at such a level in the near future to reliably command such a large investment.

[Mercator]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Even that, however, will cause recoil, just at a much lower strength.

That's true... Having a system that adjusts for the recoil would probably avoid any of this.

[Japher]

I think the best weapon would be some kind of electomagnetic pulse thingy that knocks out all electical circuits. Then, ppl will start developing shields that would protect against all sorts of stuff. Thus, it is not the weapon that I am most curious about, but the defense... RAMMING SPEED!!!

[Sava]

The only way I see space-battles is if there are means of manufacturing such vehicles outside of Earth. The construction and launch of such vehicles would be hard to hide on Earth. And any war on Earth would most likely result in the destruction or capture of enemy command and control facilities. Even if these functions were in space, it would have to be either in a self-sufficient ship, or near a resource rich base. It's impossible to think of such scenarios without treading into sci-fi territory.

[Sava]

Originally posted by Japher
I think the best weapon would be some kind of electomagnetic pulse thingy that knocks out all electical circuits. Then, ppl will start developing shields that would protect against all sorts of stuff. Thus, it is not the weapon that I am most curious about, but the defense... RAMMING SPEED!!!

I think the development of Quantum computers and circuits would negate the advantage of EMP's. Maybe someone smarter than myself can elaborate on this subject.

[Japher]

But it would still be cool to build real point ships and ram ppl... Heck it was how sea warfare first began, we should do it in space!

[Hueij]

Download Elite 2 and find out about realistic space combat.

[DRoseDARs]

My more than 2 cents... (some things have already been said by others)

re: Missile launches
Will technically correct that things don't "drop" in space, and that launching missiles from a space-borne platform, it really isn't difficult to manage a missile form of weaponry. Assume the USS Apolyton CV-06071998 has a bisymmetrical geometry (left side mirrors the right side). On either side of the cruiser you have matching missile bays. Just like on a nuclear submarine, the missiles would be kept safe inside the vessel, not exposed to the external environment. To combat the forces produced by a missile launch, either of these methods would work to balance said forces result in a net force of zero: (1) launch 2 missiles, one on either side of the vessel at the same relative positions; their forces would be balanced instead of throwing the ship in one direction or the other; or (2) using the "drop" technique you simply attach the missiles to extendable arms that position the payload outside the ship, detach themselves from said payloads, then retract back into the ship. The missile(s) would then be launched without physical contact with the ship. If the US Space Shuttle fleet can maintain an orbit with their single manipulator arm swinging about (<- exagerating of course ), then launching single-missle salvos should be easily possible.

re: Manufacturing
It is correct that space combat at the level discussed in this thread would only be feasible, short of sci-fi technology, if off-world facilities are built. Earth-borne launches would be prohibitively expensive both of completed vessels and simple components, even if the VentureStar or similar launch platform had been built or a space elevator constructed.

re: Ramming
Ramming enemy spacecraft is a very risky kind of maneuver, probably only a last resort. But likely damned effective; most "bang for your buck" if you will.

re: AI control
Currently a lot is being done towards the goal if AI, both in the commercial sector and the military. Will it soon reach the level of sophistication necessary in the heat of a space-borne battle? We'll see; my guess is yes and I can see the great advantages of unmaned combat drones...but I'd still be more comfortable with a Human giving commands. You can't bring a robot before a military court-martial for mistakes made...

re: Recoil
Any type of weaponry about a ship will experiance recoil of some type. Read "re: Missile launches" for possible answers. With regards to railguns, if they are aimed straight down the central axis of the ship, then a simple burst of thrust from the rear-facing engines (perhaps computer-controlled to fire at the same time as the weapon) would be enough to counter any recoil.

re: Radar detection et al.
Already been said

re: The battlefield
Unsure who already said it, but they're correct that most battles aren't likely going to be fought in deep-space. They'll probably be fought well within one light-second of a major gravity field (planet, moon, asteroid et al.) or along the shortest path between two such bodies.

re: Propulsion
Well, we've already designed, built, tested, and used Ion drives. They require far less fuel than traditional chemical rockets. Combined with modest nuclear fission, or preferably fusion, powerplants they should be reasonably effective at moving ships through space. Using magnetically charged conduits, drive plasma might even be used for attitude adjustments, further lessening reliance on chemical reactants. Before you say that Ion drives that have been used are very slow, bear in mind that these probes are little larger than breadboxes (<-cliche for those that missed it). Their powerplants have to power the engines AND instruments AND communications. A larger vessel might have room enough for multiple powerplants dedicated to different subsystems.

re: Life support
Already been said

re: Shape of things to come
I personally would be APPALED if someone built and launched a cube or sphere-shaped ship. The radar cross-section alone would automatically disqualify such shapes from rational consideration; even employing modern stealth techniques for radar deflection wouldn't be enough to hide the damned things. Slimer, elongated vessels would be better equiped to avoid detection and evade confrontation.

re: Weaponry
I've already hinted my preference for Missile-based weaponry, and how railgun-type weapons might be integrated into a ship, but I do see it possible to employ the use of laser-based weapon systems. I've already stated that larger vessels may have room enough for multiple powerplants, so it should be possible to feed such power-hungry weapons.

re: Quantum and Optical computers
Viable developement of these kinds of computers and related systems would greatly increase the likelyhood of a space-borne vessel's developement. With the computing speed of quantum computers and the efficiency of optics, managing the flight physics versus recoil from weapons versus long and short-range radar versus life support versus propulsion versus everything else...well, what more can be really said?



Spaceward, ho!

[Jaguar]

Originally posted by Sava
What are we doing in space in the first place?

There's billions of dollars worth of satellites up there. If you have superiority around a planet, you can knock out public and military communication networks.

[DRoseDARs]

Not to mention the immense amount of mineral resources and manufacturing potentials if we continue to access space into the future.

[Colonâ„¢]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat Movement is totally different from the nonsense in the movies - every time you apply thrust, you accelerate, so if you have constant thrust, you have constant acceleration. Nothing brakes you in a practical time frame, so to slow down, you thrust in the other direction.

How do you apply thrust in space in the first place?

[DRoseDARs]

Simple chemical rockets travel just fine in space. I refer you to Sir Issac Newton's 3rd Law of Motion:

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

While oxygen fires aren't possible in a vacuum, other chemical reactions are, such as liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen being fused at the business end of the Space Shuttle as it goes through the oxygen-poor environment of Earth's upper atmosphere. The force of the two elements fusing is directed out the back of the shuttle, but at the same time it presses against the inside of the reaction chamber, pushing the shuttle ever upward.

Beyond simple chemical reactions, it may very well be possible to harness the incredibly small force of photons (light) pressing against a reflective surface. Tests have already succeeded in levitating small objects with nothing more than highly-focused lasers. On a larger scale, gigenormous "solarsails" could harness the photons streaming out in all directions from our sun. Although gradual, over time the cumulative force of all the photons hitting the sail could conceivably accelerate the solarsail to near-light velocity (ignoring for a moment the physical stresses on the structure, debris in its path, and time necessary) without expendature of any other form of propulsion.