Further meditations on space combat

[MikeH]

i dont think space combat is going to be won by the biggest guns but rather by who is the sneakiest.

Like most wars.

[Heraclitus]

i dont think space combat is going to be won by the biggest guns but rather by who is the sneakiest.

I hope you don't think stealth is possible in space ships.



Let me interpret that in a way that actually makes sense. If you want to take over a manned station or whatever you need to rely on espionage. Use biological or nanotech weapons to wipe out the crew and then take over the place. If you want to just hurt the enemy nuke it from orbit or nudge an asteorid their way.

[a.kitman]

no i am not talking about some star trek cloaking. i guess i wasnt clear. what i mean is i think it will be more about who got the best sensors and can detect **** in time. and not about railguns or missiles.

id rather have a bow and binocular then a shotgun.

[Patroklos]

The railgun is the bow.

[DanS]

Just need a small force for a long time, assuming your targets are near a planet use gravity and a small amount of energy for manoeuvring jets.

So this object hurtling at 100 miles per second relative velocity has maneuvering jets?

[MrFun]

Wait a minute! From what I gather from this discussion, Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis are not real!?

GASP

[BlackCat]

Of course they are - they are just secret operations

[Patroklos]

BTW, I hear a lot of talk about sensors. Does anyone have any guesses about what those will be beyond magic Star Treck technobable?

Given the ranges of the weapons we are discussing, current sensor technologies are hopelessly inadequate for the purposes suggested. At such ranges, guided weapons are pretty much a requirement.

[Dauphin]

I'm more interested in space mediation. Who will negotiate peace between the warring space tribes?

[Patroklos]

Negotiations are not required once we vaporize the other side.

[KrazyHorse]

Last time around, somebody remarked that rail guns/mass drivers are overengineered in space; due to the speed at which craft are traveling, an object moving at much lower speed would be just as lethal. On reflection, I disagree. Two spacecraft in battle are highly unlikely to be rocketing towards each other at a high rate of speed. Space isn't jousting. Furthermore, sans "inertial damping," achieving high speeds in battle is difficult, counterproductive and dangerous. You won't have time to achieve it without killing the crew, you won't be able to change it from a predictable straight line without killing the crew, you basically can't do a damned thing without killing the crew.

This makes no sense. Ships in even similar orbits have large relative velocities. Plus the guy with the higher orbit is likely to organize his attack as a highly eccentric orbit which intersects the enemy at the attacker's perigee, preferably in a different plane of orbit than that of the enemy. Drop your missiles and scoot. Total time of engagement circa 1 second.

[BlackCat]

This makes no sense. Ships in even similar orbits have large relative velocities. Plus the guy with the higher orbit is likely to organize his attack as a highly eccentric orbit which intersects the enemy at the attacker's perigee, preferably in a different plane of orbit than that of the enemy. Drop your missiles and scoot. Total time of engagement circa 1 second.

Yeah, if the target is canuck ducks, they'll probably be sitting still - all other will probably take their countermeasures.

Orbital fights will probably be quite messy with a lot of dogfight - not in the Battle of Britain style, more like the battle of Jutland.

Off orbit, it's a different matter. That will probably more look like old fashioned sailship battles, just in three dimensions. Reason : long distance weapons such as controllable missiles will meet countermeasures, both jamming and antimissile weapons; medium distance weapons such as unguided railguns only works when undetected and in a range where you can predict where targets will be on impact; short distance, such as lasers and like, well, then we are back to "keep the line" and hammer the opponent. Surely, missiles and railguns will also be useful here.

Fighters - forget it unless some new propulsion system are invented.

Sensors. Well, they'll probably still be the same - optical and passive/active radar. The difference will be that several ships sensors will work together to build the "map".

[Kuciwalker]

We're missing some key context here. Why are battles happening in space in the first place? What's the motivation to build a big ship and fill it with humans and send it flying around? Much more plausible is a bunch of ASAT satellites shooting each other down until someone has orbital superiority.

[BlackCat]

Mars and lunar settlements rebels against terran dictatorship. FTL tech only works outside solar system and we have met some agressive aliens ?

[KrazyHorse]

Orbital fights will probably be quite messy with a lot of dogfight - not in the Battle of Britain style, more like the battle of Jutland.

You're a ****.