Quote:
Originally Posted by Varyon
D above TL 9 a small bit of antimatter (not enough to count as an antimatter warhead, but enough to break the missile apart) might be an option.
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Antimatter would be a poor choice for self-destruct. The smallest antimatter warhead in UT (0.1 micrograms) does 6dx4 and as an internal explosion that's in the rigth area to shred a missile. However, it also does an average of 210,000 rads and causign organic beings like humans to die slow and painful deaths from radiation poisoning has to be viewed as its' primary effect.
Also, at TL10 such an antimatter charge requires a 100mm warhead which probably weighs about 5 lbs. 6Dx4 is the effect of 4 lbs of TNT so antimatter is literally an inefficient way to destroy inorganic devices. the gamma rays antimatter produces just shoot right through.
If you wonder, At TL7 and 8 space launching missiles as used at KSC do have self-destructs for safety but they consist of det cord placed around the inside of the hull and probbaly the more solid other components. This would be one of those situations where contact explosives do get maximum damage so weight does not have to be large in terms of a sizable vehicle.