[Spaceships] TL9 Military Spaceships

[Langy]

This thread will include a number of spaceship designs, all using no superscience. I'd like to build a full TL9 'space navy' with these designs, first focusing upon the SM+5 SUN-3 Menippe and its SM+12 carrier.

[Langy]

Named after one of the daughters of Orion, this 30-ton boat was one of the first parasite spaceships, an auxilary craft designed to be launched from a mothership. These utility ships were strictly military in nature due to their nuclear-based propulsion systems, but their extremely high acceleration and delta-V capacity was generally greatly desired.

The Menippe-class was designed to be modular - the primary control module is relatively heavily armored and includes large amounts of fuel, but lacks in mission-oriented equipment. In order to be truly useful, the Menippe is designed to link with a number of 'mission modules', such as cargo pods, missile racks, or electronic warfare equipment. These pods allow a single SUN-3 Menippe to be highly effective at a wide variety of missions, albeit only a few at a time.

Name: SUN-3 Menippe [1]
TL: 9
dST/HP: 20
Hnd/SR: 0/4
HT: 13
Move: 2G/28.8 mps [2]
LWt.: 30 Tons
Load: 0.2 Tons
SM: 5
Occ: 2SV
dDR: 15/10/10
Cost: $1,943,000 [3]


Front
[1] Armor, Advanced Metallic Laminate (5 dDR) [Hardened]
[2] Armor, Advanced Metallic Laminate (5 dDR) [Hardened]
[3] Armor, Advanced Metallic Laminate (5 dDR) [Hardened]
[4!] Magsail (0.001G Acceleration)
[5] Fuel Cell (1PP, 12 Hours Operation)
[6!] Major Weapons Battery (Fixed-Mount 10MJ Laser)
[Core] Control Room (1 Control Station; Complexity 4 Computer Network; Comm/Sensor Level 3)

Middle
[1] Armor, Advanced Metallic Laminate (5 dDR) [Hardened]
[2] Armor, Advanced Metallic Laminate (5 dDR) [Hardened]
[3] Fuel Tank (2 Tons Capacity)
[4] Fuel Tank (2 Tons Capacity)
[5] Fuel Tank (2 Tons Capacity)
[6] External Clamp

Rear
[1] Armor, Advanced Metallic Laminate (5 dDR) [Hardened]
[2] Armor, Advanced Metallic Laminate (5 dDR) [Hardened]
[3] Fuel Tank (2 Tons Capacity)
[4] Fuel Tank (2 Tons Capacity)
[5] Fuel Tank (2 Tons Capacity)
[6] External Pulsed Plasma (2G Acceleration, 4 Delta-V/Tank) [4]
[Core] Engine Room (1 Workspace)

Design Features
* Stealth Hull (Stealth Bonus: 6)

Crew
1 Pilot
1 Flight Officer
The Flight Officer pulls double-duty: he manages the sensors as well as the engines and the module clamp, and is the ship's engineer. Either the Flight Officer or the Pilot can fire the ship's sole laser cannon, and both should be trained in its use.


Notes:

1: SUN stands for Spacecraft, Utility, Nuclear, designating that the Menippe is a utility spacecraft using nuclear propulsion.
2: When using the Magsail as the propulsion system, change Move to 0.001G/350 mps
3: Besides the (relatively cheap) $2 million pricetag, the Menippe's nuclear bomb fuel load costs $3 million
4: A civilian version of the Menippe could exist which uses Fusion Pulse Drive propulsion. Change Move to 0.02G/48 mps and replace the Magsail, Weapons Battery, and Fuel Cell with a single Habitat unit, filled with a single hibernation tube, and two fuel tanks. Reduce price to $1,528,000 and reduce price to fill up on fuel to $800,000. This design could also be used in areas afraid of External Pulsed Plasma drives.

[Langy]

The first module is the MA-1 Missile Pod, a relatively expensive combat pod designed to let the Menippe be used as a torpedo boat. These missile pods make the Menippe extremely dangerous, especially when the Menippe's 225 missiles are equipped with 25 kiloton nuclear warheads. A nuclear-armed Menippe costs only $11,250,000 more and can single-handedly level an entire task force of much larger ships. Compared with almost any other weapon platform, a Shiva armed with nuclear missiles gives more bang for you buck than anything else out there.


Name: MA-1 Shiva Missile Pod
TL: 9
dST/HP: 20
Hnd/SR: 0/4
HT: 12
Move: None
LWt.: 30 Tons
Load: 0.1
SM: 5
Occ: None
dDR: 5/5/5
Cost: $3,120,000


Front
[1] Armor, Advanced Metallic Laminate (5 dDR) [Hardened]
[2] Medium Weapons Battery (3 16cm Missile Launchers)
[3] Medium Weapons Battery (3 16cm Missile Launchers)
[4] Medium Weapons Battery (3 16cm Missile Launchers)
[5] Medium Weapons Battery (3 16cm Missile Launchers)
[6] Medium Weapons Battery (3 16cm Missile Launchers)
[Core] Control Room (Complexity 4 Computer Network; Comm/Sensor Level 3)

Middle
[1] Armor, Advanced Metallic Laminate (5 dDR) [Hardened]
[2] Medium Weapons Battery (3 16cm Missile Launchers)
[3] Medium Weapons Battery (3 16cm Missile Launchers)
[4] Medium Weapons Battery (3 16cm Missile Launchers)
[5] Medium Weapons Battery (3 16cm Missile Launchers)
[6] Medium Weapons Battery (3 16cm Missile Launchers)


Rear
[1] Armor, Advanced Metallic Laminate (5 dDR) [Hardened]
[2] Medium Weapons Battery (3 16cm Missile Launchers)
[3] Medium Weapons Battery (3 16cm Missile Launchers)
[4] Medium Weapons Battery (3 16cm Missile Launchers)
[5] Medium Weapons Battery (3 16cm Missile Launchers)
[6] Medium Weapons Battery (3 16cm Missile Launchers)
[Core] Tactical Sensor Array (Comm/Sensor Level 5)

Design Features
* Stealth Hull (Stealth Bonus: 6)

Crew
None

[Langy]

The Neil Armstrong class of spacecraft carrier is the premier power projection platform in the United States Space Force arsenal. Featuring enough delta-V to travel from Earth to the asteroid belt in as little as seventy-five days, the Armstrongs are able to deliver their payload of small craft anywhere in the solar system. With a full warload of Shiva-module Menippes, the Armstrongs can transport over thirty-three thousand nuclear missiles - enough to render several planets completely uninhabitable, and for under the cost of another Neil Armstrong-class carrier. Of course, the normal loadout of a Neil Armstrong consists of only a fraction of that number of nukes and missile modules.

Name: Neil Armstrong-class Spacecraft Carrier
TL: 9
dST/HP: 300
Hnd/SR: -2/5
HT: 13
Move: 0.005G/144 mps
LWt.: 100,000 Tons
Load: 15,400 Tons
SM: 12
Occ: 1000 ASV
dDR: 70/70/70
Cost: $6,112,000,000


Front
[1] Armor, Advanced Metallic Laminate (70 dDR) [Hardened]
[2] Fuel Tank (5,000 Tons Capacity)
[3] Tactical Sensor Array (Comm/Sensor Level 12)
[4] Hangar Bay (3,000 Tons Capacity, 500 Tons per Minute Launch Rate)
[5] Hangar Bay (3,000 Tons Capacity, 500 Tons per Minute Launch Rate)
[6] Fuel Tank (5,000 Tons Capacity)
[Core] Control Room (20 Control Stations; Complexity 8 Computer Network; Comm/Sensor Level 10)

Middle
[1] Armor, Advanced Metallic Laminate (70 dDR) [Hardened]
[2] Fuel Tank (5,000 Tons Capacity)
[3!] Tertiary Weapons Battery (30 1GJ Laser Turrets)
[4] Habitat (600 Rooms)
[5] Open Space (20 Gardens)
[6] Fuel Tank (5,000 Tons Capacity)

Rear
[1] Armor, Advanced Metallic Laminate (70 dDR) [Hardened]
[2] Fuel Tank (5,000 Tons Capacity)
[3] Cargo Hold (5,000 Tons Capacity)
[4] Hangar Bay (3,000 Tons Capacity, 500 Tons per Minute Launch Rate)
[5] Advanced Fusion Pulse Drive (0.005G Acceleration, 20 Delta-V/Tank)
[6] Fuel Tank (5,000 Tons Capacity)
[Core] Fusion Reactor (1PP, 100 Years Operation) [Derated]

Design Features
* Spin Gravity (0.5 Gs)

Habitats
10 Luxury Cabins
40 Cabins
225 Bunkrooms
20 Bed Sickbay
5 Briefing Rooms
5 Offices
10 Establishments
5 Cells
260 Steerage

Crew
40 Command Crew
40 Life Support Techs ("Gardeners")
90 Hangar Crew
600 Flight Crew
30 Power Room Techs
30 Nuclear Pulse Engineers
60 Electronics Techs
30 Weapons Techs
30 Turret Gunners
5 Medical

[Cernig]

I'm personally dubious that stealthing would be of more than borderline stategic or tactical usefulness on anything using a nuclear pulse engine, or that anyone (at any TL) could shoehorn a 25 k-t yield nuke into a 6 1/2 inch missile, but other than that nice designs.

Edit: for comparison, the W-80 nuclear warhead - variable from 5 to 150 KT - (TL8) is 11.8 inches in diameter and can be loaded into the AGM-129 cruise missile (TL 8) which is 2 ft 5 inches in diameter and masses 1.3 tonnes at launch. Physics constrains just how small you can make a nuke.

One other thing - where Stealth would actually be useful is on the missiles, just like the AGM-129.

[Langy]

I agree - Stealth would be useless on a ship blasting away with a nuclear pulse engine. That's why the External Pulse Plasma's IR signature modifier is +9 - stealth doesn't help much there. However, the stealth is useful in, say, an asteroid field where the Menippe can latch onto a drifting 'roid and shut down everything but auxillary power. With the nuclear pulse engine off and with the ship hidden on the rock instead of just drifting in open space, there'd be a straight -5 modifier to detect the Menippe at point-blank range, a -11 modifier after you take into account the stealth.

Considering the Menippe is a general-purpose ship, I have no trouble imagining it being used in such an ambush. It's made to be able to undertake nearly any type of mission.

As to the size of the nukes, I'm going by the rules listed in Spaceships on Page 47 - the minimum size missile required for a 25 kiloton nuke is 16 centimeters, and that was listed as TL7 technology. That might be a bit off (alright, probably a good bit off), and I don't know too much about nuclear weapon design except the basics, but I don't find it too difficult to believe in a 16cm nuclear warhead - and I see no reason why a weapon with that diameter couldn't be fired from a 16cm tube.

Anyways, I'm just working with the design specifications we've been given. I have my own houserules for a few things, but these designs are going to be mostly by-the-book.

[Cernig]

Hi Langy,

I try to be as knowledgeable as a layman can get on matters of arms control, mainly because a couple of my blogging pals are real-life experts and we end up discussing this kind of stuff. (If you want some technical info, try here.)

going by the rules listed in Spaceships on Page 47 - the minimum size missile required for a 25 kiloton nuke is 16 centimeters, and that was listed as TL7 technology.

Hmmm, maybe. The Davy Crockett artillery shell was the smallest nuke ever built, the basic core of which (the W54 warhead with a maximum 0.5 KT yeild) is "10.75 inches diameter (270 mm), about 15.7 inches long (400 mm), and weighs around or slightly over 50 pounds (23 kg)." The Davey Crockett was firmly TL7 and weighed 76 lb (34.5 kg). It was 31 in. (78.7 cm) long with a diameter of 11 in. (28 cm) at its widest point. There was also a missile using the same sub-kiloton warhead, the AIM-26 Falcon, which had a diameter of 11.4 inches, but it's powered range was only 6 miles - useless in space combat.

A typical 25KT nuclear battlefield missile at TL 7 has a range of around 90 miles and a diameter of just over a foot and a half. A late 80's/early 90's state of the art 25 KT nuclear device core is, as I wrote earlier, about 12 inches wide and the constraints of physics mean that it can't be made any smaller. The missile itself is usually considerably wider.

I suppose, in retrospect, a 16 inch missile for a 25 KT yield is just about doable - but there's no margin for toughness of the missile itself. If it hits a micro-meteorite...poof and it has no defense against external radiation degrading the package ( which means it squibs at detonation) or (worst case) even setting it off in a low-yield accident if there's a rad surge. I'd suggest building in stealth and a layer of armor/rad proofing and add some diameter if you're going for high realism, then just use less missiles per ship. Alternatively, use 16 inch missiles with a 2.5 to 5 KT yield, which is still a lot of boom - in space, a fireball of total destruction 200 or 300 yards in diameter and a lethal radiation pulse out to about 1/2 a mile.

On the Stealth for the small craft, point accepted for powered-down lurkers. Just how likely a deployment is that?

Regards, C

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Langy

However, the stealth is useful in, say, an asteroid field where the Menippe can latch onto a drifting 'roid and shut down everything but auxillary power.

Without superscience it still has to radiate heat or the crew roasts alive.

[safisher]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Without superscience it still has to radiate heat or the crew roasts alive.

I think it will be hard to see the changes coming at TL9 with the advent of metamaterials. The ships using them may be unrecognizable to us in their geometry as "stealth space ships" too.

[Crakkerjakk]

Originally Posted by Langy

However, the stealth is useful in, say, an asteroid field where the Menippe can latch onto a drifting 'roid and shut down everything but auxillary power. With the nuclear pulse engine off and with the ship hidden on the rock instead of just drifting in open space, there'd be a straight -5 modifier to detect the Menippe at point-blank range, a -11 modifier after you take into account the stealth.

So long as you realize that the average distance between asteroids(depending on the size cut off you are using to call something an asteroid as opposed to a pebble) is about a million kilometers. According to THS Deep Beyond pg 8, the average distance between chunks of rock several hundred feet across is 100,000 miles in our main belt. Considering that this will mean that generally, that chunk of rock is the ONLY place to hide behind, it will make ambush virtually impossible against a suspicious opponent. Might work on prospectors, not on pirates or military craft. And probably wouldn't work on prospectors for long, once word got out.