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Old 05-20-2014, 11:48 AM   #1
DaltonS
 
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Default [Spaceships] Building an Underground Missile Silo

I would like to design an underground missile silo using GURPS Spaceships and I have a few questions.
  1. According to the "Alternate Spaceships" article in Pyramid 3/34,
    1. “Basement systems cost an extra $1,000 per ton of building mass to cover excavation costs over and above their normal system costs”. That is $1,000 per ton of system, right?
    2. Can a building be completely buried, or does at least one system have to be “above ground” for surface access?
    3. Should the “minimum of one Armor system per section” be Steel or Stone?
  2. The missile base designs I’ve researched seem to comprise of three separate structures connected by tunnels; a) an underground control center with a control room, crew quarters, power systems and storage for associated supplies and equipment, b) the silo itself with attached fuel tankage (for liquid fueled missiles) and storage for missile maintenance supplies and equipment (there may be multiple silos for each control center in a large base), and c) an armored entry portal on the surface between them for personnel and supplies.
    1. If this is a small (one silo) base, should this be designed as one building or three?
    2. Should the silo itself be a major (or spinal?) weapons system or a large (3 system) hangar bay?
As a missile base would make a great secret headquarters, any help you could give would be greatly appreciated.
Dalton “give me a minute, man!” Spence
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Old 05-20-2014, 09:31 PM   #2
thrash
 
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Default Re: [Spaceships] Building an Underground Missile Silo

Missile systems with multiple launch sites controlled by a single center (e.g., Minuteman) don't have the silos co-located with the control center, to make the latter more survivable; their remote silos are also just a concrete hole with a lid. So you're really looking (in US terms) for a Titan or even Atlas base.

The degree of isolation among the three structures in a Titan missile base suggests that you should either design it as three separate (albeit very closely linked) buildings or as one large building with a lot of "dirt" armor (or perhaps "cargo" spaces that just exist to absorb damage); I would probably go with the latter. In addition to these three main sections, there were also several redundant communications systems scattered around the site. Note that fuel tankage was provided by mobile trailers that sat exposed on the surface. The improvement of the Titan over the Atlas was that the liquid fuels were (relatively) stable and could remain loaded most of the time.

The shells of all three structures are heavily steel reinforced concrete. There is a sealed steel shell, but it's for EMP rather than structural support. The silo cover is an enormous (hundred tons?) slab of reinforced concrete on rails, with a hydraulic ram to open it. Nothing else that's vital is exposed above ground level, so I'd say the whole thing is buried. Note that there was essentially no life support in a Titan base: once an attack started and the base was sealed, the crew was on residual air. When that ran out, they had the choice of suffocating or crawling out through one of the access tunnels.

The silo should probably be designed as a hangar bay, since (for Titans, anyway) there was extensive maintenance carried out in it. Note that there is a huge void beneath the silo per se where water is dumped during the launch sequence. Not only does this carry away much of the heat of the exhaust as steam (through two vents beside the silo), but it also damps the noise and vibration that would otherwise tear the missile apart before it cleared the tube. You might consider adapting the "coolant tank" rule (SS1, 31).

If you're not already familiar with it, I recommend the Titan Missile Museum as a resource. The missile silo interiors and launch sequence for Star Trek: First Contact were filmed there, though they didn't use the control center. The control center in the first part of War Games, on the other hand, was for a Minuteman base.

Last edited by thrash; 05-20-2014 at 09:39 PM.
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Old 05-23-2014, 10:20 AM   #3
DaltonS
 
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Default Re: [Spaceships] Building an Underground Missile Silo

Thanks! I just have a few more questions.
  1. When I asked about armor types, it was because I couldn't find "steel reinforced concrete" as an option. What would be the cost/dDR for it?
  2. Those heavy concrete doors should count as extra armor. Should this be one or two extra armor systems?
  3. Should I include Structural Reinforcement systems from the 'GURPS Spaceships Design Spreadsheet' to increase HP?
  4. According to my research, a Minuteman missile would need 4 SM+7 hangar bay systems, an Atlas 5 SM+8 systems and a Titan 6 SM+8 systems. Can I split these between two or more hull sections?

Dalton Atlas I'll have the answers I need!” Spence
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Old 05-23-2014, 05:02 PM   #4
Phantasm
 
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Default Re: [Spaceships] Building an Underground Missile Silo

Quote:
Originally Posted by DaltonS View Post
When I asked about armor types, it was because I couldn't find "steel reinforced concrete" as an option. What would be the cost/dDR for it?
I would probably treat it as Hardened Stone armor.

Quote:
Those heavy concrete doors should count as extra armor. Should this be one or two extra armor systems?
I'd look at it as a single armor system for starters to see how much DR it gives. If it's not enough DR and you've got available spaces left over, make it two. :)

Quote:
Should I include Structural Reinforcement systems from the 'GURPS Spaceships Design Spreadsheet' to increase HP?
It's not a bad idea.

Quote:
According to my research, a Minuteman missile would need 4 SM+7 hangar bay systems, an Atlas 5 SM+8 systems and a Titan 6 SM+8 systems. Can I split these between two or more hull sections?
[QUOTE]
Can you? Yes, ASSuming your overall building is the right SM to have them. Whether you should is entirely up to you. :)
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