Quote:
Originally Posted by The Colonel
Different strokes I guess - it would mean setting up EMP detectors, which I could see being standard kit in the future, but aren't currently installed in sentries, so in terms of silently taking down enemy pickets the "rifle" might have some benefits, and although radar-locating mortars is a relatively simple task at high-tactical/low operational level, the ability to produce bombs out of nowhere at a tactical level isn't to be sniffed at. You can, apparently, get silent grenade launcher rounds (silent on launch at least), but I'm told they are bit of a performance compared to the baseline and not as good in terms of range (they're apparently a captive-piston design). How you would go about supressing a mortar using conventional propellant I have no idea...
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You could make a silent mortar using a captive piston system. If you use a spigot launcher it'll be a pretty simple and accurate system.
If you're concerned about the range, consider that you're competing with a gauss system that's not very efficient at all and if it's tossing mortar bombs around will be requiring substantial batteries for the foreseeable future.
The problem gauss weapons have is that they're competing with a very mature technology. The best bet is probably to find some niche that chemical-powered guns suck at and that gauss weapon should not and exploit that. It's like lasers, which are only even a little bit competitive in a very specific niche within the niche of 'point-defence weapons'.