Tech Level news: so, you can buy a Gauss Rifle now

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Joseph Paul

As long as active measures are effective there is no need to have radscanners as a military PESA technology for artillery.

Active measures give away your presence and position, while passive measures do not. So, given equal performance, passive measures are better. That said, I think radar that detects both the path and position of incoming fire has superior performance compared to a passive system that detects the EM pulse of the firing weapon, so it's a question of trade-offs. If what you're looking for is "I want to know where I'm being attacked from, so I can call down the thunder on the mortar team," the passive system is better; if what you're looking for is "I want to know where the projectile is and where it's headed, both so I can determine if it's worth using up point-defense ammo on and so I can actually hit it if I do so," the active radar is what you want.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Joseph Paul

What I was dedicating effort to was laying out the path likely to be followed in a setting that has EM gunnery capability and radscanners. As long as active measures are effective there is no need to have radscanners as a military PESA technology for artillery. Something has to break the AESA of the counter-battery fire. As long as the active measures are effective in fixing the location of the incoming fire it doesn't matter if the guns are using chemicals or coils to propel munitions.





Ask the NVA AA radar batteries that were protecting Hanoi how they felt about it when the US introduced ARM missiles. This is exactly the kind of technological development that renders a known defense moot. Damned if you do, and useless if you don't. Work arounds would include bomb shelters for the AESA assets that they retreat into once they have got their first fix. Or very mobile AESA assets that can shift out of the CEP zone of a counter attack. Slaving a CIWS or another active point defense to prolong the life span of the system might be useful.

I'm confused as to why you're writing this detailed and dramatic history of how people are forced to adopt the superior technology.

[Joseph Paul]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

I'm confused as to why you're writing this detailed and dramatic history of how people are forced to adopt the superior technology.

Which tech are you referring to EM guns or radscanners?