[House Rules, Ultra-Tech] A more smart-mattery HEMP warhead

[MatthewVilter]

Originally Posted by MatthewVilter

I'm tempted to give HEMP more of a "smart-matter" feel by giving it programable airburst and concussion modes (and maybe top attack?) and upping the cost to x5 or x10.

This doesn't really need to replace HEMP, you could just call it High Explosive Smart-Matter or whatever. Personally I think Shaped Charge warheads should just become available in smaller rounds at TL 10 and the (excellent) name “High Explosive Multi-Purpose” should be reserved for a higher tech more multi-purpose warhead type.

Originally Posted by vierasmarius

The role of a programmable anti-armor round is currently held be the SEFOP. Giving the HEMP a top-attack mode without also reducing its armor divisor would completely displace the "smart" round.

Yes, any top-attack mode would be using an explosively forged projectile (as opposed to a more standard shaped charge) and use an appropriately lower damage and armor divisor. As for displacing SEFOP warheads those are TL 9 and this is TL 10. But yeah, this new HEMP or HESM or whatever would need to be homing just like SEFOP.

Originally Posted by lexington

There's no such thing as "programmable concussion mode" either the explosive has fragmentation in it or it doesn't.

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

Programmable airburst is not unreasonable, but should be very cheap to add. Concussion mode is both not reasonable ('smart matter' doesn't plausibly let you switch between a solid fragmentation case and none) and pretty much useless.

We are talking about the same smart-matter that allows Interphase armor and transparent bioplas right? Couldn't the solid fragmentation case just flake off in flight? I don’t know if shaped charges can work without a hard case around them but you could at least have a concussion mode with no other effect. As for it being useless:

Originally Posted by lexington

You can't use HEMP in every situation:
Try resolving a hostage situation when your carbine is loaded with HEMP rounds.
...

I mean maybe explosive rounds of any kind aren't exactly ideal for a hostage situation. ;) But seriously, you can’t really use anything with fragmentation in public and, for example, the police may need to use explosive rounds to deal with microbot swarms or (if shaped charges can work without a hard case) a heavily armored criminal.

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

Top attack is probably not reasonable either, unless you've bought smart bullets capable of a pop-up and dive maneuver.

I am thinking that one or more (relatively shallow) bowl shapes for EFPs would be built into the side of the round and a conventional cone shaped shaped charge would be at the tip. One or the other would work depending on order and timing of detonators used or the detonators fire in such a way as to give more or less standard high explosive fragmentation results.