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Science & Technology
Nuclear Battleship
2007-12-27
Posted by:3dc

#13  T. Woof is right about the earth orbital Rods from God, but I thought they were more like titanium telephone poles, and wouldn't take all that rocket power to get them up there. Don't know that Mars or the Moon provide much help - distances too great for fast reaction times, which is what phil b's response clarified.
Posted by: Glung McGurque2454   2007-12-27 21:46  

#12  Thomas Woof: Too much coffee, or too much Star Trek?
Posted by: Anonymoose   2007-12-27 20:51  

#11  Consider it done, Barbara.
Posted by: Gromomble Oppressor of the Iowans8916   2007-12-27 18:35  

#10  "guaranteed to outrage eco-wackies and send granola crunchers into raging fits"

Then it's got my vote, Gromomble.

(Say, do you think ya' could oppress Iowans for a while? They're getting mighty boring....)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2007-12-27 18:28  

#9  Starship YAMATO!

BANZAI!
BANZAI!
BANZAI!
Posted by: borgboy2001   2007-12-27 18:23  

#8  Glung McGurque2454 MOAB is the end all and be all except for the ultimate weapon, MOAB Rods From Gawd.

This will be a 90 ton projectile shaped like a kniting needle but lots bigger. It will be launched by 3 Saturn 5 fusion powered follow-ons. Once one of these babies are in orbit there will exist an ability to call down a megaton (1 million TONS! of TNT!) on anywhere in the world with only 48 minutes notice (between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m e.s.t). There's a chance that Mars base could be ready by then, which would really make things interesting. So far only the (short-term) lack of a viable fusion rocket is holding this weapon system back.
Posted by: Thomas Woof   2007-12-27 17:57  

#7  The US Navy is committed to electromagnetic launch systems for aircraft - essentially the same technology as the railgun.

I expect they working on long-loiter UAVs as well. Combine the 2 and we are not that far away from wars fought as a series of precision decapitation strikes - Gaza writ large.
Posted by: phil_b   2007-12-27 16:33  

#6  Kid's stuff. How about a battleship that flies in space?

Back in 1963, when Project Orion was a going concern, the Orion team whipped up a model and a proposal for an armored and armed version, essentially an orbital battleship. They thought this might help with funding. They showed it to President Kennedy and he was reportedly horrified.

A fictionalized version had a prominent role in Niven and Pournelle's classic alien invasion classic Footfall.

More good Orion stuff at Nuclear Space, guaranteed to outrage eco-wackies and send granola crunchers into raging fits.
Posted by: Gromomble Oppressor of the Nebraskans8916   2007-12-27 16:21  

#5  NB - I see Moose touches these issues in #2.
Posted by: Glung McGurque2454   2007-12-27 16:19  

#4  Where are the RB Weapons geeks? I thought one of the reasons to go nuclear was the need for massive electrical power for the rail gun systems? I forget the terminology, but it's purely kinetic, no on board explosive magazines, massive platform, and accompanying ammo carrying drones/barges/tenders.

Perhaps a few SLCMs and space for the Phalanx as well, but isn't the trend away from the older guns and bombs combination?
Posted by: Glung McGurque2454   2007-12-27 16:18  

#3  The next class of battleships of course will be powered by fusion and will posess nano-armour equal to 65.43 inches of that olde stuff what was made long time ago. Naturally it will have retracting hydrofoils and the ability to out-dive an Akula even as it provides 2,000 square ft. per crew-member. Naturally the crew will be all volunteer, selected from a group of wealthy young wymens who will actually pay to join the fleet.

ALSO: It will have storage for 100 MOABS.
Posted by: Thomas Woof   2007-12-27 15:29  

#2  Nuclear energy is the only way to give these ships both the power to be fast and the ability to use energy weapons. All indications are that the ships of the future will have much greater energy needs, armored or not.

I'm curious if they are considering the use of energetic "shields" against incoming weaponry, since this is now a major emphasis of research.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2007-12-27 14:46  

#1  Why not a nuclear buggy whip?
Posted by: mojo   2007-12-27 14:33  

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