Quote:
Originally Posted by SteaminDemon
Hi Fitz,
You do bring up some good points. However, why compromise on design? For a cruiser of that size, that would be able to support the 12" guns along with 8" and 155's. As goes with Maximus's BB design. There is clearly room for them. So why compromise on just 155's when you can have more? Yes, both platforms would be more versatile. Also, think of the 12" for the cruiser. 8" sabot rounds and even 155 sabot rounds would go even further out of the 12" and 16" guns as well. I would rather have a ship that is capable of more, than just 155's. It would be the same as saying to SWAT team members that "we will now only be carrying the 9MM because it is the most used weapon and we do not need anything else".
If I can bring more options to the fight, IE 16",12", 8" and 155's, the platform would be far more versatile than just 155's and I would be able to take on a broader variety of targets opposed to if I was just carrying 155's around.
How many bouncing betty's can my 16" projectile hold, opposed to my 155MM projectile? A lot more. We need to minimize collateral damage around X target, the 155 will do the job. We need to maximize collateral damage around X target, the 16" will do the job and so on and so forth.
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While we are at it why not have a pool full of mutated sharks with laser beams on their foreheads?
I say that only half-jokingly.
Wouldn't it be neat if... is not a sound basis for procurement policy. It costs years (decades) and billions of dollars to design, develop and test a new high-tech gun system and billions more for its ammunition. If there isn't a clear requirement for it one has to ask
are there better ways to spend this time and money?. In the absence of a clear requirement the answer would seem to be a resounding
YES.
There may indeed be isolated instances where bigger may be required, but given those limited circumstances there may be more economical means to service those targets as well. LockMart's POLAR for example offers an interesting - and dramatically cheaper/less risky - approach to big guns and it can be fired by any ship in the fleet with a Mk 41 or better VLS and the right software. No need for a specialized uber-cruiser and it delivers more payload per round at a lower cost.