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Writing some military SF, looking for help

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  • #16
    Originally posted by ArmchairGeneral View Post
    Only assuming a future with advanced AI and/or long range unjammeable comlinks. Fighters have one big advantage over missiles: a human brain at the controls. Also you don't have to destroy such an extremely expensive piece of equipment in order to deliver your warhead. Most of your arguments against fighters also apply in the present day, but manned warplanes still dominate. Of course, inertial is definitely a problem, one I hadn't thought much about. I guess that would about quadruple the fuel load. I don't know though. I'm sure missiles would have much larger role in space combat, but I'm not sure about the inevitable demise of manned fighters and bombers.
    Except that on earth aircraft operate in a differ mediu mthan ships and ground vehicles, one with much different levels of performance. That's not true in space. In fact capital ships with much larger engines and FAR more fuel mass will likely be able to outrun fighters.

    Increasing the fuel load doesn't solve the problem either. Now you have even more mass to accelerate (and consequently decelerate) than before.

    It doesn't matter if a human is at the controls or not, you can't dodge a laser beam. Missiles are a better choice because they are faster, more agile, smaller, cheaper, you can carry mroe of them, and best of all when they blow up nobody dies.

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    • #17
      Well, in my SF story, the main weapons are railgun turrets flinging large slugs of tungsten and steel at enemy battleships. Missiles and fighters are used in a diversionary role to mission kill enemy capital ships by targeting engines, radar, fire control systems, etc. But the main weapons are railguns.

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      • #18
        Originally posted by HoratioNelson View Post
        Well, in my SF story, the main weapons are railgun turrets flinging large slugs of tungsten and steel at enemy battleships. Missiles and fighters are used in a diversionary role to mission kill enemy capital ships by targeting engines, radar, fire control systems, etc. But the main weapons are railguns.
        Fighters aren't very good platforms for railguns, they're better suited to carrying missiles.

        Of course simply outfitting your capaital ships with larges numbers of long ranged missiles eliminates any need for fighters except for dramatic purposes, which is the only real thing they're good for.

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        • #19
          Newton's 2nd Law when you have that many rail guns.

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          • #20
            Watch BBC Entertainment's RED DWARF for SF jokes that may inspire you for some humour relief in your narrative!


            "Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

            I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

            HAKUNA MATATA

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