In respect to the cost-effectiveness of all this - yeah I agree that normal nuclear ortillery is likely to be a better option for a bunch of reasons.
However.
Militaries with budgets in the multi-trillion credit range aren't going to overlook a weapon concept that costs a mere half-billion. Heck, that's less than a quarter of the price of the cheapest spinal weapon; 0.3% of the cost of a single Sylea class battleship, which are fielded in squadrons.
Worth keeping in mind that this "weapon" can be built at any normal B starport with off the shelf components, apart from the heat shield (which might really be optional given the airburst concerns raised above).
Obsolete hulls could be used to reduce costs. 1000 dTons is a pretty common escort hull size - these are produced and replaced in the thousands (at least). You may also have the situation where a normal warship with battle damage and a crippled jump drive (or a stranded battle rider) chooses this path to inflict maximum damage. If the planetary defenses are crippled or overloaded, I can easily see this happening. It won't be as spectacular, but a 10,000 ton hull at 3G is going to hit pretty hard, even with a relatively short runup.
Also, for the purpose of the exercise, I assumed normal design sequence. It is likely that there are major cost savings in constructing a hull that is not required to refuel, take off or carry a human crew. Even the drives should be cheaper to produce if they are only designed to operate for a couple of hours. Reaction drives might even be a better choice - didn't check that.
However.
Militaries with budgets in the multi-trillion credit range aren't going to overlook a weapon concept that costs a mere half-billion. Heck, that's less than a quarter of the price of the cheapest spinal weapon; 0.3% of the cost of a single Sylea class battleship, which are fielded in squadrons.
Worth keeping in mind that this "weapon" can be built at any normal B starport with off the shelf components, apart from the heat shield (which might really be optional given the airburst concerns raised above).
Obsolete hulls could be used to reduce costs. 1000 dTons is a pretty common escort hull size - these are produced and replaced in the thousands (at least). You may also have the situation where a normal warship with battle damage and a crippled jump drive (or a stranded battle rider) chooses this path to inflict maximum damage. If the planetary defenses are crippled or overloaded, I can easily see this happening. It won't be as spectacular, but a 10,000 ton hull at 3G is going to hit pretty hard, even with a relatively short runup.
Also, for the purpose of the exercise, I assumed normal design sequence. It is likely that there are major cost savings in constructing a hull that is not required to refuel, take off or carry a human crew. Even the drives should be cheaper to produce if they are only designed to operate for a couple of hours. Reaction drives might even be a better choice - didn't check that.
