Firing Ship Mounted Guns at People

[Dirk Desiato]

I'd say, however, that firing ship mounted weapons dirtside in any sort of public fashion is likely to attract the ire of the local authorities. If you're mad enough to do it inside a starport, expect to be staring at some heavy Imperial ordnance pretty soon...

To heck with the weapons. If you power up the active radar on the ground for a space-range target acquisition ping aimed even vaguely close to horizontal you'll be rattling windows, peeling paint, and cooking unprotected organics (ie. people). Now imagine the fine for doing that in an enclosed bay in a high port...

As one who has worked with ground based, space scanning radar systems IRL (I was in USAF Space Command), this does not happen. I saw the tests that proved it also.

 

[GypsyComet]

Spoilsport

It's going to be frequency based, of course. Hyperbole aside, I suspect the old Vilani wouldn't ever consider EVAs if they thought the sensors that were keeping them safe could kill them. Will Solomani broadband sensors have a "BBQ" setting somewhere just outside the safeties? Probably. We're weird that way.

 

[Shiloh]

Would a landed ship even be powered up (and incidentally how long would that take) and would all a ships weapons not be locked down until the skipper turned a key, or the equivalent, to allow them to go weapons free.

As a short hop down this bunny trail, it once occured to me to design a TL 15 ship with no landing gear. It was alway's powered up and always hovered above the ground. I mean how much can 1 ton of fuel per month cost and how hard can it be to keep the tanks from going dry?

Kinda difficult to run routine "1000 parsec" maintenance on a powered up reactor and grav drive... I guess you'd have to head for a special cradle or 0-G environment...

 

[collins355]

Interesting to note real world developments in the laser field...
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/09/tactial-laser-l.html