Neutron Cannons anyone?

[phavoc]

If you are an old PC Game player, you probably have heard of the game Wing Commander. In that game one of the weapons you could have was a neutron cannon. It was relatively short-ranged, but it packed a wallop. Now Japanese scientists have proven the existence of a four-neutron particle - something that was thought impossible. Neutrons are neutrally (duh!) charged, so they are difficult to handle in a laboratory condition.

But in the 52nd century they surely would have conquered such a thing, right? So bring on the neutron cannons, the neutron bays, and neutron spinal mount!

http://www.asianscientist.com/2016/01/in-the-lab/tokyo-tetraneutron-proton/

 

[wbnc]

I thin that would end up in the bin with neutron bombs...with a label that reads..Open only in event of extra dimensional horror.

 

[AndrewW]

I thin that would end up in the bin with neutron bombs...with a label that reads..Open only in event of extra dimensional horror.

Or grandfather.

 

[Spartan159]

I thin that would end up in the bin with neutron bombs...with a label that reads..Open only in event of extra dimensional horror.

Or grandfather.

Bets are he has a neutron shield belt.

 

[wbnc]

I thin that would end up in the bin with neutron bombs...with a label that reads..Open only in event of extra dimensional horror.

Or grandfather.

Bets are he has a neutron shield belt.

grandfather dimensional horror...same results....and hes likely got neutron belt and gamma proof underoos...

 

[dragoner]

Two words: Cache Weapon.

 

[wbnc]

Two words: Cache Weapon.

Oh yeah. just because they aren't put on ships doesn't mean there aren't any in stock somewhere nice and quiet.

 

[Condottiere]

 

[dragoner]

Two words: Cache Weapon.

Oh yeah. just because they aren't put on ships doesn't mean there aren't any in stock somewhere nice and quiet.

Like an asteroid where Volyova can get at them. :wink:

 

[Infojunky]

But in the 52nd century they surely would have conquered such a thing, right?

Yes, the do exist, in Traveller they are Called Particle Accelerators....

 

[wbnc]

But in the 52nd century they surely would have conquered such a thing, right?

Yes, the do exist, in Traveller they are Called Particle Accelerators....

I had that thought too,..only issue is that I think a neutron accelerator would have much better armor piercing effect than a standard PA

 

[Infojunky]

But in the 52nd century they surely would have conquered such a thing, right?

Yes, the do exist, in Traveller they are Called Particle Accelerators....

I had that thought too,..only issue is that I think a neutron accelerator would have much better armor piercing effect than a standard PA

Radiation effect..... Darn fine Armor piercing effect...

 

[wbnc]

Yes, the do exist, in Traveller they are Called Particle Accelerators....

I had that thought too,..only issue is that I think a neutron accelerator would have much better armor piercing effect than a standard PA

Radiation effect..... Darn fine Armor piercing effect...

OH no doubt, I was also thinking of the actual physical effect on materials hit by the beam.

a neutron has far more mass than electrons and protons, or a pair of the combined. Sort of the subatomic version of the difference between being hit by a brick, and being hit by a cannonball. the energy generated by a near light speed electron, is nasty, but it has almost no mass to speak of.9.10938356 × 10-31 Kg a neutron is 1.6749 x 10-27 kg. there's three decimal places difference there. I don not have the math skills to figure out the actual difference in energy created by an impact of neutrons over an electron. But I would say the difference is pretty impressive.

I am thinking the physical effect would be enough to actually classify a Neutron Beam as being distinct from a typical Particle Accelerator. Along with the higher level of technology, power requirements, size of the device.

I could see A Neutron Beam being more potent against physical materials, either slicing though lighter armors or ignoring them altogether.IN game terms either a high level of AP, or ignoring anything less than bonded superdense.

I'd also be worried if i got hit by a neutron beam and happened to have any fissionable materials on board....they don't play well together...the party gets loud, windows get broken, things get out of hand....small cities get vandalized....seriously vandalized.

Now their is another option, instead of a concentrated beam a loosely contained beam could be created that delivered only radiation effect. once again Neutrons tend to ignore most metals as they go zipping through space. a looser focus on the beam wouldnt deliver as much structural damage,, maybe even no structural damage, but it would be lethal to anything living in it path.( assuming a typical organic/DNA based makeup)

 

[phavoc]

But in the 52nd century they surely would have conquered such a thing, right?

Yes, the do exist, in Traveller they are Called Particle Accelerators....

Nope, it's not the same. Yes, they are related, but different energy weapons have different effects. That would be like saying a laser is the same as a PA, or a PA is the same as a meson (spinal) mount.

But they aren't. Particle Accelerators don't exclusively work with neutrons. A NEUTRON cannon would be firing the literal neutron. Which, to be fair, is also a "particle". PA's aren't terribly discriminatory, however.

 

[Spartan159]

Maybe my memory is faulty and perhaps it has nothing to do with this particular application, but I seem to recall the big thing about neutron bombs was that it killed organics and left materials intact, and that the radiation went away quicker. Just throwing that out there.

 

[wbnc]

Maybe my memory is faulty and perhaps it has nothing to do with this particular application, but I seem to recall the big thing about neutron bombs was that it killed organics and left materials intact, and that the radiation went away quicker. Just throwing that out there.

Neutron bombs were Nuclear bombs. But they had a different lining than normal bombs, this allowed the neutrons generated by the reaction to escape instead of being trapped to boost the power of the bomb. the radiation is lethal out to a pretty significant distance. The bomb has a subkiloton yield in most designs. Since neutrons tend not to "stick" when they encounter objects, which is what causes radioactive fallout, there is only the fallout form the relatively small bomb...which fades fairly quickly since the bomb is airbursts without the fireball coming into contact with the ground....or that's the theory, I don't think anyone has actually tested the bomb as it would be used since it would have to be an above ground test.

 

[phavoc]

Maybe my memory is faulty and perhaps it has nothing to do with this particular application, but I seem to recall the big thing about neutron bombs was that it killed organics and left materials intact, and that the radiation went away quicker. Just throwing that out there.

Neutron bombs were Nuclear bombs. But they had a different lining than normal bombs, this allowed the neutrons generated by the reaction to escape instead of being trapped to boost the power of the bomb. the radiation is lethal out to a pretty significant distance. The bomb has a subkiloton yield in most designs. Since neutrons tend not to "stick" when they encounter objects, which is what causes radioactive fallout, there is only the fallout form the relatively small bomb...which fades fairly quickly since the bomb is airbursts without the fireball coming into contact with the ground....or that's the theory, I don't think anyone has actually tested the bomb as it would be used since it would have to be an above ground test.

Yes, the neutron bomb was an enhanced radiation weapon that utilized mostly neutrons to do it's killing. It was developed so that it could be (in theory) used in Western Europe to destroy Russian military forces while still leaving the landscape inhabitable. The neutrons would not irradiate the buildings and such like a standard nuke would with fallout, rendering the area uninhabitable.

http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/basics/neutron-bomb.htm

 

[wbnc]

Maybe my memory is faulty and perhaps it has nothing to do with this particular application, but I seem to recall the big thing about neutron bombs was that it killed organics and left materials intact, and that the radiation went away quicker. Just throwing that out there.

Neutron bombs were Nuclear bombs. But they had a different lining than normal bombs, this allowed the neutrons generated by the reaction to escape instead of being trapped to boost the power of the bomb. the radiation is lethal out to a pretty significant distance. The bomb has a subkiloton yield in most designs. Since neutrons tend not to "stick" when they encounter objects, which is what causes radioactive fallout, there is only the fallout form the relatively small bomb...which fades fairly quickly since the bomb is airbursts without the fireball coming into contact with the ground....or that's the theory, I don't think anyone has actually tested the bomb as it would be used since it would have to be an above ground test.

Yes, the neutron bomb was an enhanced radiation weapon that utilized mostly neutrons to do it's killing. It was developed so that it could be (in theory) used in Western Europe to destroy Russian military forces while still leaving the landscape inhabitable. The neutrons would not irradiate the buildings and such like a standard nuke would with fallout, rendering the area uninhabitable.

http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/basics/neutron-bomb.htm

And for once the major powers looked at a weapon..and shoved it back in the bottle. Neither side wanted to deal with enemy having such a weapon. An even scarier version of an enriched bomb was the cobalt bomb.. Basically a bomb sheathed in heavy layers of various materials, which produced long lasting heavily irradiated isotopes that would render a large area lethal for a very long time...another weapon that was never fielded as it was wayyy to nasty.

which makes me think a neutron based weapon would be one of those things that would be developed, then officially "shelved" a weapon that could conceivably slice through armor and kill the entire crew without seriously damaging a starship would be a real threat to any major power. and any ship mounting such a weapon would probably be on the receiving end of some serous spinal mount fire. especially considering a neutron based weapon would not be as inhibited by atmospheric gasses...an enemy could fry the population of a city, world for that matter, and land almost immediately.

 

[Condottiere]

Probably resolved with the extensive use of nuclear dampers.

 

[phavoc]

And for once the major powers looked at a weapon..and shoved it back in the bottle. Neither side wanted to deal with enemy having such a weapon. An even scarier version of an enriched bomb was the cobalt bomb.. Basically a bomb sheathed in heavy layers of various materials, which produced long lasting heavily irradiated isotopes that would render a large area lethal for a very long time...another weapon that was never fielded as it was wayyy to nasty.

which makes me think a neutron based weapon would be one of those things that would be developed, then officially "shelved" a weapon that could conceivably slice through armor and kill the entire crew without seriously damaging a starship would be a real threat to any major power. and any ship mounting such a weapon would probably be on the receiving end of some serous spinal mount fire. especially considering a neutron based weapon would not be as inhibited by atmospheric gasses...an enemy could fry the population of a city, world for that matter, and land almost immediately.

The neutron warhead coupled with the Pershing 2's actually shifted the balance of power and brought the Ruskies to the negotiating table in regards to deployed nuclear weapons in the European theatre. With the changes in relations the neutron warheads and missiles carriers were dismantled. So like many nuclear weapons systems they accomplished at least part of their job without being fired (yay!).

There are many ways to get rid of the population of a planet (bio, chem, kinetic). Collapsed-matter armor doesn't exist today, but I would suspect that it would provide a great deal more protection against neutron and gamma ray exposure. So a starship expecting nukes would want to have that sort of protection. Even planetary sites could benefit from it (though anything deep, like a meson site would be immune).

If I recall correctly years ago the US detected what they thought was a Chinese neutron warhead detonation. They already had discovered that Chinese agents had stolen much of the technology behind the weapon (who woulda thunk?).