Solomani Confederation (Military)

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: TRI Fighter

Q. I think I got the fuel tankage wrong.

R. So, I looked it up in Smallcraft.

S. The minimum, appears to be two weeks fuel consumption.

T. Or, fifty kilogrammes.

U. Though, with a fifty kilogramme technological level fifteen monopower point fusion reactor, two weeks would be two and a half kilogramme fuel tank.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: TRI Fighter

V. Power plant efficiency can probably separated into three categories.

W. Total cost of ownership

X. Energy density.

Y. Fuel consumption

Z. For a fighter craft, probably how you expect it to survive in combat.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: TRI Fighter

1. The TRI Fighter endurance is pretty much dependent on the crew's, specifically, the pilot's.

2. High Guard states the cockpit has life support for twenty four hours, Twenty Three Hundred twelve hours.

3. Sixteen hours considered about the maximum the pilot should be subjected to.

4. Being exposed to exceptional gee forces can't be helpful.

5. Point defence intercept mission is likely to be of short duration.

6. Patrol and close escort, especially for convoys and planetary orbit, would be limited to twelve hours.

7. If fightercraft have time shares, the mechanics would need to regenerate life support.

8. Otherwise, you'd have to schlep along extra oxygen bottles.

9. I think three to twelve hour sorties.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: TRI Fighter

A. So we install a torpedo grapple on the firmpoint.

B. Otherwise, you tend to be stuck with a dogfighting weapon system.

C. While a little inconvenient for the armourer, the torpedo grapple would be on the top spine.

D. This would allow the bottom of the TRI Fighter a lot lower, if not scraping along the ground.

E. This would lean the cockpit forward when landed.

F. The seat could be adjustable, and tilt backwards when landed.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: TRI Fighter

G. I think it's possible, that instead of attaching two torpedo fuselages, you can attach a doubled volume single conformal pack.

H. That would mean a two thirds of a tonne volume that could be carried, in it.

I. Essentially, a rooftop box.

J. The torpedo grapple is somewhat essential, because it allows an interface between the spacecraft and the either the two torpedoes, the torpedo configured fuselages, or the conformal pack.

K. Which allows you to shoot stuff from them, or use the onboard electronics.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: TRI Fighter

L. You could use torpedo grapples for actual torpedoes.

M. Little hard to hit smallcraft and Adventure class spacecraft with them.

N. So you stuff with default missiles.

O. Multiple warhead standard torpedo indicate that it has three warheads with the same damage as a standard missile.

P. Which would mean that if you extend them, and include rocket motors, you basically have a container for three default standard missiles.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: TRI Fighter

Q. By the same process, you clear out everything in a multiple warhead missile.

R. With three warheads, you could use them to cap a miniaturized missile fuselage.

S. That would mean, you could have a torpedo weapon pod with nine mini missiles of three damage dice, each.

T. As with damage being scaled down from four to three dice, performance, likely endurance, will also be diminished.

U. Cost would also be reduced, rather than divided by three.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: TRI Fighter

V. In theory, the same space could be taken up with interceptor and dogfight missiles.

W. These are a known quantity, so concrete performance specifications and costs.

X. Also, two interceptor missiles can replace one default missile in the same given volume.

Y. And four dogfight missiles, for one default missiles.

Z. Though, at three dice, compared to interceptor two and dogfight one, I'm more inclined towards an independent multi warhead with three.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: TRI Fighter

1. So what was an exercise for my amusement, has actually some real world value for the Confederation.

2. Giving it a buffered planetoid body, gives the fighter an organic factor/four hull armour.

3. That's about standard in dealing with turret grade weapons.

4. Current doctrine is not dogfighting, but beyond visual range engagements.

5. The groundscale weapon system allows bypassing the restriction of number of spacecraft weapon systems.

6. And man portable fusion guns, while really short ranged, does have two dice of damage.

7. So, sufficient deterrence.

8. The TRI Fighter concept appears to have merged with the Swordfish.

9. Especially, if you consider biplanes and planetoids as being quaint.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: TRI Fighter

A. The real weakness of the TRI Fighter, is electronics.

B. Sensors require space and energy.

C. Large deployment of TRI Fighters are going to require a SEWAC spacecraft to light up the targets.

D. Spaceborne Early Warning And Control.

E. You go active and ping the enemy, so that they light up like a lighthouse.

F. Since the enemy will notice the searchlight, likely need to put it on a destroyer picket.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: TRI Fighter

G. Upgrading the sensors, by cost alone, is more than the rest of the fighter.

H. Military grade would take up two fifths of volume, and three quarters of the cost.

I. And, you'd have to strip off the ironick hull, which would increase the cost again.

J. Removing the protection of that.

K. As well as the organic gravity field.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: TRI Fighter

L. For one fifth of the tonnage, half of the power requirement of the military grade, and two thirds of the total cost.

M. But you'd need to downgrade your hull from buffered to plain planetoid.

N. Civilian implies that most spacecraft are capped at this level, and you probably need to show cause why you have military grade sensors.

O. For the TRI Fighter, offshoring sensors for close escort and planetary patrol wouldn't be an issue.

P. Once you're away from supporting spacecraft, you'd have to go close and personal to get a lock.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: TRI Fighter

Q. To be more evasive, I'd need, at least, a computer with bandwidth/ten.

R. So, try to stay out of trouble?

S. I could squeeze in a fire control programme, but it would cost me more than the rest of the fighter.

T. If you can't pirate the programme, I suppose salvaging the solid state disk with the programme installed seems rather sensible.

U. Or, each pilot carries a personal Universal Serial Bus stick with his copy, that installs it on the onboard computer.

 

[-Daniel-]

Confederation Navy: TRI Fighter

U. Or, each pilot carries a personal Universal Serial Bus stick with his copy, that installs it on the onboard computer.

Interesting idea. Each pilot could have their own mix of programs to maximize their own skills and compensate for those they lack.

Hum.....

 

[Condottiere]

I think it's circumstantial.

You might not be inclined to do that for a rideshare, if you allocate one fighter for two pilots; certainly not for a battleship.

However, library, manoeuvre, and intellect, cost nothing, and you might have them tweaked to your preferences, maybe more adult content.

And if your computer gets corrupted, you have a backup to wipe the storage, reinstall, and reboot it.

The two issues illustrated are if electronics and software cost(s) are comparatively high, against the spacecraft they are installed in.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: TRI Fighter

V. In theory, if you're not using programmes that have a listed bandwidth, you could have in operation a computer/zero.

W. Ignoring technological level, the cost may be five kilostarbux.

X. Something that may be popular with non combat orientated smallcraft.

Y. Plausibly, non jump capable spacecraft.

Z. While you're not saving much, comparatively, consider that at the player scale, every cent counts.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: TRI Fighter

1. Though, if you did need to have one for a jump factor/one programme, you could bisify it.

2. At least, if it existed, and you used that Traveller mechanic on it.

3. If the default cost is five kilostarbux, then bisification would make that seven a and a half kilostarbux.

4. In the big picture, you don't save that much.

5. If I'm not mistaken, jump programmes, outside the free ones, are actually the cheapest ones.

6. You'd think they'd be more complex than fire control or evasion.

7. Fire control is basically point and click.

8. Jumping requires aligning the stars, into another dimension.

9. Maybe, the actual magic is in astrogation.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: TRI Fighter

A. Quarter tonne divided by thirty five percent is 0.3846153846153846 tonnes.

B. That should be the size of the nose cone with the quarter tonne groundscale weapon system.

C. Or, spike.

D. Should be hinged, since you need to get to the groundscale weapon system.

E. In theory, that would make it modular.

F. Being external, sounds podular.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: TRI Fighter

G. We leave the rear open.

H. In the middle, we stuff the single cockpit, with the hatch being the backdoor.

I. I'd say that the power plant would have to be in front of the cockpit.

J. And the manoeuvre drive modules tucked away in the three corners.

K. The basic sensors are virtual, but would somehow need to be able to penetrate the nickel iron.

 

[Condottiere]

Interesting idea. Each pilot could have their own mix of programs to maximize their own skills and compensate for those they lack.

Hum.....

I can think of one instance this might actually be widespread.

If you're a mercenary, and the spacecraft isn't yours, you might invest in combat programmes to enhance your capabilities, and advance your chances of survival.