Solomani Confederation (Military)

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Bombers

V. Good news for the small ship universe.

W. I've decided that the Confederation defines a light bomber as a primary hull of two hundred tonnes and below.

X. And, they make extensive use of them, in varying configurations.

Y. The primary requirement being a default ten tonne bridge.

Z. Which helps with standardization, training, and familiarity.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Bombers

1. Light bombing covers a rather large area.

2. You could have a five tonne spacecraft, doing counter insurgency with sand casters or missiles.

3. You could have a seventy tonne smallcraft, with a torpedo barbette.

4. And at the other end of the scale, a two hundred tonne starwarship, shooting up commercial shipping as a spacetime strike craft.

5. A fighter bomber seems like a compromise of being able to fight yourself to the target, and then bomb it.

6. Light bomber, by itself, surgical strike against tactical targets, possibly achieving some operational goal.

7. Fighter tends to imply the capability to manoeuvre into a position to shoot down a smallcraft.

8. A bomber might share that capability, which aids survivability, but it's not a necessity.

9. It's main job is to act as a platform for physical ordnance.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Bombers

A. One option is the Doolittle gambit.

B. Or, do much first.

C. You load up the light bombers on a carrier, or freighter.

D. Jump to the targetted system, and launch them.

E. The carrier then bugs out.

F. And the jump capable light bombers, after completing their mission(s), make their own way home.

 

[Seffix]

Confederation Navy: Bombers
C. You load up the light bombers on a carrier, or freighter.
D. Jump to the targetted system, and launch them.
E. The carrier then bugs out.
F. And the jump capable light bombers, after completing their mission(s), make their own way home.

In the alternative Pushmi-pullyu gambit, the bombers are not starships, using the saved tonnage for extra munitions, sensors, maneuver, and fire control.
Then, instead of jumping out when their individual missions are done, they perform high-velocity coordinated overrun actions that place them on matching vectors where they can be picked up by another carrier whose jump in-system is timed for this.

 

[Condottiere]

That sort of thing tends to be situational, this being more a description of general doctrine.

Tactically, the idea is to blow crap up, so that the enemy can't use them.

You can do that by sending in a Fleet Squadron, which tends to imply persistence, even if it's only a raid.

Or, even a Strike Squadron, with a couple of major combatants, or capital starwarships.

Or, light bombers and a Fleet Squadron, with part of the Fleet Squadron's mission to provide overwatch, and deal with intervention from the enemy's major units, while the light bombers just buzz saw through every orbital and ground industrial and military infrastructure.

But doctrine for light bombers, for the Confederation Navy, is more to annoy the enemy across a broad front, and not risk (valuable) major units, such as carriers.

More than they have to.

Also, how can Muskrat Industries make money from the Venture Drive, unless the Navy installs them in their light bombers?

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Bombers

G. Terminology can hint at capability, roles, and mission.

H. Seventy tonne smallcraft can mount one barbette, and have it be either missiles or torpedoes.

I. Those have been referred to as torpedo bombers, when so equipped.

J. Or, missile boat, when you could still install small bays.

K. But, the Confederation Navy no longer follows those Imperium conventions.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Bombers

G. The The Confederation Navy can stick a torpedo grapple on any firmpoint.

H. And does.

I. And going by, I think, Trailing Extents, you can replace the two torpedoes with six missiles.

J. Or, mix and match.

K. Which, suddenly makes an ultralite smallcraft, rather dangerous.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Bombers

L. We don't have exterior mounts for ordnance.

M. Except for those we have to specifically attach to firmpoints and hardpoints.

N. Going by the rules, torpedo grapples attached to hardpoints, and the one firmpoint that can be upgraded to a monoturret, they can traverse.

O. Otherwise, for the other two firmpoints, fixed in one direction.

P. A traversing torpedo grapple in a dogfight, can come as quite a nasty surprise to the other side.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Bombers

Q. Torpedo grapples are considered once and done.

R. In other words, you can only reload them at base.

S. However, invest in a pop up, and they're suddenly internal.

T. All you need is the correct reloading equipment, to slide in the ordnance, and attach them.

U. Or, going by the rules, a gunner to reload individual ordnance into the ready position.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Bombers

Q. During prolonged battles, turrets mounted with sandcasters or missile racks may run out of ammunition.

R. A turret may be reloaded by any Traveller with the Gunner skill but it will be unable to make any attacks in that round.

S. It takes one round to reload a missile rack ...

T. Presumably, three missiles in six minutes.

U. Maybe, one torpedo in the same time frame.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Bombers

V. Does this matter, or have an effect on the combat effectiveness of light bombers?

W. For reloading, you going to need a gunner, or an automated system that does that.

X. Since the torpedo grapple is mounted on a pop up mount, equivalent to an internal bomb bay, it should be more stealthy.

Y. Outside of bombers, Confederation commerce raiders are going to love it.

Z. And, atmospheric reentry is back on the menu.

 

[Condottiere]

Corporation: ORIONSPACE

Polyphemus looks like an interesting position for a hub.

You wouldn't think so, in a trinary star system.

But, that added complication sort of requires a more consolidated transport infrastructure, which would give the advantage to the native interstellar company, compared to a non native starline.

Practically surrounded by Alpha starports, should have sufficient traffic to maintain regular routes.

 

[Condottiere]

Corporation: ORIONSPACE

Polyphemus is a high-population world with a billion or more sophonts in population size.

This is a "high technology" world with technology achievements at, near, or above the standard for Charted Space.

This world is a "Twilight Zone World", a planet that is tidally-locked to its star. It has a hot side that permanently faces the
star, a cold side that permanently faces away, and a narrow twilight zone in-between.

It is a member of the Boötean Federation, which is part of the Solomani Confederation, in the Capella Subsector of Solomani Rim Sector.

This world has a colony at Teucer (world).


With three suns, the system should have plenty of destinations for sublight travel.

A cheap, no frills spaceline could clean up.

Especially, with a world where the inhabitants must be sick of their twilight existence, and would like to travel.

 

[Condottiere]

Corporation: ORIONSPACE

You need a transporter that, if it doesn't have minimal capital outlay, has minimal total cost of ownership.

If the emphasis is on passenger travel, we have to make the net profit greater than that of freight.

And if we base it on ye Seven Thirty Seven, we could be looking at accommodations between fifty to two hundred passengers.

If flight time was between twelve to twenty four hours, we probably could just use acceleration chairs or couches; anything longer, it has to be some form of bunk arrangement, at the low end, and staterooms, for first class.

High Guard lists one steward per hundred middle passage passengers, though I'd go with the normal ratio of one per forty nine, which mind you, is supposedly for one shift of, let's say, twelve hours.