super sonic squad transport

[Jak Nazryth]

Based on some real events that happened last year, America lost an ambassador and support staff because the military "couldn't respond in time". I do NOT want to go political, but I starting thinking about the need for America, or England, or any other NATO ally, to have a supersonic troop transport. Mach 1.5 minimum? How would you build that at TL 7ish using the military vehicle builder? How big would a squad need to be? 12 men, 20 men? The idea is to go supersonic to the area of, then slow down for normal halo jumps etc... For very fast response teams in similar situations, or if "boots on the ground" actions require with very short windows of opportunity.
any thoughts?

 

[Captain Jonah]

The B1 bomber has an internal capacity of a little over 2Dtons (34,000kg). Remove the bomb/missile capacity and fit a troop bay.

That gives you a top speed of over Mach2. With inflight refueling a very long range and the ability to Halo drop a squad of suici...erm volunteers anywhere in the world.

 

[Beastttt]

Might mod a drop tank to hold 1 soldier with gear
pod should be controlable by the passanger
have an F/A-18 carry 2 or 3 with 2 real drop tanks and an Air to Air loadout(2x AIM-120Ds and 2x AIM-9Xs)
these cargo tanks should be at least bullet proof vs .50 cal and have a parachute system for a soft landing

No matter what ,these troops will be going into a HOT ZONE ,and will need support
Figure 12x F/A-18s with 3 pods is 36 troops
the rest of the planes off that carrier are going to be for support and CAP

 

[FallingPhoenix]

Might mod a drop tank to hold 1 soldier with gear

It's funny, but the thought of riding in a cocoon on the wing of an F-18 scares me way more than the thought of riding a cocoon dropped from a ship in orbit...

 

[PFVA63]

Hi,

I seem to recall an article in Popular Mechanics (or something like that) a few years ago, that dealt with a high-speed suborbital troop transport. I'll take a look and see if I can find it later.

 

[PFVA63]

Hi,

It turns out that it may have been Popular Science instead. Here's a link to an article and some images.

PF

http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-space/article/2006-12/semper-fly-marines-space?single-page-view=true

http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-space/gallery/2006-12/semper-fly-marines-space

 

[Beastttt]

The OP was looking for something near current tech
the first thing I see as being needed is to get in covertly
using a B-1 is kinda a funny once joke
A B-1 that does not cause an earth shattering KABOOM will raise suspisions
B-1b does not do mach anything unless in a dive
Odds are a carrier will be closer to the action

The biggest problem I see with any quick deploy system like this is
1 How do we get them out and any who might be there needing the rescue
2 unless this is some 3rd world hole in the wall, keeping enough support is going be tough
3 Helos or V-22 is going to have to be the way out
so max incursion range will be limited

Might mod a drop tank to hold 1 soldier with gear

It's funny, but the thought of riding in a cocoon on the wing of an F-18 scares me way more than the thought of riding a cocoon dropped from a ship in orbit...

 

[Infojunky]

Might mod a drop tank to hold 1 soldier with gear
pod should be controlable by the passanger
have an F/A-18 carry 2 or 3 with 2 real drop tanks and an Air to Air loadout(2x AIM-120Ds and 2x AIM-9Xs)
these cargo tanks should be at least bullet proof vs .50 cal and have a parachute system for a soft landing

No matter what ,these troops will be going into a HOT ZONE ,and will need support
Figure 12x F/A-18s with 3 pods is 36 troops
the rest of the planes off that carrier are going to be for support and CAP

It is a great idea, kinda.... The big problem is the Catapult shot to get said bird into the air. Couple that with needing to get a detachment and Carrier group into engagement distance in the right time frame. Not as easy as you would think.

 

[Captain Jonah]

Well as a twist here. High mach is not really needed if you can manage suborbital and slingshot.

Something like the "WhiteKnightTwo" launch vehicle which is the carrier half of SpaceShipOne. A runway take off capable craft with a single use aerodyne type pod.

Launch from a home country runway, slingshot the pod into low orbit and fly home for lunch. The pod goes sub orbital and can be anywhere in the world in an hour. Make the pod heavily stealthy and it can fly itself in. This allows the strike team to take a lot more equipment than would be possible Halo jumping or using personal pods.

Pods can be pre loaded with mission packs for the regions of earth (Urban infiltration, Jungle ops, ,Polar ops etc).

Alternatively near future with a decent space station and spin habitat you would have a fast response team of marines stationed there.

 

[alex_greene]

Hang on, if all you guys from the Pentagon are here, who's minding the shop back in Washington?

 

[Captain Jonah]

Hang on, if all you guys from the Pentagon are here, who's minding the shop back in Washington?

There is no one here from the Pentagon. There is no one here from the UK or European Military. You are not being monitored. Any subsequent development of military technology that may, in some small way, resemble anything mentioned here is purely co-incidental.

Please continue with your topic of conversation. Please continue with your good ideas.

Rest assured that no one is listening in.

With regard to Washington, London or any other major capital city. The trained government monkeys remain there 24/7 so business continues as usual. :lol:

 

[AndrewW]

With regard to Washington, London or any other major capital city. The trained government monkeys remain there 24/7 so business continues as usual. :lol:

Or gorillas as the case may be...

Please disregard the last post, trained government monkeys do not exist, nor do gorillas, there are no sentient monkeys or gorillas that have been genetically modified to work in some secret government program.

 

[dragoner]

With regard to Washington, London or any other major capital city. The trained government monkeys remain there 24/7 so business continues as usual. :lol:

Or gorillas as the case may be...

Please disregard the last post, trained government monkeys do not exist, nor do gorillas, there are no sentient monkeys or gorillas that have been genetically modified to work in some secret government program.

Für den Amerikaner oder Englischer, nein ...

(gotta love weird war tales from the 70's )