SWM wrote:Lord Skimper wrote:Highlander II / III LAC.
The idea follows from the traditional design of a small ship LAC. Using an LAC about 2.5 times larger than a Shrike design LAC family. Using twin fission piles with Six chase CM launchers similar to the Roland DD design or Katana.
Roland level Laser on the broadside with PD clusters. A Double plus Katana with energy armaments. Not a Shrike Graser, but something more useful for wall of battle defense and customs duties in the civil times.
Compensator
100% : 823g
80%: 658g
20+ crew and a docking conning tower to facilitate docking on the bottom of the SBC.
Also in place of the one shot semi internal Cell / pods. The Highlander would mount a CM pod / Cell two on each broadside. 24 per cell for an improved CM saturation on initial launch. Each Highlander carrying 96 total CM in semi internal Cells. Plus the Katana Viper / CM launchers. With 4 LAC light PD for each broadside.
With 12 Highlander III per SBC, and 12 Viper / CM launchers and 96 CM in Cells. Each SBC would bring first wave defense of 204 CM plus 144 fast Viper / CM, plus 1152 cell based CM. More than a CLAC full of Katana.
Skimper, we have already told you half a dozen times, this idea is dead dead dead DEAD. This is just another example of the kind of HAC that David shot down more than ten years ago. Please do not bring it up again.
You must work for the Shrike consortium our LAC is best. Your LAC is terrible, better than ours in many ways, but terrible. Plus it doesn't fit in our CLAC. Which is a glorified Taxi and terrible in the wall. Doesn't work in civilian duties and like the wall during peace is parked and only used when someone starts shooting at you again, and like the Sollie SD's suddenly useless. You need a work horse ship. A ship that can be crewed by 75 or up to 1000. Depending on role. Yet when used as a 75 crew BIG Roland, it can fire any missile. Any fusion missile, from the cheap Mk16, to the hugely expensive Apollo. Or less Expensive but equally huge Vipers Nest. Or the best Apollo sized probe.
The LAC Highlander is the normal sized LAC not a HAC. A Detweiler is a HAC. Hyperspace forte. The Highlander I II III+ series are just more traditional better defensive better customs ship tiny small practically unarmoured non hyper ships. Your Shrike brand is an Attack fighter, although David doesn't like the fighter term, a very small / light Weight LAC. Less than half normal size. This doesn't make normal LAC into HAC. It makes the Shrike the Fighter/bomber, whether one wants to admit it or not.
Using two fission piles works in a traditional LAC sized ship. It doesn't work in a Nat Turner, which is 6 times larger than a Highlander LAC. We know you are stuck in your old school shoes. More than anyone, perhaps, yet if a design change happens regardless it must be so your paradigm shifts totally replacing the old one and then your stuck again. Overlook all short comings. Like moving 12 LAC, how do you do that? You need a CLAC, and two or three escorts, and maybe a SD(P). A whole section of the wall just to deploy 12 LAC. Or perhaps an Aviary Freighter, just hope there are no opposing capable ships in the new area.
The SBC doesn't have this problem. It can go anywhere. It can face any single ship and survive a single salvo. It can carry pods if need be, like a lesser ship, but it doesn't need them to slow it down. Pods are great for defending some place. It equals the odds. But if modern missiles are used, there isn't an existing ship that can attack a system defended by pods. The SBC can. Your CLAC arrives, gets punched out because it has little to no defense against system pods. Just like a SD(P), just like a Nike, a Roland, a Saganami C.
If you want to Attack Manticore you are going to use what? Any current Manty ship or ships? What are you going to use? Either everything or nothing. 25-30 million system pods go tell us how you can attack this? Once the Sollies get their missiles working, get their defenses working, you are not going to be able to attack anything.
The Alignment might be able to, but Manticore isn't. The GA isn't. Pods aren't going away. But a defense to the pod situation is the only step forward. Your in denial of course standard par until your paradigm shifts, we understand this; not sure you do. Khune would be proud of you!
The development of weapons follows a point counter point progression. Weapon, armour, mount, pike, armour, arrows, snipers, guns, cannons, mobility, machine guns, artillery, tanks Armour, swash head, more armour, Heat, composite Armour, reactive armour, kinetic depleted, active armour, gun launched Missiles top down attacks, smaller armour more mobility, IED / intelligent bombs (people or tech), heavy armour again or design. Better electronic awareness, air power, helicopters, armoured helicopters, better missiles, big AA guns, Box heavy Flak, slow and low drones, and or stealth, or maneuverability. Heavier armoured ground tanks with heavy or kinetic AA. The dance goes on and on.
In the Honorverse we are at the pod phase. The counter is either stealth, or anti pod. Long range energy, or super sidewalls. Bucklers etc... Laser head proof sidewalls lead to graser torpedo's. Which use stealth or SD. Suddenly the cycle continues. I purpose an anti pod ship, using current Manty GA tech to defeat the current tech without inventing new tech. As has been asked of us. Use what is here and don't introduce something that is not based on the authors tech. No, "I can't say!"
I can derive Super Battle Cruiser. I can derive Highlander III, I can derive Roland manned Keyhole III. So I do.
