New Manty ship ideas.

Grayson's compensators were superior to Manticore's. But, they were built with technology that lacked Manticore's superior ability to miniaturize.

Mesa's streak drives are superior to Manticore's. But, there are areas where Manticore's technology is superior to that of Mesa.

Once the SEM gets a look at streak drives, streak drives may quickly become smaller and more capable. The difficulty of upgrading may soon diminish significantly.

Waddles is right! Once Sonya and Shannon get their hands on the Streak Drive data they are going to fit the units into pinnaces!

Reader Bob wrote:Waddles is right! Once Sonya and Shannon get their hands on the Streak Drive data they are going to fit the units into pinnaces!

Heh, for some reason I read this as being someone named Waffles being right about a steak drive. Strange. I've eaten recently.

T-bone or Sirloin Strip?

Dafmeister wrote:A couple of problems with that idea:

1) A modular design is inherently less structurally robust, because the modules are simply attached to the structure rather than being part of it

2) You can't simply swap missile tubes in and out, you have to change the magazine spaces and ammunition handling machinery as well, all of which is buried in the heart of the ship.

1 - modular doesn't mean weak. It all depends how things get attached.

2 - yes not just tubes, the whole sections become modular. Replace a whole broadside in several sections, which go all the way to the core. Tubes armour magazines feeding mechanics ... Fully modular. Bottles, barracks, life support, boatbays, command systems, several decks worth, airlocks, hyperdrives, even nodes and rings. Everything using the same cores with attached differing modular sections.

Makes everything much faster to produce, to upgrade and to fix. No more having trouble getting to inner systems, just pull the armour module, the tubes, the feeding mechanics, magazines and you have access to the inner systems. Days not months to access without the problems that non modular systems create.

Given the upgrade paths that have been going on, the modular way is the better way. The SD(P) is a semi modular design with weapons in pods that can easily be upgraded. Adding the modular option to the core based ships allows for upgrades without needing to build new ships every decade or need of major multi month or year long upgrades.

Building slips will be very different, building just cores and in others specific modules. No waiting multiple months to build whole ships, just have a "slip" mass produce a certain component, then assemble the components, new tech comes along and the specific modules are altered and then replaced or retrofitted in days.

New ships will not be built for month or years, the parts will be prebuilt into the modular systems, they then will be assembled in days. Not too different from how ships are built now, only the parts are bigger and attached better. More bolting clipping fastening and snapping into place. Less welding, wedging glueing laminating shimming and sealing systems.

Mass production replacing individual works of art. Not as pretty or quirky or problematic. Easy to make fast to make easy to fix fast to retrofit and quick and easy to upgrade. Modular is the answer.

At least since the Ticonderoga class, US warships have been touted as "modular".

Not modular in the structural sense where some aircraft could have different types of nose modules swapped for different missions. But, modular in the sense that different weapons including future upgrades could be fit into a standard box. Or, that power and data runs could accommodate future systems in something more like plug-and-play rather than tear it all out and rebuild from scratch. Obviously, cost, technology, foresight and politics all play a role in determining the effectiveness of such modularity. But, it can come with very limited structural sacrifices if you are willing to expend the resources to design and build original equipment and later upgrades using components that fit through structurally appropriate openings and passages.

waddles for desert wrote:At least since the Ticonderoga class, US warships have been touted as "modular".

Not modular in the structural sense where some aircraft could have different types of nose modules swapped for different missions. But, modular in the sense that different weapons including future upgrades could be fit into a standard box. Or, that power and data runs could accommodate future systems in something more like plug-and-play rather than tear it all out and rebuild from scratch. Obviously, cost, technology, foresight and politics all play a role in determining the effectiveness of such modularity. But, it can come with very limited structural sacrifices if you are willing to expend the resources to design and build original equipment and later upgrades using components that fit through structurally appropriate openings and passages.

E.G. and Nit: The first 5 Ticos were decomisioned early because they had Mk26 twin-arm launchers and it would cost more to convert them to VLS [modular] than it would cost to build a replacement. That is why my last ship was decom'd early [USS Yorktown commissioned 1984/decom'd 2005].

The VLS launchers used are what makes them modular...

Montrose Toast wrote:E.G. and Nit: The first 5 Ticos were decomisioned early because they had Mk26 twin-arm launchers and it would cost more to convert them to VLS [modular] than it would cost to build a replacement. That is why my last ship was decom'd early [USS Yorktown commissioned 1984/decom'd 2005].

The VLS launchers used are what makes them modular...

Which is where the difference comes in. A modular VLS is essentially a set of one-shot box launchers (like the ones on old-style LACs), where each individual cell can be occupied by one of several missiles which roughly similar dimensions (Standard SAM or Tomahawk cruise missile etc). Honorverse missile tubes are re-usuable mass drivers which are emebedded into the structure of the ship, with their muzzels protruding from an armoured hull that's literally a single piece of alloy. Changing that solid surface to a modular bay will inevitable reduce the strength of the hull, and if the module goes far enough into the ship to include magazines and ammunition handling equipment then it'll reduce the hull strength even more, possibly even compromising the armoured core of the ship.

As for weapon options one was thinking, although this could also be a counter to Manty missiles as well and a great SL tech option in the eternal guns vs missiles.

How about a form of partial alpha band reaching sail that pulls power from without entering the alpha band thus providing a great deal of power. Add a spinal mount pico watt paser? That fires a long way with an ever encompassing gamma ray burst. Which can be very long ranged and very damaging over a wide area. Make for a 1 light hour range, might need to be focused to prevent reducing a planet to a burnt cinder, but could raise merry havok on missile pods or any sidewall down ship.

Of course where the is a wedge there is a ray. How about a gravity ray that punches a hole through anything like a wedge only very long and skinny.
How do you make it, turn the wedge ring nodes in on themselves and grav focus them into a ray.

Lord Skimper wrote:As for weapon options one was thinking, although this could also be a counter to Manty missiles as well and a great SL tech option in the eternal guns vs missiles.

How about a form of partial alpha band reaching sail that pulls power from without entering the alpha band thus providing a great deal of power. Add a spinal mount pico watt paser? That fires a long way with an ever encompassing gamma ray burst. Which can be very long ranged and very damaging over a wide area. Make for a 1 light hour range, might need to be focused to prevent reducing a planet to a burnt cinder, but could raise merry havoc on missile pods or any sidewall down ship.

Of course where the is a wedge there is a ray. How about a gravity ray that punches a hole through anything like a wedge only very long and skinny.
How do you make it, turn the wedge ring nodes in on themselves and grav focus them into a ray.

So, let me get this correct before I comment. It's a spinally mounted hyper-capable energy weapon? Isn't a picowatt an extremely small amount of energy? I'm sort of confused on what exactly you're suggesting.

Uroboros wrote: I'm sort of confused on what exactly you're suggesting.

So is Skimper.