Jonathan_S wrote:SWM wrote:Skimper, MDMs already have the benefits of extended range nodes. BuWeaps used everything they had learned from recent MDM development to make the LERMs.
Exactly!
(Oh and I don't have my books handy, but wasn't the 30 million km range Skimper was claiming a MDM could get after being
upgraded with his "LERM nodes" actually about the range of the current dual drive Mk16? )
Missiles with at least two drives don't have a maximum range because they can incorporate a ballistic phase and still have the second(or third, or fourth) drive for the attack phase. Right?
Ever since the first MDM was deployed, the problem has been
controlling those missiles. Apollo was a massive step up, but still has bandwidth issues preventing large numbers being controlled well at 150+ million km(hence Honor's bluff).
I suspect what's being referred to here is the maximum range of the maximum power setting(ie, all drives running flat-out). Which, IIRC, is ~30 million for MK16s and ~65 for the MDMs used during Buttercup.
A LERM couldn't incorporate a ballistic phase, since it only has one drive, limiting its range to something around 10-12 million km(judging by the Hellbarde vs Jessica Epps engagement).