different track

Honorverse missiles face three threats.

1 wedge.
2 CM
3 PD

They need to get in close to fire upon the enemy, 25-30,000km.

Range vs accuracy.

Many one shot weapons. Vs ?

Options seen so far

EW
Stealth
Numbers

New options

Some way to shrug off CM

Increase firing range and power

BAM

Lord Skimper wrote:Honorverse missiles face three threats.

1 wedge.
2 CM
3 PD

They need to get in close to fire upon the enemy, 25-30,000km.

Range vs accuracy.

Many one shot weapons. Vs ?

Options seen so far

EW
Stealth
Numbers

New options

Some way to shrug off CM

Increase firing range and power

BAM

The Bomb pumped lasers that most of the modern Honorverse navies use are more like a half dozen shots each.

The Bureau of Weapons and the WDB have been working on range and power as long as the RMN has existed (IIRC the latest generations of RMN missiles are nearly twice as powerful as the ones Honor was using on Basilisk Station)

As for anti CM defences that is what EW is for, it would be very difficult to make a missile able to shrug off CM and PD fire (and it would have to be bigger than a Shrike when you think that the Anti LAC Katana is armed with what are effectively Counter missile weapons)

I was thinking quarter LAC shrike size. With a Graser.

Like the graser torpedo but with more than one shot. Something with a LAC wedge 3000G acceleration, no crew no life support no missiles / counter missiles. Just a Dumbed down version of the graser, it doesn't need to last for 16-20 years, just a few battles if it can be recovered. Say 25 to 50 shots.

10 metre diameter with a 30 metre length. Side wall and bucklers. Ghost Rider + sensors and a basic smaller version of the LAC fission pile.

A BIG missile would have much greater range, unlimited in system range? Could be quite stealthy, and would have an engagement range of 1 million KM. It might be vulnerable to a Heavy SD Level PD fire. But should be able to shrug off CM.

Ghost rider platforms can get to about 10,000 km before being detected, if they are being looked for. getting within 1 million might be possible for a BIG missile.

The BIG missile should be hard to shoot with a Normal Missile, which can't be fired in CM modes nor controlled by CM telemetry. As point out by all including The Almighty RFC. And for some reason One can't make a missile that can be. ...

anyhow this might be a good thing.

10x10x30 m makes a displacement mass about 475-588 tons.

even if one needs to go up to 1200 tons. This is still 1/4 the size Displacement of a Shrike.

Using beta Squared nodes. The pile will give enough power for the weapon the bucklers and the sidewalls wedge etc, FTL... a CLAC can carry with room to spare 124 LAC, is 3/4 the displacement of a SD(P). An Invictus should be able to carry and fire at-least 650 to 2000 such BIG missiles.

A system defense version could be deployed around a system and just wait for a target to show up in the system. with a 4-8-16 year pile powering it it can just sit around literally for years.

They would be vulnerable to energy weapons but they would be very hard to hit.

Why should only the bad guys get Graser Torpedo's?

Lord Skimper wrote:
Why should only the bad guys get Graser Torpedo's?

Because Graser torpedo's only make sense with the spider drive.

Hmm thought of a solution but it works better for something else.

Kind of the spider drive in plain sight. Might work for a Graser Torpedo but in this case it could also just be full of Missile pods.

Use a soft skinned Freighter to enter a system, not for anti pirate but as a sneak attack craft. Have it kind of like the Trojan AMC but soft skinned with no outward weapons nor armaments. Just covered racks of Pods. And/or Graser Torpedo Big Drones.

A fast launch like a CLAC but with pods and Torps. The freighter pre programmes the Pods to fired their missiles and target whatever they can.

2-3000 Pods and 300 Graser Torpedoes. With a Similar tech spec to the GA this would have a similar to oyster bay effect.

The Freighter would seem to blow its cargo into space while rocketing off at several 100 G. Most everyone would look at the Freighter. The cargo would spread out and then suddenly burst open firing the pods and the Graser Torpedoes.

It wouldn't be the same as the Spider drive based Oyster bay but it would have great effect on any cargo ships and docking facilities and stations in the area. Such Graser Torpedoes might be more like the Alignment version and get off 300 close shots. Killing any ships stations docking facilities etc... the Freighter crew having pre programmed the Missiles into the targets, before getting off the ship.

Call it an Oyster ship. Oyster Run? As a surprise attack against Manticore it might not work especially with Sollie tech, but they wouldn't be expecting it. And the Missiles might get close enough to take out a station or two. Graser Torpedoes same.

It would carry a Dispatch Boat. Launching it just before the hyper limit and then have the freighter remotely pre programmed turn into the limit, after boarded by the inspection team it roars off at 500 G compensator failed etc... Heading into the system. The freighter becomes a big Powered Pod. Carrying missile pods that are programmed from the better than normal Freighter Sensors, 500G won't affect them until the freighter is closer into the system then it launches the cargo and is intercepted or destroyed. Then the pods fire and in the confusion the Dispatch Boat slips away into hyperspace.

The Dispatch Boat would just float away from the freighter without activating its wedge and wait for the distraction before slipping into hyperspace. Then flee the area.

Make for a great Surprise in plain sight option. The system might not even suspect it is an attack when the compensator fails and the freighter rockets off the cargo falling out and tumbling away might be viewed in the short term as just a consequence of the failed compensator. Cost would be one skeleton freighter. One costly sensor suite, a whole lot of pods. And if unlucky a Dispatch boat and crew.

If launched against the SEM 50 simultaneous or close to not mattering attacks could devastate the Freighter cargo systems in each System.