Technology

Draken wrote:
[Could you tell us more about Congreve rockets?

They were a black powder based rocket used with mixed results by the British Army and the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. One of the most noteworthy and famous examples of their use was the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the Royal Navy during the War of 1812. The lyric "the rocket's red glare" in The Star Spangled Banner is directly inspired by Congreve rockets.

Lots of mumblings on rockets since my flub on the V1.
Rocketry is very ancient technology.
The Mongol horde acquired it from the Chinese. Marco Polo wrote about rockets.
Those types would be called sky rockets today. Dry powder propellant; not liquid hydrogen or fuel gel.
And I was referring to the V1 shape.
Take the impact detonated elongated shell used in the angle cannons.
Combine it with a signal rocket TYPE (as in not used as signal rocket), dry powder propelled, delivery system, add wings, and you have a primative flying bomb.
And to the one that pointed out the V1 was use as a terror tactic by the Germans - bravo. Doesn't mean the attacking Charisian Navy and Army, will use it against non-military targets. Again, I was posting about the shape of the V1. Not the liquid fueled rocket, or how it was used during WW2.
Anyone know about the military's involvement in developing M&M's?

TN4994 wrote:Lots of mumblings on rockets since my flub on the V1.
Rocketry is very ancient technology.
The Mongol horde acquired it from the Chinese. Marco Polo wrote about rockets.
Those types would be called sky rockets today. Dry powder propellant; not liquid hydrogen or fuel gel.
And I was referring to the V1 shape.
Take the impact detonated elongated shell used in the angle cannons.
Combine it with a signal rocket TYPE (as in not used as signal rocket), dry powder propelled, delivery system, add wings, and you have a primative flying bomb.
And to the one that pointed out the V1 was use as a terror tactic by the Germans - bravo. Doesn't mean the attacking Charisian Navy and Army, will use it against non-military targets. Again, I was posting about the shape of the V1. Not the liquid fueled rocket, or how it was used during WW2.
Anyone know about the military's involvement in developing M&M's?

I think that the V1s and V2s are the wrong direction for any rocketry we might see. Although as it has been pointed out upthread, there are significant differences in the 2 systems, I think it is safe to classify them both as strategic systems. Both are long ranged, but rather inaccurate. And I agree with the assessment that they are terror weapons. I don't see Charis adopting weapons such as these.

I think tactical rocket systems designed for battlefield use are much more likely than long ranged strategic rockets. The Congreve has already been mentioned. However from what I recall, it was rather inaccurate and wasn't really that powerful due to the limitations of black powder both as propellant and as the bursting charge. Therefore I don't see Charis introducing something along these lines.

I think something along the lines of the Soviet WWII era Katyusha is a much more likely direction for Charis to develop. But I think it would likely take 2 or 3 years to develop, test, and produce such a system. I am not sure if the war is going to last this long. Furthermore, Charis already has a fairly substantial artillery advantage over the AoG forces. They might decide to concentrate on further development of the land based angle guns rather than exploring rocket based artillery.

AirTech wrote:And the British Navy still has 20mm Gatlings in wide service (see Vulcan) and the US Airforce has them in service in 7.62 mm and 30mm (see Minigun and A-10).

All F-16s and F-16s mount a 20mm Vulcan as do the F22 and F35 IIRC. US Attack Helicopters feature chin-mount 25MM anti-tank multi-barrel cannon.

The problem with "Gatling Guns" is that they're crew-served light artillery that don't suit the ICA's mobility based tactics. They would be useful in fixed defenses, but no more useful that a squad equipped with automatic rifles like the BAR or AK series of attack rifles; the squad of automatic or attack rifles would be useful for more than fixed defenses, too.

Henry Brown wrote:I think tactical rocket systems designed for battlefield use are much more likely than long ranged strategic rockets. The Congreve has already been mentioned. However from what I recall, it was rather inaccurate and wasn't really that powerful due to the limitations of black powder both as propellant and as the bursting charge. Therefore I don't see Charis introducing something along these lines.

I think something along the lines of the Soviet WWII era Katyusha is a much more likely direction for Charis to develop. ...

Something like the WWII US 'Bazooka' or German 'Panzerfaust' is certainly within Charisian tech capability -- except for the Bazooka's electric ignition which can be worked around.

Weird Harold wrote:

Henry Brown wrote:I think tactical rocket systems designed for battlefield use are much more likely than long ranged strategic rockets. The Congreve has already been mentioned. However from what I recall, it was rather inaccurate and wasn't really that powerful due to the limitations of black powder both as propellant and as the bursting charge. Therefore I don't see Charis introducing something along these lines.

I think something along the lines of the Soviet WWII era Katyusha is a much more likely direction for Charis to develop. ...

Something like the WWII US 'Bazooka' or German 'Panzerfaust' is certainly within Charisian tech capability -- except for the Bazooka's electric ignition which can be worked around.

Some sort of percussion cap or one set off by a heavy impact (such as the nose of the shell hitting the side of the target) much like artillery shells will soon have.

Captain Igloo wrote:Diglycol - worked fine with the german WW2 rockets. The payload however is another matter. Right now the only source for Toluene is coal, so Amonal is possible but in low quantities. IMHO RDX is out of question.

If my memory serves me right, they used potassium permanganate and ethylene(?) glycol to start the fuel pumps on the V2 rockets.

Zakharra wrote:

Weird Harold wrote:... except for the Bazooka's electric ignition which can be worked around.

Some sort of percussion cap or one set off by a heavy impact (such as the nose of the shell hitting the side of the target) much like artillery shells will soon have.

I was referring to the electric ignition for the rocket motor not the fuse for the warhead. A percussion cap would work, or just a spark-wheel and a fast-fuse.

Weird Harold wrote:

Zakharra wrote: "Weird Harold"... except for the Bazooka's electric ignition which can be worked around. quote


Some sort of percussion cap or one set off by a heavy impact (such as the nose of the shell hitting the side of the target) much like artillery shells will soon have.

I was referring to the electric ignition for the rocket motor not the fuse for the warhead. A percussion cap would work, or just a spark-wheel and a fast-fuse.

Ah. S. M. Stirling's Nantucket series (Island in the Sea of Time, Against the Tide of Years and On the Oceans of Eternity) has something much like that. A Bronze age version of the bazooka, a black powder rocket shot out of a thin bronze tube, the rocket fuse lit by the wheel spark lighter (like cigarette lighters), that gets the primitive RPG to its target.

*I really dislike the quote limit...

Everyone talks about rockets like they don't exist in Safehold. Has everyone forgotten that Charis already has rockets for both signal work and illumination flares?