n7axw wrote:I agree. The catapharact has fifteen milliom klicks of range, the mark 16 more than thirty. In addition to that the EW Systems are superior as well as the missile defence capability. The SLN vessel would never close to its own engagement envelop or launch enough missiles to swamp the Roland no matter what it did unless it caught said Roland asleep at the switch and I don't think Roland commanders are drawn from a hat.
Don
To be fair either one is capable of inserting a ballistic phase, making their maximum range fire control limited rather than power limited.
Of course beyond 15 million km the Mk16 would arrive first (if fired simultaneously) - at less than 15 million km the CM "sprint" stage of the Cataphract should get them there first - I need to recheck it but I had a note that I'd seen the Javelin's 100% accel stated at 92,000g (same as a Mk16) so the the first stage / first drive should be a dead heat between them, then the 2nd stage of the Cataphract is much higher accel (but much lower endurance) than the 2nd drive on the Mk16.
On the other hand, a couple pods worth of Cataphract, even with a 15 million km (90 second) coast phase, are a lot for a DD to survive unscathed. If you get a piece of the Roland and can continue firing with internal tubes it might well retreat out of effective combat range.
(But a SLN BC doesn't have the accel to bring a Roland, or for that matter an Invictus, to missile range unless the RMN unit screws up or wants to fight. So the SLN BC can't prevent it from dodging around to scout a system because the RMN ship can just outrun it no matter what the BC tries. (At best it might manage to keep close enough to the planet to stay interposed between the RMN ship and the planet - but even then you can skate ghost rider recon drones past it for an up close look)
