Mirror-armed missiles

Somtaaw wrote:

MuonNeutrino wrote:
Let's do a little math here. Assume a SD laser projector has an emitter diameter of 3 meters. This is probably too big, but we'll be generous.

Think you may actually be conservative rather than generous with SD laser emitter size. When the Shrike class was originally introduced in EoH, their spinal graser was described as:

Echoes of Honor, Ch Three wrote:"A one-point-five-meter spinal mount equipped with the latest grav lenses," she told them, watching their eyes, "which permits her to carry a graser— not a laser—approximately as powerful as that mounted in our Homer -class battlecruisers."

And Homer's were almost 40 years old by the time the wars broke out, and pre-Grayson contact so they were still built on the old rules "cruisers get cruiser weapons, battlecruisers get extra cruiser weapons, and wallers get waller weapons" rule.

The old semi-cannonical Jayen's books actually list the RMN & Peep energy weapon sizes (diameter) for the few old ships they cover.
Here's a few - using broadside mounts, though the chase weapons are a little bigger.
King William-class SD - Laser 295cm; graser 360cm
Homer-class BC - Laser 105cm; Graser 140cm

So 3 meters for an SD laser (at least a 1905 PD era one) is just about right.

Jonathan_S wrote:The old semi-cannonical Jayen's books actually list the RMN & Peep energy weapon sizes (diameter) for the few old ships they cover.
Here's a few - using broadside mounts, though the chase weapons are a little bigger.
King William-class SD - Laser 295cm; graser 360cm
Homer-class BC - Laser 105cm; Graser 140cm

So 3 meters for an SD laser (at least a 1905 PD era one) is just about right.

Just can't remember: did the Jayne's get published before or after the "Great Resizing"? And did've this resizing an effect not only for the ship-dimensions but all the addendums put on and in the hull in question (mounts, sensors, antennas - name it, you get it), too?

Because - if the Jayne's got out before the Great Resizing took place, than it is possible, that 3 meters diameter for a laser-mount are a little much ...

Jonathan_S wrote:The old semi-cannonical Jayen's books actually list the RMN & Peep energy weapon sizes (diameter) for the few old ships they cover.
Here's a few - using broadside mounts, though the chase weapons are a little bigger.
King William-class SD - Laser 295cm; graser 360cm
Homer-class BC - Laser 105cm; Graser 140cm

So 3 meters for an SD laser (at least a 1905 PD era one) is just about right.

Hmm. I'd thought there was a graser size mentioned to be 4 or 4.5 metres somewhere. Either way, must be quite something to be gun crew when those things are run out of the hull.

Eagleeye wrote:

Jonathan_S wrote:The old semi-cannonical Jayen's books actually list the RMN & Peep energy weapon sizes (diameter) for the few old ships they cover.
Here's a few - using broadside mounts, though the chase weapons are a little bigger.
King William-class SD - Laser 295cm; graser 360cm
Homer-class BC - Laser 105cm; Graser 140cm

So 3 meters for an SD laser (at least a 1905 PD era one) is just about right.

Just can't remember: did the Jayne's get published before or after the "Great Resizing"? And did've this resizing an effect not only for the ship-dimensions but all the addendums put on and in the hull in question (mounts, sensors, antennas - name it, you get it), too?

Because - if the Jayne's got out before the Great Resizing took place, than it is possible, that 3 meters diameter for a laser-mount are a little much ...

After. It was released by As Astra Games to compliment, or add flavor to, their Saganami Island Tactical Simulator tabletop game. The work they did with David on the game directly led to the Great Resizing.


Also more direct evidence is that the ship exterior dimensions from Jayne's all match up 1:1 with the must later House of Steel. However, for the relatively few ship classes Jayne's covers it also includes additional details, like weapon sizes or sensor makes, that couldn't be crammed into the broader HoS.

With the exception of hyper-limit actions and ambushes we will probably rarely see the big ships come into ship mounted laser range.

Given the amount of energy being applied surely the solar sail effect is going to be a major impediment to accurate aiming as well.

Unless balanced this will quickly torque the mirror off target.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail

Silverwall wrote:Given the amount of energy being applied surely the solar sail effect is going to be a major impediment to accurate aiming as well.

Unless balanced this will quickly torque the mirror off target.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail

Already mentioned - last page, fifth post - although I didn't provide a link, since I'm lazy.

One problem is that if the mirror is close enough to a target to hit it with a reflected laser beam it is also in range to be targeted by the ships weapons. A nice large mirror would be a very visible target.

pnakasone wrote:One problem is that if the mirror is close enough to a target to hit it with a reflected laser beam it is also in range to be targeted by the ships weapons. A nice large mirror would be a very visible target.

That problem is even worse when you realise the mirror might allow the target ship to fire back using the mirror itself. After all, if the mirror is to work, it has to maintain a constant angle connecting both the target and the firing ship.

Given the convoluted preparations required to deploy mirrors closer to target ships or lure them into range(same problem minefields have), I suspect this becomes the more likely outcome. It's either an one-trick pony or unviable.

I don't think the RD screen would miss the mirrors and once detected, it's a simple matter of running RD or CM wedges through the mirrors, if one's own shipboard weapons are not in range.

Why does this remind me of shooting pool, a ricochet shot!? Grase-her in the side pocket!

Targeting such a small mirror is going to be an 800# double-chinned copper-plated Cordelia Ransom!

NEVERTHELESS, if such a system can be made to work, then the discussion is overlooking a primary benefit. Perhaps a ship can be made to effectively fire grasers from a rolled position.

Aside:
Can a ship come through the junction rolled?