Gateworld Virtual Fleet 4.0 - Discussion thread

[Crazy Tom]

Anything under 105mm for a railgun tom is a waste. They require a tremendous amount of energy and the terminal velocity at the muzzle in the vacuum of space is not an issue for standard kinetic weapons. The mechanism required to produce a railgun less than 100mm makes it too bulky a weapon to consider for smaller ships. They are an excellent choice though for your capitol ships, especially the 155mm as being trialled for the USN DDX programme.

I disagree, for modern day technology, that's true, but in Staragte, with naqudah/trinium rails (ablation and thermal stress issues solved) and a conduit to the ship's power source (huge capacitor banks no longer required), its possible. Imagine what a 5mm railgun firing armor piercing flechettes could do.

But we were talking about a weapon to replace the howitzer for in-atmo operation.

edit: Oh man, I think this is the closest vote we've ever had.

[Weedle]

I'm planing on releasing my cargo ship in a civilian and paramilitary version, equipped with military electronics, point defense, and a carrier deck for landing gunships.

thats pretty much how navy supply ships work. I am a fitter and turner in a ship yard and we do navy ship refits here, most of them have some defensive weapons, the aussie ones have CIWS and maybe 12.7mm mg's. They have a helo deck aft for 2 sometimes for Seahawk sized helo's. We had a US ship here last year that could carry six helo's and it had 4 CIWS systems as well as point defence missiles, that's how I would configure a space equivalent ship. (not for helo's though)

[Weedle]

Well, we have a new vote, so here's the current count:

Andromeda 4 (DavidT)
Valkyrie 7 (Killman)
Jager 3 (Locutes)
Heroine 7 (PJOZ)
Agean 2 (Immhotep)
CL-318 1 (Guppy)
Answerer 1 (Blackluster)

bradley (1/1), Immhotep (2/2), Fugiman (1/1), RogueRanger (1/1), PJOZ (2/2), Crazy Tom (1/1), Marilynrose (1/1), Thekillman(2/2), locutes (2/2), Davidtourniquet(2/2), Guppy(2/2), Lt. Col. Mcoy (1/1), Princess Awinita(1/1), Blackluster (2/2), the-alguroan (1/1), jackclone1 (1/1) weedle (1/1), AnubisJr (1/1)


I'm not sure how we deal with drop-in votes, but as long as AnubisJr is planning on contributing to the fleet I think we can count it; we counted weedle's vote, after all.

I hope you wont think me a drop in man, I've actually been following GW for a while on a mates computer, it was only now when I could get my own that I could join in, I'm here for the long run and this was the first thread that I really liked

[Lt. Col. Mcoy]

Oh, no, Weedle. I can tell that you plan on sticking around. I was just pointing out that we counted your vote even when you only had one post here.

[AnubisJr]

Well I was just checking out the tech section and this looked cool so I hope its ok if I just dropped in I wasn't sure if I could so I just did

It's like they always say it's better to plead forgiveness then ask permission

But I did ask its just I can't post right away I have to wait for the mods to approve and does anyone know how long this lasts?

[Weedle]

Oh, no, Weedle. I can tell that you plan on sticking around. I was just pointing out that we counted your vote even when you only had one post here.

I was sort of here, only I couldn't get an account for a while. I'm the only one working in my family so I have to help mum with finances, there are 6 of us and my older sister and brother are sort of not part of the family anymore having gone over to the dark side (my dad) So it took a while for me to save and get a compy

[puddlejumperOZ]

I disagree, for modern day technology, that's true, but in Staragte, with naqudah/trinium rails (ablation and thermal stress issues solved) and a conduit to the ship's power source (huge capacitor banks no longer required), its possible. Imagine what a 5mm railgun firing armor piercing flechettes could do.

But we were talking about a weapon to replace the howitzer for in-atmo operation.


edit: Oh man, I think this is the closest vote we've ever had.

that's my point Tom. terminal velocity in space is not an issue with standard weaponry. Rialguns have a slower rate of fire than conventional gas operated weapons, your advantage with the railgun is that you can heavier ordanance over greater ranges, it becomes mute with anything less than 20kgs. I am currently involved with resarch for our new destroyers in the RAN

[Crazy Tom]

that's my point Tom. terminal velocity in space is not an issue with standard weaponry. Rialguns have a slower rate of fire than conventional gas operated weapons, your advantage with the railgun is that you can heavier ordanance over greater ranges, it becomes mute with anything less than 20kgs. I am currently involved with resarch for our new destroyers in the RAN

With SG tech to supply constant power, wouldn't the firing rate be held up only by how much space you had to leave between projectiles?

[puddlejumperOZ]

It's not the power issue that determines firing rate in this case Tom, even with a rail gun you still have a mechanical/gas loader doing the hard work. From the breech down the parts are much the same as for any weapon. Railgun advantages are primarily focused on gettin big payloads fired over greater distances than normal. A 155mm hi/lo round at best cartridge fill is about 25-30 miles, with a railgun that goes out to 70 and possibly 100 miles in the not too distant future.

[Crazy Tom]

It's not the power issue that determines firing rate in this case Tom, even with a rail gun you still have a mechanical/gas loader doing the hard work. From the breech down the parts are much the same as for any weapon. Railgun advantages are primarily focused on gettin big payloads fired over greater distances than normal. A 155mm hi/lo round at best cartridge fill is about 25-30 miles, with a railgun that goes out to 70 and possibly 100 miles in the not too distant future.

Given the small size of flechettes, could we not use a electromagnetic loading system? I'm not intimately familiar with the magnetic fields in a railgun, but could the magnetic field actually scoop up flechettes from a cartridge automatically when it was turned on, with the rate of fire regulated by restricting the flow of projectiles?

[puddlejumperOZ]

You will have to use casings with a minimum 30% carbon content and with small rounds that causes a friction and degradation issue in storage. That is one of the main reasons they only use it on large munitions, because the bigger shells can be individually protected in transport.

[Crazy Tom]

You will have to use casings with a minimum 30% carbon content and with small rounds that causes a friction and degradation issue in storage. That is one of the main reasons they only use it on large munitions, because the bigger shells can be individually protected in transport.

I did not know that, why 30% carbon through?

[puddlejumperOZ]

To get a magnetic reaction. Railguns work on the same principle as the Mag-Lev train, oppositely opposed magnets (O'Neil would love this discussion) creating a force effect on the carbon (ie steel content). You cannot use a great deal of high carbon content in small calibre rounds as they are (under 80mm projectiles) one piece with your casing and would be stored in bulk containers, often loosely.

[Crazy Tom]

Wait... so carbon refers to the magnetic metal involved?
And keeping them in pristine condition is required to make sure that they have proper contact with the rails?

And if so, couldn't we coat them in a think, protective coating that can be vaporised by a low powered laser or plasma field as it's fed into the barrel?

Wow, I'm really ignorant of the specifics, this tech is so taken for granted here that I don't think we ever really explored the specifics.

[puddlejumperOZ]

I'll answer a bit later Tom, I'm off to the hospital for a couple of hours, hopefully to ahve my cast removed