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 Fighter storage and launch
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| Old Crusty Commodore |
Posted on 08-10-2005 11:01
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 Posts: 62 Joined: September 07 2005 |
Simple questions 1 is there currently any system wich allows fighter craft to fold wings and the like to reduce storage profile. 2 how does fighter launch work, is it a luacnh using magnets like modern carriers use steam catapults? or do pilots move out on there own power? 3 are there currently any deck schematics to show how the ships infrastructure works(corridors,vents etcetc) and what if there isnt a ``folding wing system`` wouldnt it be about high time it is implemented. writing a story but i havent had alot of time to get along with it now i do so i need to know these things  thank you for replying |
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| Thorin |
Posted on 08-10-2005 11:13
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 Posts: 414 Joined: September 02 2005 |
I'm not entirely sure if htere are any craft that would benefit from folding wings. I think we only have one that might possibly have them. I would imagine lighting a plasma torch drive inside of a fighter bay would have rather...dire consequences. I would imagine a large-scale mass driver magnetic catapult would be used to accelerate them out of the bay until they are a safe distance to light off their drives. I suppose a "long-term docking procedure" could be drummed up, putting strike craft close togther, using internal magnetics to keep the actual crafts from touching. In this manner, a carrier could hold more hulls, but they would have to be manually "unstacked" via gravitics or magnetics in order to scramble them. |
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| Elendil |
Posted on 08-10-2005 13:28
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Posts: 37 Joined: September 30 2005 |
Folding wings are found on fighters that operate in air and are carried in limited space. In space, fighters don't have true wings in the sense of providing lift. True they might have wings that carry weapon mounts but these wings are more like large extentions of the fighter. As such a folding wing can give some form of increase in storage space but at what drecrease in combat ability and deployment? A folding wing will have extra structure weakness and during deployment the act of folding out each wing before launch would icnrease the downtime spent inside the docking bay. I guess the fighters could either be launched like a sling of given a lttle booast by the launch pads etc.  |
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| nicholasneko |
Posted on 08-10-2005 22:23
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Posts: 8 Joined: October 08 2005 |
so rather then risk weakening a fighter by modifying it to fit more in a carrier... why not make a carrier that forgoes some systems/wependry so that it may carry a large number of fighter or corvette squads, thus allowing you to move a large strike force in short time via hyperspacing as well as fast repairs. the ship devoted to repairing and maintaining its fighters. it would not be the safest ship to be in.. but it relyes on its squadrens for protection. |
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| Elendil |
Posted on 09-10-2005 00:32
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Posts: 37 Joined: September 30 2005 |
And transform the current carriers into a pure transporter of fighters etc. However its dependance on fighters for defence will make it a soft target for other capital ships to take advantage of. Other questions include how much space could it free up for how many additional fighters and corvettes?
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| Ar-Khanis |
Posted on 09-10-2005 01:25
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Posts: 41 Joined: September 02 2005 |
Quote nicholasneko wrote: so rather then risk weakening a fighter by modifying it to fit more in a carrier... why not make a carrier that forgoes some systems/wependry so that it may carry a large number of fighter or corvette squads, thus allowing you to move a large strike force in short time via hyperspacing as well as fast repairs. It already exists. It's called an Arcadia  Got plenty guns on it too. Ten squadrons is usually more than enough to accomplish most objectives revolving around an SC role.. |
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| FastCargo |
Posted on 09-10-2005 05:44
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 Posts: 21 Joined: September 21 2005 |
That's the funny thing about PDS (and space combat in general). It's actually a regression of sorts because ships actually slug it out directly. In 21st century naval doctrine, most battles are expected to be fought over the horizon. With the exception of sub to surface combat, battle groups will probably never actually eyeball each other except with sensors or through their strike craft. That's why CVNs are so important because they now are the primary means of offense (TLAMs not withstanding) but yet have very little direct firepower of their own. FastCargo "Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty."
-- Robert Heinlein [img]http://home.earthlink.net/~t38fedex/images/Small%20Signature.jpg[/img |
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| Ar-Khanis |
Posted on 09-10-2005 05:55
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Posts: 41 Joined: September 02 2005 |
Hmm. Well, for that analogy as such, there isn't really a horizon in space you can abuse. The closest thing you could approximate are Oort clouds, Kuiper belts and actual nebulae to dance around in. Ultra-long range munitions and remotes would be an interesting concept to attempt to integrate I would think, and which I would greatly like to see (could give some excellent active roles for electronic warfare cruisers and sensor probes in countering) But at the heart of the matter everyone has to understand that this is a game for entertainment, that we're playing. Go totally over the top in realism, and very few people will play your mod |
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| Elendil |
Posted on 09-10-2005 06:02
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Posts: 37 Joined: September 30 2005 |
CVN's are considered powerful and stragetically important because they can project their strength quickly to hotspots around the world without the need to get bases and other land based facilities from other countries. Generally in other space battles most start at ranges over one hundred thousand kilometres (check Battle of Endor where the Imperial Fleet swung around the planet and fell into optimum firing range at one hundred thousand kilometres away) but on Homeworld 2 and other sci fi shows such as ST, the range is shorter to showcase the ships and make a more detailed battle sequence-no one likes commanding dots on the screen..... Anyhow ship battles in PDS resemble 19th century naval batttles such as the battle of trafagor where ships of the line line up exchanging broadsides while other smaller frigates attempt to flank the enemy. the only difference is the inclusion of the carrier and fighters.. |
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| Coolhand77 |
Posted on 09-10-2005 06:23
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Posts: 24 Joined: October 05 2005 |
I don't know about anyone else, but I have been noticing that I usually don't use the recon fighters anymore. LSFs and HSFs make them somewhat redundant. Using them as "artillary spotters" would be an excellent idea if we had artillary that would reach out and touch the target. They could sit there with the target at the limit of thier sensor range, well out of either sensor or direct firing range, and guide in/call shots on an opposing fleet. Youd be sitting there building cap ships and all the sudden have a volly of SHARG and torpedoes come from beyond sensor range and slam into your flegling fleet. An additional idea came to me (actually had this idea first) about using the scouts. I was reading an article in Air and Space on the new F-22 Raptor (we now have an ACTIVE squadren), and I was thinking, the HSF would fit the Air dominance role, just like the F-22, and the LSF fits the Joint strike fighter role pretty well...wheres the Wild Weasle fighters? Why not convert the Scout to a stealth spotter/wild weasle platform. The previous incarnations of AntiSAM aircraft used themselves as the targets, why not deploy these with a strike craft squadren, use the strike craft as targets to get the defensive weapons to ping (big juicy targets for the Wild Weasles:muffy: ) and let the little stealth fighters streak in and neuter the CIWS and antifighter missle batteries. Can't do much about the LDS or HDS probably, but it would minimize their effect by making them do all the work of defending the ship. Then the stealths sit at stand off range and spot for battleship arty fire while the fighters keep the enemy strike craft buisy.:smash::evil: Edited by Coolhand77 on 09-10-2005 06:30 Wash - "This is going to get pretty interesting"
Mal - "Define Interesting" Wash - "Oh god, oh god, we're all going to die?" Still flying! |
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| MarieHawke |
Posted on 09-10-2005 07:13
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 Posts: 501 Joined: September 02 2005 |
Going back to the original topic of launch/storage, we have for launch, linear electromagnetic catapults. As for storage, I personally think that having each ship in its own magnetic storage field is not plausible - it'd need a huge EM field, and that might not make some people too happy, with the radiation. The current idea I have now, at least, is still the standard arm, to load it into the "launch tubes" - an electromagnetic shunting system would do the job near the end.
A starlight sharpshot magical girl!
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| Elendil |
Posted on 09-10-2005 09:40
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Posts: 37 Joined: September 30 2005 |
Well for fighter stroage I keep seeing it being stored in large racks of computerized cranes etc. Neatly lined up allows enough space for pilots to ge tin and when launch is needed the cranes quickly moves about two of them on the sling and the fighter is off
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| TelQuessir |
Posted on 09-10-2005 11:52
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 Posts: 2598 Joined: August 30 2005 |
Our "long range" engagements are 6000km or above for fiction writing purposes - no one will design a simplified battle management system in truescale and employ 3D models for visualisation purposes. |
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| Old Crusty Commodore |
Posted on 09-10-2005 15:43
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Posts: 62 Joined: September 07 2005 |
@ Elendil something like a rifle round entering te reciever of a rifle and then gets fired? also i can imganine 2 internal decks 1 fighter and 1 corvete bay since they use diffrent launch tubes? also if someone could help me with a deckshematic or several shots from the side of an Imperator id be very graetful Weather aint neutral....
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| Archangel |
Posted on 10-10-2005 01:05
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Posts: 18 Joined: September 02 2005 |
hm, image it to be magazine style, ships stacked above each other, raised and lowered using magnetic mass drivers (which can be set to any desired speed). An alert launch would look like a burst from an automatic weapon, with several fighters in the launch tube at the same time. |
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| yasotay |
Posted on 10-10-2005 02:13
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 Posts: 637 Joined: September 09 2005 |
Commodore - I think that Thorin has done a good job with the concept. As gravity is not an issue per say, you could stack vessels on the ceiling, walls and floor. If you assume an electromagnetic launch you could have a system that would almost be like a modern linkless ammo chute that 'feeds' the ships into the mag coils. If you have ships able to develop enough energy to slip out of real space, enough magnitism to launch smaller vessels should not be a big issue. |
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| Elendil |
Posted on 10-10-2005 07:49
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Posts: 37 Joined: September 30 2005 |
@ Old Crusty Commodore yes kinda like that but it involves nothing of gravity (however potent it is, gravity is the weakest of the fundamental forces), or magnets (why use magnets? It is not that good at maintaining a solid grip and the effects could be nullifed. However you might say superconductors and the use of the Meissner effect could be used to maintain the fighters and launch them, however it would require a contstant vaccuum and good containment) but a simple system built around a rail gun kind of launch. The fighter is literally shot out of the docking bay by recieving a pull from the connected rail gun like device and the engine of the fighter provides the rest of the thrust. Yes two internal decks are needed for fighters and corvettes however considering that corvettes are slow and bulky, ships will simply be launched by droppping it out of an opposed hangar bay - aka a normal basic launch system. |
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