Subject:
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Re: Dropship Role ( Was: Re: New MOC - Wyvern Dropship)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.space
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Date:
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Fri, 1 Dec 2000 23:55:50 GMT
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Viewed:
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995 times
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> From: "Wayne McCaul" <wmccaul@horizonhouse.com>
>
> Okay, here's my .02 cents (which has recently been devalued to .001 on the
> dollar, but that's a different story).
>
> This could be getting more off track, but I believe it's a matter of
> numbers. You're ship needs x amount-fuel to move y amount-mass and adding a
> big guns changes both of those numbers.
I'm not talking about adding big guns. Just a small antipersonnel turret
that could fire a combination of grenades and (lasers or bullets).
> Then, as your ship gets bigger to
> accommodate, it becomes slower and a better target. And any dropship has got
> to be one of the most juicy targets there are - a ship filled with soldiers
> ready to invade? What could do more damage to the enemy's plans than to take
> those out?
>
> So you want to get into battle fast; a lighter ship equals more
> maneuverability. Any extra weight should probably be added as armor,
> shielding, stealth and other defensive systems (chaff, ECCM's etc.) to
> survive the drop. The number one priority here is getting the troops into
> battle.
I think the value of a small antipersonnel turret would be worth the
increase in weight, and would not noticeably compromise flight
characteristics or fuel usage.
>
> So whether or not you need fighters is up to the operation. If you've been
> carpet bombing the enemy, you might not need them, simply flatten an area
> you want to land in. If you're trying to get your troops on the ground
> without turning the whole city into one giant charcoal briquette, then you
> might need some air/space support to get your people in.
Agreed, but unless you're going to have a special purpose fighter with a
turret hover directly above your dropship for cover fire, the less expensive
option would be to add a turret to your dropship.
Remember, in the military, your weapon was made by the lowest bidder.
>
> BTW: One thing you forgot about Aliens is that the dropship does require an
> unusually large amount of support - mainly the Sulaco (sp?) which carried it
> there and, presumably, anywhere else it's needed.
The Sulaco carries dropships, but its role is much larger than just a
dropship transport. It is designed to deploy troops and also maintain
superiority over Space and Air. The Sulaco has anti-Space weapons as well as
orbital bombardment weapons, which allow it to achieve total domination of
the skies.
The Sulaco's primary armament consists of eight XIM-28A ASAT
(anti-satellite, read: orbiting vessels) missiles, which it uses as a
first-strike weapon against orbiting enemy vessels.
Secondary armament consist of two 800MeV turboalternator powered Neutral
Particle Beam Cannons, firing into the starship's forward "cone," each
capable of disabling a target's electronics and instrumentation at ranges up
to 100,000 km.
Short range armament consists of a dorsal and ventral turret, each mounting
twin railgun launchers that fire kinetic ammunition at velocities of over
12km/sec. These are less accurate vs maneuvering enemy vessels than beam
weapons, however, since a single hit from a railgun round is capable of
inflicting catastrophic damage to a space target, they remain the most
powerful close-range weapon in the Sulaco's inventory.
Point defense is provided by the port and starboard laser turrets. These
mount 80mW fee-electron laser capable of vaporising small targets such as
railgun rounds, or disabling incoming fighters and missiles at ranges up to
20km.
The main magazine forward of the shuttle launch bay stores the orbital
bombardment ordinance. The Sulaco carries 80 free-fall guided-entry vehicles
which are capable of carrying a variety of warheads from bunker-busting
kinetic penetrators to high-explosive and nuclear, as well as decoys.
> And what does that get
> you? An APC and a couple of squads.
The Sulaco has sufficent cryo-sleep capsules for up to 90 crew and
passengers. The operation of the Sulaco and her sister Conestoga- class
starships is fully automated. This effectively permits the vessel to pilot
itself and fight space battles without the assistance of a crew, who might
be incapacitated or in hypersleep.
In Aliens, we saw that the Sulaco carried two dropships. Presumably, there
was at least one more APC stored on the ship as well. I'm certain that there
is sufficient space on the vessel for at least two more dropship/APC teams.
> I admit, that's can be enough, but the
> soldier-to-energy ratio is sort of high when a warship is needed to get a
> dozen men anywhere.
The squad sent to LV-426 was on a special assignment, so it should not be
assumed that the Sulaco was operating with a full load.
> (But I know what you mean about the dropship itself
> being one bad-muther...)
Indeed, the UD-4 Cheyenne dropship was designed as a combination dropship/
ground-support gunship. I'll spare you the rest of the technical specs.
~Mark "As a matter of fact, I do own the Colonial Marines Technical Manual
and I have the afternoon off" Sandlin
--
Mark's Lego(R) Creations
http://www.nwlink.com/~sandlin/lego
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Dropship Role ( Was: Re: New MOC - Wyvern Dropship)
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| :::Shaking fists in air, voice echoing into the sky:::: Damn you Muffin Head! DAMN YOU!!! Just kidding. My total knowledge of the Aliens dropship is from the movie, but my brother does own the book you're talking about. Whole lot of good it does me. (...) (24 years ago, 2-Dec-00, to lugnet.space)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Dropship Role ( Was: Re: New MOC - Wyvern Dropship)
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| Okay, here's my .02 cents (which has recently been devalued to .001 on the dollar, but that's a different story). This could be getting more off track, but I believe it's a matter of numbers. You're ship needs x amount-fuel to move y amount-mass and (...) (24 years ago, 1-Dec-00, to lugnet.space)
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