Zan replied to me: > Speaking of sci-fi games... > > There was a sci-fi novel I read where atmospheric fighters were dropped > from space. They used a disposable heat shield and they were VTOL for > landing on unprepared ground. They were used because they were a lot > more maneuverable than a ground-space shuttle.
Can you recall the book? > Can Vehicles do a disposable reentry shield for a fighter like this one? > I'll have to look later. Exo-Armor from Mecha or VXi28. And David asked: > > Many corporate > > armies use smart bombs to limit collateral damage, while regular forces > > can use less discriminate weapons, at least on backwater planets where > > the galactic press isn't looking. > > while they might care about collateral damage, they care about hitting what > they're aiming at. that's the motivation for guided munitions, not > collateral damage. Hitting what you aim for means you don't have to try > again, which saves bombs, saves warning the target to hide or move, and > saves exposure of the aircraft that have to make second shot. My writeup had 100-lb. smart bombs and 250-lb. ICM dispensers. Compared to real-world bombs, that is tiny, even with TL9 improvements. > (And this > plane is a sitting duck against anyone with AAA, it looks like.) Well, it is the smallest in a series of three, but there are several answers to that: * The armor is resistant against 20mm or 23mm SAPHE or relatively small HEPF warheads. That is the reason why it fires APDU/APCR itself. So will AAA, but that means more hits are required to bring it down. The engines are ruggedized, too. * If possible, the fighter will stay out of range of smaller AAA (the TL9 equivalent of an autocannon or gatling). The tactic would be to circle overhead and drop laser-guided bombs. If there are big AAA (or SAM, or AA Lasers), call the bigger brother for defense suppression. * If it goes down to the deck for a strafing run, the pilot has to take his chances -- the plane is less than $3M. Despite the name, it is more a COIN aircraft, next week is a fighter-bomber and in two weeks you get the interceptor. _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
