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Author Topic: I've had an idea and need your input.  (Read 3750 times)

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marauder648

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I've had an idea and need your input.
« on: November 11, 2017, 03:40:12 PM »
I've had an idea for a Reunification era weapon system that was developed by the Taurians and took a page out of history.

Basic idea is a Battletech analogue of the Backfire bomber.  The TU-22M Backfire was a fast and sleek jet bomber who's sole goal in life was to be lauched en-mass to attack NATO ships in time of war.  Its weapon to do this was a long range anti-ship cruise missile.

My idea is this, the Taurians know that if the Star League attacks them, they are outnumbered heavily, so they need to think outside the box to try even the odds.  Thus is re-born the idea of a long range anti-ship missile carrier.  A 200 ton small craft that has a hardpoint for a single Killer Whale missile, or a pair of White Sharks, or a trio of Barracuda.  It can't mix and match them and must carry only one type of missile.

The missiles have a fixed range, no matter the type, i'm gonna say either 12 or 18.  And no matter what range, they always count as being at medium range or the equivalent when fired. So long as the bomber keeps looking at its target until they are hit.  If you launch and turn away, you're now at long range before any jamming etc comes into account as the missiles are relying on their own radars and reciving course corrections from the bomber.

The bombers themselves would be slow, not overly well armoured and poorly protected, making them vulnerable to fighters.  And they would not be common, possibly only deployed from a specialized 'carrier' version of the Orion class

http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=59343.0

or the Cassiopea -

http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=59309.0

Treated by the Taurians as a valuable force multiplier, especially if they are packing nukes. 


What do you folks think?  Could it work, are their any flaws in it etc?



« Last Edit: November 11, 2017, 03:55:44 PM by marauder648 »
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Red Pins

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Re: I've had an idea and need your input.
« Reply #1 on: November 11, 2017, 04:44:41 PM »
It's do-able - this was the same idea I used for my 'FighterShips', a bomber to carry nuclear Cap Missiles - but if you insist on canon rules to come up with something its going to be a deathtrap.  Perhaps allow them stealth capabilities and use them to set the Cap missiles on ballistic courses outside of AA range?

I just designed a Primitive JumpShip myself, focused around 30 ASF/20 SC, but mine is retrotech, so for canon purposes you may be stuck with dropshuttles.

*Edit - I think you might be better with a dropshuttle or P-JumpShip for a canon setting.
« Last Edit: November 11, 2017, 04:48:56 PM by Red Pins »
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lrose

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Re: I've had an idea and need your input.
« Reply #2 on: November 11, 2017, 05:31:23 PM »
I like this idea and think it would work.  Keep in mind before the RW the TC was a major naval power- they depended on their fleet to protect the Concordat (much like the US before WW2, which maintained a large fleet during peacetime and only raised large armies when they were needed).

I did something similar for my TC AU, just on a larger scale.
https://www.ourbattletech.com/forum/index.php?topic=1110.0

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marauder648

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Re: I've had an idea and need your input.
« Reply #3 on: November 12, 2017, 04:00:18 AM »
The craft I sketched out in REMLab (so its probably wrong) was a 200 ton ship moving at 3/5 (so slow as all hell for a small craft) with 50% of its max armour on it.  Defensive weapons was limited to paired AC-5's in the nose and paired AC-2's in the rear with twin MGs on the left, right and aft and a single MG firing forwards.  Given enough fuel this left it with enough 'cargo' for its missiles as well as 2 tons of communication gear that would help guide the missile.  So its slow, vulnerable but fits the tech of the time.
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lrose

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Re: I've had an idea and need your input.
« Reply #4 on: November 12, 2017, 05:33:27 AM »
you might be better off dropping all the weapons- by my quick calculation dropping the ACs and MGs saves at least 34 tons (assuming you only had 1 ton of ammo per weapon type total 3 tons).  If you can get the weight savings up to 39 tons you can double the thrust to 6/9.  Yes it's even more vulnerable and can't defend itself, but  the speed would let them avoid some of the heavier fighters. Think more Kamikaze but with missiles instead of crashing into enemy ships.
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Takiro

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Re: I've had an idea and need your input.
« Reply #5 on: November 12, 2017, 03:57:25 PM »
This made me think of the Small Craft Bomber concept. I'll try to look through my notes when I get a chance.
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