A variety questions about ship guns, design and body kit

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Tamri
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A variety questions about ship guns, design and body kit

Post by Tamri »

Will create a separate branch to discuss weapons, its placement and design of the Union\Hierarchy ships.

Well, the first question pack:

1) All of gun turrets are unitary, or have any sets that require individual reworks?

2) How do the weight and dimensions of, say, light\medium\heavy blasters to form two-gun turrets?

3) What is the main limiting factor during the installation of weapons?

4) What are the dimensions of the sensor pack and what types it contains sensors (active and passive, or only passive), if the second option, which installations the active sensors? What are the limitations of its arrangement?

5) What is the ratio of the size of the Loroi engine pylon to the length of the ship? "By eye" out of about 1:1.5, but can have a more accurate observation.

UPD. Another question after: what are the limitations when installing defensive screens and have an opportunity to put, say, the Lorai screen V on the light cruiser or destroyer?

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Arioch
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Re: A variety questions about ship guns, design and body kit

Post by Arioch »

Tamri wrote:1) All of gun turrets are unitary, or have any sets that require individual reworks?
On Loroi ship classes, there is some variation among the design of turrets carrying the same type of weapon; there are twin and single mounts, and variations on turret configuration to accommodate different positions on the hull. A lot of the turret mechanism is inside the surface of the hull. Newer classes tend to have more standardized turret designs.

Most Umiak vessels don't really have proper turrets, with the individual weapon mounts sprouting directly out of a hull aperture.
Tamri wrote:2) How do the weight and dimensions of, say, light\medium\heavy blasters to form two-gun turrets?
The Loroi tend to use twin mounts rather than a single larger weapon because they find it easier to keep cool. Umiak have more efficient cooling schemes, and so Umiak ships tend to have larger single-barrel weapon mounts. Cooling capacity is the main factor that limits a beam weapon's rate of fire.
Tamri wrote:3) What is the main limiting factor during the installation of weapons?
A combination of internal cooling and energy transmission infrastructure, cost, and mass. It is possible to "over-arm" a smaller vessel (you can put cruiser weapons and power systems on a destroyer hull), but there is little advantage to doing so above a certain size class, as the result is usually more expensive but less capable than the larger vessel. Small parasite vessels like fighters and gunboats, for which small size is an advantage, do tend to be over-armed for their size.
Tamri wrote:4) What are the dimensions of the sensor pack and what types it contains sensors (active and passive, or only passive), if the second option, which installations the active sensors? What are the limitations of its arrangement?
Most ships will have a broad sensor suite including both active and passive multi-frequency radar, optical sensors, and passive high-energy particle detectors. Main sensor suites on Loroi vessels tend to be positioned in the front of the ship between the two forward prongs, to minimize the interference of the deflector screens and the engines. Most vessels have a sensor blind spot (or "baffles") directly behind the ship due to the high-energy output of the engines.
Tamri wrote:5) What is the ratio of the size of the Loroi engine pylon to the length of the ship? "By eye" out of about 1:1.5, but can have a more accurate observation.
It varies. Sometimes the engine nacelles contain additional systems, such as secondary deflector screen generators or weaponry.
Tamri wrote:what are the limitations when installing defensive screens and have an opportunity to put, say, the Lorai screen V on the light cruiser or destroyer?
The limitations are size, mass, and cost. The screen generators and the accumulators that they're tied into take up most of the space in the forward prongs of Loroi vessels; the bigger the screens, the thicker and heavier the prongs.

The chief advantage to escort vessels like destroyers and light cruisers is that they are less expensive than cruisers, so you can build more of them. You can put cruiser systems into destroyer hulls, but then you lose that cost advantage. Since there are no arbitrary limitations on ship size, there isn't really any reason to build "pocket battleships."

Tamri
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Re: A variety questions about ship guns, design and body kit

Post by Tamri »

Arioch wrote:
Thanks for answers. Now I just got carried away an attempt to imagine how would look designed human ships, in the designers presence of the Union technology. And faced with the fact that in order to create good concepts I didn't have enough information. However, I am glad that my rough calculations don't contradict the information issued by you. Thanks again.

Tamri
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Re: A variety questions about ship guns, design and body kit

Post by Tamri »

Loroi used some systems / implants / devices to connect operator directly to computers, or available to them the most - banging on the keys and pull the levers?

Do they use at least a basic level of AI to automate the ships gun guidance / operations / provision or is tied all to the operators?

As far as automation is widely used in the Loroi Navy, and indeed to the Empire?

How this state of affairs in the Hierarchy?

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Arioch
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Re: A variety questions about ship guns, design and body kit

Post by Arioch »

Even at our level of technology today, there are very few sophisticated devices that do not have some kind of microprocessor controller, from car engines to coffee makers to batteries. A starship and all of its systems and weapons are going to depend heavily on computers and software to make them work effectively and efficiently. To call this "AI" may be misleading, since it implies autonomous intelligence. In most cases, living operators make the decisions and use computer/software tools to operate the weapon or system in question. Systems can operate autonomously, but for the most part they can only do what the operator instructed or programmed them to do. These systems can be very sophisticated and pretty smart at their specific tasks, but very few if any systems aboard a starship would qualify as "intelligent."

Most Loroi aboard a ship interact with their systems via a configurable touch/display panel that's analogous to keyboard and touchpad, and some functions have specialized control devices analogous to joystick, trackball, etc. Some systems can accept voice commands (though this is underused by the Loroi for obvious reasons). The Loroi also have a neural interface that it used for some applications; it requires extensive training to use effectively and is not significantly faster than manual inputs (because they use the same neural pathways), but it can allow some level of interaction when other options are limited (such as with a Loroi fighter pilot who is silenced by liquid breathing medium and under high G-stress).

Loroi rely heavily on automation. Production makes heavy use of automated systems, as does shipboard engineering and shipboard medical systems. In all cases, these machines are managed by living operators, but they do much of the actual work.

The situation will be similar in the Hierarchy. A significant percentage of Umiak have automated systems built into their own bodies; these require significant training to use, usually from a very young age. Like ours, Umiak nervous systems are neural nets, and don't have a "data bus" to plug into, so any cybernetic augmentations that are made require years of intensive training and physical therapy to learn to use properly.

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