So, to clarify, we cannot shelve this discussion until after the first battle report, as we are talking about our first (non-bonus) design.
So, as I see it, it doesn't matter that much which we develop first, radar or a destroyer. I think either way we're gonna get rekt at sea for the first few turns, and there is little we can do about that. However, it was pointed out that with our superior radio tech, our destroyers would be able to find/avoid enemy ships by listening in on their communications, so having radar on them is not as important.
Thus, on the basis that our air-superiority is pretty safe at least on turn one, I guess we may as well try to stem the bleeding at sea a little bit. Again, not a huge deal, but I see the destroyer as being marginally more useful one turn earlier.
We aren't at the point where we should be voting on designs for turn one yet, but just for reference, here are my suggestions for a destroyer/radar:
Backstory: After designing an aerial torpedo (and patting themselves on the back for a job well done), several of the new naval engineers sobered up and realised that, actually, they would need ships, if only to protect shipping and landers. With war looming, Forenia needed lots of ships, fast. The goal was set to design a simple, cheap, agile vessel that may not be able to outgun Cannalan ships, but can at least outrun them.
Description: The UFS-DD-38-1 is better known by the name given to its class, 'Unity'. She is modeled after (slightly outdated) destroyers from other navies, to ensure that all the tech is proven to work. The aim is to be fast, cheap, and simple. Staying power is not considered a priority, nor is firepower. She will operate in large numbers, using superior communication to coordinate attacks on lone enemy vessels, whilst avoiding the bulk of their fleet.
Dimensions: 90 meters long, 9 meter beam, 3.6 meter draught.
Displacement: 1100 tons
Engines: 3 water-tube boilers feeding 2 steam turbines, geared.
Armament: 4xB2 Destroyers in turrets, 1xBumblebee as AA, 2xTwin Torpedo Tubes. (And a couple of M3 Sorraias)
Armour: Light (for a ship (So probably Medium?), possibly using cheap steel for cost)
Other stuff: Encrypted Radio for communication. Decryption devices on fleet leaders. If possible, Death Rays modified for naval deployment on fleet leaders.
ESTIMATED DIFFICULTY: HARD (We don’t have much experience building big ships. We could argue this should be easier since we are basing it on existing, decades-old tech)
Backstory: In the mid thirties, an American mad scientist announced he had designed a death ray, based on radio technology, capable of dropping planes from the sky (No, really. Tesla claimed to have invented a death ray). This caught the attention of rebel engineers, who immediately set to work attempting to design said death ray. They spent years high in the mountains building ever more powerful radio transmitters, to no avail. Project Death Ray was a failure.
The engineers emerged from the mountains to discover that the rebels had already won; Forenia had been unified. After searching around they eventually found someone in the United Forenian Government willing to listen to them. They explained the results of their experiments; even the most powerful radio waves did absolutely nothing to planes. The only thing they had to show for it was blips on the equipment they used to measure the strength of their own transmissions.
"Blips, you say? Every time a plane passes through the wave? So you've built some sort of... plane detector? That could actually be useful, you know."
Project Death Ray was back on. Full funding was given to develop a 'plane detector'. No one got around to changing the name.
Description: A Death Ray Array consists of several powerful radio transmitters, strung between several steel towers. These are designed to send out radio pulses in sync with each other, magnifying the wave to boost power. This results in a powerful radio wave being sent out in front of the transmitters (with weaker signals to the other sides). This signal travels for over 150km, bouncing off of anything in the way- such as planes. This is then received by one of several receivers set at different heights, and the resulting signal is fed into a display, showing 'blips', how long it took before they were registered, and from what direction. By changing which receiver is active, the height of the object can also be determined.
These are built in chains, so that no area is left uncovered by transmitters (which work in about 100 degree arcs). When planes are detected, operator's phone the command center to let them know. If their position is at risk of being overrun, operators are instructed to destroy the equipment (which is mostly built from off-the-shelf civilian components, and is hence cheap to replace) rather than let it fall into enemy hands.
It may be relatively simple to modify the system to detect ships as well.
ESTIMATED DIFFICULTY: HARD (Would be Very Hard, but is very rudimentary)
Alternately:
Backstory: The Death Ray, though useful, was deemed too bulky and inaccurate for deployment. The engineers were tasked with designing a system that was both smaller and more accurate.
Description: By focusing the radio waves into a narrower arc and using a shorter wavelength, the size of the array can be reduced. The narrow focus is made up for by the ease with which the now significantly smaller device can be rotated. The multiple receivers are consolidated into one, combined with the transmitter. This does remove the altitude-finding capability, however.
The device is small enough that it can be moved by train, or by heavy trucks, or perhaps most importantly, on a ship. This mobility is important, as the equipment is more expensive and complicated, so needs to be transported from place to place rather than just building more wherever we go.
ESTIMATED DIFFICULTY: VERY HARD
EDIT: Also, a reminder that all these designs (and more) are available in our
secret design files (non-public google doc). The link is available in the Discord (look in the pinned messages in our channel), or you can get it by sending me a PM.
We're just being a bit paranoid. You can trust pirates, right?
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Topic: Intercontinental Arms Race: Finale (Read 602491 times)