UF-PS-45 Political Science
The recent riots have us wondering, can politics be weaponized? What happens when Parliament is split into three or even four warring factions? What if it bounces back and forth between five different courses of action? Split the vote again and find out now!
I don't know how long you've been in Arms Race, but that already happened, hehe.
UFAF-LAB-45 Dustbiter (10) :RAM, Madman, McHuman, Wolfhunter, Jilladilla, Kashyyk, Taricus, Conscript Five, eS, Parsely
UFAF-HAFB-45 "Iceberg" (10): Wizgrot, NAV, helmacon, Kot, Powder Miner, Qassius, Happerry, NUKE9.13, Cnidaros, Andrea
Sensei noted that if it is a tie when he gets back from lunch, he'll do a coin flip. Let's have that decide.
I'll just go for the Iceberg, since that was in the lead most recently. Do note that I reserve the right to nullify votes in the future if they're made for the sole purpose of keeping the vote at a stalemate or other shenanigans. You can ask for more time to shake out the votes, but don't strategically bounce your vote around to stall the game. Vote for something you want to see built and stick with it unless something better comes along or it's clear that it's not going to win.
"Iceberg" is all-metal high-wing monoplane flying boat. It's lower fuselage is shaped like a ship hull, allowing it to land and take-off from water, thus enabling us to resupply it at sea. It's wings are relatively small and swept back so it has high wing loading (long takeoff and landings don't really matter if it lands on water, and it won't really maneuver a lot at low speeds) and it's fitted with four aT-J40 turbofan engines attached on top, to minimize water indigestion. Similar to the aT-J30's in the VVF, the aT-40 is simply a non-hydrozine burning engine that can maintain the same thrust output. The plane has a tricycle landing gear, where the rear gear is high and placed in the wing roots, which allows it to be used on land. The plane is built like a Reckless Effect in terms of durability, having redundancies where applicable.
The plane is fitted with standard radar, a radar altimeter that will allow our pilots to fly low to the ground or water and a countermeasure package. It also has turret with a pair of autocannons in the tail, from where the gunner shares control the countermeasures with pilot, to allow for better detection of enemy missiles. The cabins are also air conditioned, and there should be two pilots and at least one flight engineer/radar operator, in addition to the rear gunner.
The plane has a rotating bomb bay, which is insulated against the water by blowing air from engines (this is something we totally should have - jet fuel tanks have to be pressurized to ensue that they don't get starved/the tank literally implodes) to ensue a tight fit. The bomb bay should take "a lot", around 10-15 tons, and there are also external hardpoints similar to those on VVF, that can be fitted with additional fuel or ordnance, such as "Noose" missiles or even "Saltseekers", and also our old torpedoes, even if they might not see a lot of use. The total useful carry capability should be somewhere around 20 tons, but kept under 30 tons, so the plane doesn't become too big and expensive. The plane could be also used to deploy naval mines, possibly through an additional hatch on the side of the plane.
If time allows the plane should be painted with that nice UV reflective paint other engineers have been proposing, and it could be applied to our other planes.
The plan is settled. It was a hard time getting here. Some engineers had to be forcibly escorted from the board room, and it nearly came to an armed duel- and good thing it didn't, because an armed duel between weapons engineers tends to be dangerous for anyone in a considerable vicinity. People argued, people changed sides, designs were thrown out. When all is said and done, only one blueprint remains on the table: An enormous seaplane. Some engineers have dreamed of this for years.
Hard: 5
UFAF-HAFB-45 "Iceberg": The new successor to the High Altitude Fast Bomber name, the Iceberg is large, high-wing flying boat. It has a broad front cabin composed of four window panes with space for a pilot, co-pilot, radar engineer and bomb aimer, as well as a turret in back. The wings, while enormous, are relatively small for its load and gently swept back. On top of them are four aT-J40 engines, large engines burning a normal fuel mixture to approximately equal the aT-J30's thrust, which was the hydrazine-burning engine in the VVF. The engines are in pairs close to the wing root and their position helps minimize intake of water. Below the wing root are fairings which conceal the side landing gear, which in addition to a set of nose landing gear allows the plan to use land runways. Its emphasis on high-speed performance means it needs a lot of space to land or takeoff, which makes it best suited for water use. Its bomb bay is set on a rotating apparatus: the bottom half is an aerodynamic shape for flying and landing, which seals against the frame of the plane with an inflating rubber cushion (fed by an engine exhaust outlet) to prevent intrusion of water or outside air. The bombs sit on top, inside the cabin, and the rack rotates upside-down to expose them to the outside for deployment, which takes several seconds. The internal bomb rack can hold 12 tons of bombs. Additionally it has four wing hardpoints, two close to the wing root which support fully four tons each (for Saltseeker missiles) and two more one-ton mounts for other uses. The plane can carry a total of 16 tons spread across its internal bomb bay and hardpoints at once. Its other equipment includes the rear turret, sitting in a ball at the tail with a pair of 20mm Velociraptors, and the radar system. The radar, based on a Deadliest Ray, also includes a radar altimeter and a crude ground-scanning system which can approximate the outlay of hills and mountains, illuminating the display variously based on the range of the contact, to assist in flying at night or in poor weather. Lastly it's painted with a paint which the scientists claim reflects UV light, therefore preventing Balefire Violet missiles from locking onto it, it reflects visible light as well and appears bright, matte white. It reaches very high altitudes (oxygen masks and pressurized cabin both included of course) and speeds, albeit less than the VVF or Charlotte, and has a moderate climb rate with a turn-time of 'eventually'. [7 Ore, 6 Oil]
Poll
17 (16%)
Author
Topic: Intercontinental Arms Race: Finale (Read 591441 times)