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Author Topic: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1965 - Final Design Phase)  (Read 83010 times)

Jilladilla

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Re: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1963 - Design Phase)
« Reply #615 on: August 12, 2018, 05:50:38 pm »

Quote from: Voteteam
(3) ME-EAP-63 "Skyranger": NUKE9.13 Tyrant Leviathan, Andrea
- (0) but rename it ME-EAP-63 "Steel Rain":
(0) ME-EAP-63 "Firestorm":
(4) ME-DNI-63 "Brainwave": Madman, Maximum Spin, andrea, Jilladilla
(3) ME-MAG-63 "Ubergun": FallacyofUrist, Happery, Piratejoe
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FallacyofUrist

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Re: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1963 - Design Phase)
« Reply #616 on: August 12, 2018, 06:56:10 pm »

Yeah no. Odds that it'll work are too low to risk it. And that wouldn't help us push forwards at all, would it. What benefits it did bring we can partially duplicate with a radio revision.

Quote from: Voteteam
(4) ME-EAP-63 "Skyranger": NUKE9.13 Tyrant Leviathan, Andrea, FallacyofUrist
- (0) but rename it ME-EAP-63 "Steel Rain":
(0) ME-EAP-63 "Firestorm":
(4) ME-DNI-63 "Brainwave": Madman, Maximum Spin, andrea, Jilladilla
(2) ME-MAG-63 "Ubergun": Happery, Piratejoe
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Madman198237

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Re: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1963 - Design Phase)
« Reply #617 on: August 12, 2018, 07:04:02 pm »

You can duplicate the very minimal basics. You can't match the coordination or the video-transmission.

You also can't match the fact that it makes use of the DUC and another "-gel", which is always a good thing, right?
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piratejoe

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Re: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1963 - Design Phase)
« Reply #618 on: August 12, 2018, 07:49:27 pm »

Quote from: Voteteam
(5) ME-EAP-63 "Skyranger": NUKE9.13 Tyrant Leviathan, Andrea, FallacyofUrist, Piratejoe
- (1) but rename it ME-EAP-63 "Steel Rain": Piratejoe
(0) ME-EAP-63 "Firestorm":
(4) ME-DNI-63 "Brainwave": Madman, Maximum Spin, andrea, Jilladilla
(1) ME-MAG-63 "Ubergun": Happery,
If we where our enemies with all the fancy experience with the human mind and psionics, I would go for something like the brainwave, but we aren't our enemies and we really shouldn't go down that path. The closest thing to that we should do is AI, which we already have some experience in.
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Maximum Spin

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Re: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1963 - Design Phase)
« Reply #619 on: August 12, 2018, 08:04:50 pm »

If we where our enemies with all the fancy experience with the human mind and psionics, I would go for something like the brainwave, but we aren't our enemies and we really shouldn't go down that path. The closest thing to that we should do is AI, which we already have some experience in.
Actually, we already have CAT, so we do have experience in the area.
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Madman198237

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Re: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1963 - Design Phase)
« Reply #620 on: August 12, 2018, 08:22:19 pm »

They're using magics and psionics, we're using metal and brain-tapping. Completely different, both thematically and in the end results.
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dgr11897

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Re: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1963 - Design Phase)
« Reply #621 on: August 20, 2018, 12:33:05 am »

Quote from: Voteteam
(5) ME-EAP-63 "Skyranger": NUKE9.13 Tyrant Leviathan, Andrea, FallacyofUrist, Piratejoe,
- (1) but rename it ME-EAP-63 "Steel Rain": Piratejoe,
(0) ME-EAP-63 "Firestorm":
(4) ME-DNI-63 "Brainwave": Madman, Maximum Spin, andrea, Jilladilla
(1) ME-MAG-63 "Ubergun": Happery,
Auto-defender
A system of quadrupedal platforms that come in several flavors. All are equipped with a cable/radio for relaying stuff, and are able to swap out autocannons for lasers, missiles for auto-loader mortars, and the other way around, so you can trade lasers for autocannons but not lasers for auto loader mortars. All platforms also posses a set of sensors, primarily a camera and a (blanking on the name right now).
The smallest auto defender platform is the watchdog, a small quadruped able to go out into no-man's land and drill into the ground, operating as unarmed forward sensor posts, typically with a cable heading back to the turrets they are spotting for.
The sentinel, is the second smallest platform. Possessing minimal mobility and armed with only a single autocannon, or laser, with a birdbrain for targeting and a camera/sonic sensor set for seeing, these are typically deployed alongside other auto-defenders, or in places where we don't anticipate heavy resistance.
The standard auto-defender is the guardian, armed with quad autocannons, a decent sensor array, and the ability to mount either shrike missile racks or an equivelent set of auto-loading mortars on its back. The guardian class are meant to serve as the first line of defense, being equipped to operate either alone or with minimal support, and have a decent amount of frontal armor, though they still require a truck to move them over great distances.

The standard midrange artillery auto defender is the lancer, a platform capable of mounting a long range missile rack, and (optionally) a laser to take out enemy aerial forces, and provide pinpoint strikes.

The standard longer ranged AA or artillery unit is the missile truck, a simple truck with a set of shrike missiles and a birdbrain attached. These cannot mount auto loader mortars, due to the configuration of the missiles.

For heavy artillery strikes we have the devestator, a cataphract 150mm gun with a birdbrain unit attached, immobile, but incredibly deadly.

Finally their are the command trucks, a set of trucks fitted with massive computing units, coordinating the defenses from the back-line.
« Last Edit: August 20, 2018, 01:26:53 am by dgr11897 »
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My Power armor arms race

Chiefwaffles

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Re: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1963 - Design Phase)
« Reply #622 on: October 02, 2018, 02:05:58 am »

ME-EAP-63 "Skyranger"
ORACLE can predict where to hit for maximum effect. However, sometimes our soldiers just can't get in place fast enough, or the predicted target is behind enemy lines where we can't safely reach. Excavators were supposed to be stealthy for behind enemy lines operations, but they have failed in the role; instead of stealth, therefore, we should use raw speed.

The Skyranger is a transport plane using our 4 wing design. It has enough capacity to transport a grizzly and some bear soldiers, or equivalent equipment. So far, so good: it is quite standard. The meat of the design is the propulsion. It has 2 pairs of engines of new design: they are multimodal propulsion units. AT low speed, an electric fan produces high thrust efficiently , avoiding the low performance of our current engines. As Speed increases, GOFAST injection begins, then switching to pure ramjet/rocket mode after breaking the sound barrier. The fuels are suitably improved for the performance required: electricity is provided by a magmagel reservoir, while GOFAST uses magmatite additives developed by DUC to increase its power density. The engines Can swivel allowing vertical take off and landing capabilities.

Taking hints from the chillwind design, it has ICE circulation just below its skin to protect from the heat of the flight regimes it is expected to face.

But which are those flight regimes? Here is a description of the expected capabilities. A loaded skyranger will take off from a friendly base deep in Merethian territory. Using its electric fans it will quickly get beyond sound barrier, then it will engage its ramjets/rockets to reach a suborbital trajectory with an apoapsis above atmosphere. Following the necessary corrections to bring the expected landing point where we want it, it will start falling down in the atmosphere again. ICE cooling ensures that the skin can sustain the heat without requiring special and heavy materials. The electric fans, also cooled, will be used to provide regenerative braking when the combination of speed and atmosphere allows them to be opened without risk. It will come down fast and hot, a meteor from the sky on a very vertical trajectory, then ideally it will slow down in roughly a minute using aerodynamics and engines (note: a minute is what you need to slow down from MACH 5 to standstill at 3g).
Mounted on the hulls are a couple of hardpoints to use to support the ground team with autocannons, ICE throwers or a CLAW. After the deed is done, soldiers board again and the skyranger returns, although leftover fuel may not allow a full suborbital hop.

With the ability to get anywhere on the island in under 30 minutes and drop far behind enemy lines too fast for enemies to redeploy their soldiers to react, combined with our ability to predict their movements, The skyranger will be the nightmare of their logistics and supply lines, leaving the front line soldiers badly supplied and equipped. Plus on a more tactical level it allows us to take hold of important positions that may otherwise be unreachable on foot, thanks to its VTOL capability. On a lighter load it should be able to reach orbit, which is not useful now (except as a staging point for a large attack) but has potentential for the future.

Oh, lets also not forget the possibility of just loading a big shell of metal and ICE in the hold and releasing it at the apex of the suborbital trajectory, bombarding the enemy while the skyranger comes down safely.
Design: ME-EAP-63 "Skyranger"
(Normal) (2+2)+1 = 5: Average

Daniel looked out the cockpit of the Skyranger.
From this far up, it almost seemed so petty. The constant fighting. The arms race. The politics; Everything. It almost felt that humanity should be above all this, just like he was at this very moment. The shining blue sea seemed to look back at him as he stared at it. A tone sounded at him as the dotted line on the rudimentary HUD -- showing the predicted path of the Skyranger while the engines were off -- came to an end, signalling his return to duty.
As the retrograde engines began roaring to life, Daniel thought back.

Screw that. The Skyranger will let Aratam pay for their crimes.


The Skyranger is an impressive beast. It actually wasn't that hard (relative to our other projects), as we already have plenty of advanced aircraft (and computing) experience and plenty of areas to draw from for fuel, which happens to be very important in even suborbital travel.
Its Tereshkova effect-inducing wing setup and two multimodal propulsion units are the source of its powers. Magmagel-based electric fans provide efficient thrust in the atmosphere at lower speeds, and Magmatite-enhancd GOFAST ramjet/rocket modes allow it to go to what is often called "insane" speeds, even out of the atmosphere. We're quite proud of these engines. GOFAST, Magmagel -- everything. They feel like the technological pride of Mereth. It's a shame they don't have their own name.

Gaining speed, when called the "longest part" to most generals, elicits gasps. The Skyranger's engines allow it to bolt up above the atmosphere, where it then more-or-less falls towards its landing site at insane speeds. ICE circulation tech, "salvaged" from the Chillwind, allows it to mostly withstand heat damage; although the Skyranger will need very frequent maintenance, the ICE cooling allows this instead of "arriving at the landing site as a hunk of burning-hot metal."
It comes down fast and hard, as a fireball screaming down from the heavens, slowing down at reasonable (though we've taken to prohibiting food before embarking on a Skyranger due to certain incidents) speeds with just seconds to spare. Once it's hovering above the ground, it can unload its cargo and head back.
Though unless the Skyranger already had a light cargo and isn't taking much (if anything at all) back, it will likely be forced to use a much slower in-atmosphere route back to the airfield.

With the Skyranger, we can be anywhere, anytime. It can also be used for more mundane tasks that don't involve becoming a fireball screaming down from the heavens to enact righteous retribution on Aratamite scum, like transporting cargo and people between hard-to-reach places behind or at the front lines. We also are looking into potentially performing bombing by dropping a payload near the apoapsis of its flight.


Hardpoints were considered and included (as well as the Magmagel reserves to power them for a bit), and usually include a CLAW, but despite its thin armor plating the Skyranger is relatively delicate to anything that's more than a basic Aratamite rifle. And in testing thus far anything mounted on the hardpoints tend to be ripped off during orbital descent, making them useless when used for the Skyranger's main purpose (which is when it'll likely see hostiles). So for most intents and purposes, a Skyranger is unarmed.
It can transport a full BEAR squadron or an equivalent (mix of) cargo/equipment/personnel. It could theoretically handle the weight of a Grizzly, but we haven't found a way to actually fit a Grizzly inside its cabin. When using sub-orbital travel, it can in fact often arrive at its destination in half-an-hour. Its landing location is extremely apparent even without Aratamite psionic-magic-whatever, but it's fast and sudden enough that it shouldn't be too much of an issue for our men as long as we don't land them near any strongholds.


It costs 6 Ore, 2 Oil, and 3 Magmatite, making it Very Expensive.. It's surprisingly efficient in oil usage, as any non-orbital travel uses the Magmagel-powered fan and (partially for weight reasons) it actually doesn't need a large amount of Magmatite-enhanced GOFAST to get where it wants to go. But it's a big transport craft using up a lot of ore and the Magmatite quickly adds up, as amazingly useful as it is. We may be able to just barely reduce ore cost by an effective 1 Unit if we decrease the amount of maintenance needed between jumps.

Spoiler: Designs (click to show/hide)

The Revision Phase of Fall 1963 has begun. Don't forget about the contest!
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You should really look to the wilderness for your stealth ideas, it has been doing it much longer than you have after all. Take squids for example, that ink trick works pretty well, and in water too! So you just sneak into the dam upsteam, dump several megatons of distressed squid into it, then break the dam. Boom, you suddenly have enough water-proof stealth for a whole city!

NUKE9.13

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Re: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1963 - Revision Phase)
« Reply #623 on: October 02, 2018, 02:59:46 am »

CHEAPRADIO: The "Communicator: Highly Encrypted Audio, Potentially Reusable As Distant Interface Option" is, as the name clearly suggests, a cheap radio. A decent chunk of design time will be spent negotiating with the Union of Electronics Workers, forcing them to accept more reasonable wages, and allow for modernisation of production equipment. The rest of our time will be spent updating the components used in the WALK-TALK, making it smaller, adding encryption, and possibly increasing the range slightly. Integration into Bear Armour is important as well.
Of lesser concern, but worth looking at if we have the time, is ensuring that the CHEAPRADIO technology can be scaled up to transmit more data... like, CAT levels of data. The basic radio needn't be capable of it, but it would be nice if we could combine a bunch of them to allow for some... interesting options in the future.
« Last Edit: October 02, 2018, 10:34:58 am by NUKE9.13 »
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dgr11897

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Re: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1963 - Revision Phase)
« Reply #624 on: October 02, 2018, 06:01:29 pm »

MCOOP Merethian Classified Orbital Operations Program.
By creating a set of boosters and extra tanks, we can create a skyranger variant capable of taking larger loads into orbit. With this we will begin the construction of an orbital operations platform in polar orbit. Designed as a spy station to relay down data on enemy positions to Oracle A, it is also armed with a CLAW laser to smite important targets. Of note is how this program is to be classified, and is top secret.
V1 flight pack.
The drop bear was a good first step, but is held back by being single use, and hard to control. The Skyranger's new fans allow us to solve some of these issues. By miniaturizing the fan system used and pairing them with our X-wing arrangement, allowing our troopers the power of flight over a decent distance. Let them look up to see naught but death.
« Last Edit: October 03, 2018, 07:21:57 pm by dgr11897 »
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Happerry

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Re: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1963 - Revision Phase)
« Reply #625 on: October 04, 2018, 05:52:35 pm »

Quote from: Votebox
CHEAPRADIO (1): Happerry

Since no one has put anything up for a day or so, let's get started with the voting.
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FallacyofUrist

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Re: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1963 - Revision Phase)
« Reply #626 on: October 04, 2018, 11:16:33 pm »

Quote from: Votebox
CHEAPRADIO (2): Happerry, FallacyofUrist

I mean, there may be better options, but it's very practical and I don't know what those options are.
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Madman198237

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Re: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1963 - Revision Phase)
« Reply #627 on: October 05, 2018, 11:57:15 am »

Quote
ME-GEM-63 'King Penguin'
A modification of the original Penguin TV-guided missile, the new King Penguin incorporates its very own Birdbrain pod, dumbed down to only control the missile it's on. The missile is reduced in size and deadliness, if necessary to maintain a Cheap cost. The remote-operation is retained in a form, in that the missile flies to a target zone without operator control, but then the operator chooses the missile's target using a radio connection to the Birdbrain pod. After many years of actively harming our military, the government has judged the time is right to break the Electronics Workers' Union, arresting the ringleaders for treason against Mereth and giving them the option to stop the union or go through a trial for their crimes, which have cost Mereth many good pilots and soldiers who were left unable to communicate with their comrades-in-arms.

It's been long enough for us using the radio that it shouldn't be *THAT* hard to just de-Complex the thing, and plus adding a Birdbrain system to the Penguin should be really simple...and as the Penguin is Cheap it should give us a solid artillery advantage.
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andrea

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Re: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1963 - Revision Phase)
« Reply #628 on: October 06, 2018, 04:24:33 pm »

proposals for the future.


Interplanetary Mereth Belonging Resource Identification and Utilization: Moon
IMBRIUM

or

Mineral Acquisition and Refining Interplanetary Activity
MARIA


It has been theorized that other celestial bodies may have more magmatite than we can find in MAGMA (or at least more accessible, without pesky things such as borders). With the advances in propulsion, it is time we test this theory.
First of all, we need a suitable transportation vehicle. Vanilla skyrangers are good, but they don't quite cut it. From the scrapped prototypes of the skyranger program, we recover plans for a larger but less armoured version, we fill it with extra fuel tanks, then call it Spaceranger. This version, a fairly simple modification, has the range to get to the lunar surface and come back. With relatively cheap launches and large payload, life support is mostly relegated to bringing supplies.
Having the means to land, it is also required to have something that can be used on the surface of the planet. First is the ursa minor suit: an extensive modification of the bear suit enclosing it as a pressure vessel with flexible joints. Much less extensive are the modifications to the other 2 pieces of equipment, since they are already mostly sealed and only need to be adapted to vacuum: excavators, and the grizzly based Ursa Major suit. The combustion engines included in our devices thankfully function in vacuum, due to GOFAST not requiring oxygen to burn.

The operation works in steps: first of all, a few missions are launched to recover surface sample for geological teams to study back home, in order to pick a suitable site. In this phase we will also seek to find the lost Arstotzkan rocket, and bring back the corpse of the legendary kot so that it can be buried in Forenia.
Once a site is selected, a few landings with supplies and ursa minor suits are tasked with setting up a simple base with pressurized living areas and a workshop.
Then excavators and Ursa Major are shipped, disassembled in parts to be reassembled at the base camp. Excavation of a permanent base and mines begins.
Finally, refining equipment is shipped from Mereth and installed, allowing magmatite to be produced on site. At this point, a local energy source is available and the colony can thrive, exporting the excess back on Earth.

It may take a while, but we will conquer the skies!

Madman198237

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Re: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1963 - Revision Phase)
« Reply #629 on: October 06, 2018, 04:51:21 pm »

Quote from: Votebox
CHEAPRADIO (2): Happerry, FallacyofUrist
ME-GEM-63 'King Penguin' (1): Madman
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