Originally posted by Dimitri Dzengalshlevi
reply to post by guppy
And what will American taxpayers and old senators think when they see their $4 billion dollar carriers sink into the abyss with thousands of crewmen? The bigger the target, the harder it falls.
Definitely agree. If US ever lost a carrier, it would be a major demoralizing event. And never forget the damn biased media to destroy public support because of this lost.
What people need to realize is war is WAR! You can't expect going into harms way and not lose life. Its like playing Russian Roulette six times and complain why the gun when BOOM instead of click on that last pull. If US loses a carrier, respect and mourn the loss. But never give up. Get back on the horse and kick some arse so the loss will not be in vain.
And, yes, bigger never makes it better. It just makes it a bigger target. Why else does any carrier have a fleet of escorts? They are the #1 target for any opposing force. It is only a matter of time if US engages an equal or superior force.
Originally posted by MisterBurns
And space based carriers - come on, imagine a pilot, weakened by a tour of duty in weightless space put into a fighter and sent into 6g turns. And since when is a moon base a good idea, any fighter taking off from there would take what, 4 or 5 days to travel to Earth, a Nimitz could get there sooner.
Seriously? Long-term weightless effects? 6g turns? Do you think that will stop an idea of space carriers? Logistics for space carriers will be a nightmare. Weightless effects? Just rotate your crew more often, like every 6 months. Necessity is the essence of invention. As for 6G turns, that implies your space fighters are manned. Why not have space carriers using UCAV (in this case, UCSV)? You can even have 1 manned space vehicle for every 6 UCAVs for support and control.
Moon base is a great idea. Higher ground controls the battlefield. That is a common factor for all battlefields throughout time:
Flat ground => Hill/Mountains => Air => Low Orbit => High Orbit => Moon => In-System Outer Space => Out System Outer Space => and so on and so forth
Thee who controls the higher ground, controls the battlefield. Do some research about moon bases. In the 60s, US was heavily considering placing a base on the moon.
Ever heard of a mass drivers? Equip a moon base with a mass driver and you can hold earth hostage. Technology is not that far fetched nor out of our reach. Heck, if no mass driver, then simple rockets and guidance chips will do. Research FOBS (Fractional Orbital Bombardment System) developed by the Russians in the 60s. Scary stuff. Also Research THOR shots, or aka Crowbars. Simple but very effective KE weapons.
