Post by AtomHeartDragon on Feb 10, 2018 6:57:24 GMT
I started experimenting with mating spinal mounted railgun with two stage launchers - sideways launcher dropping a MRLS consisting of a remote and blast tube(s), with optional RCS plus aim assist gun (firing detonating blanks to not clutter launch trajectory with bullets) combo.
This seems like it could be effective as spinal railguns can easily be made long ranged, launchers can be assigned arbitrary engagement range, blast launchers can easily (if mass inefficiently) reach decent velocities greatly increasing guided munitions' ranges and sideways->forward two stage launch should mesh perfectly with spinal mount and allow mounting even on skiff sized tinyships (unlike, say, missile turrets).
I've also had some preliminary successes with similar two stage launchers (albeit single tubed and with bigger both launch velocities) on my test rig.
Unfortunately, while the launchers I am testing currently seem to perform admirably while manually controlled (they can quite reliably release their entire payload on desired trajectory without going into a spin, even without RCS), they don't seem to launch on their own. Engagement range is set to beyond current range and target types are checked. What could be the problem?
The only differences between my test setup and current one is that the launchers tend to lag behind manoeuvring ships (while my test platform was pretty much sitting still and launching since it doesn't have any long range fixed armaments - it's mainly intended for testing payload guns and some drones) and may in fact cause some mild jinking when manually forced to launch, so maybe they consider allies to be in their line of fire? What workarounds could I use?
I am thinking of complementing the remote with the right fuse and dumbfire rockets to help them clear the ship OR putting RCS on launching ship to help it aim its spinal mount without accelerating.
Edit:
Tactical geometry would support "allies in the line of fire" hypothesis - at first I thought it would only delay firing, but with MRLS moving away at constant, slow rate and launching ship constantly accelerating due to its use of gimballed thrusters that can't help, but add some forward component to velocity with each manoeuvre, the geometry can only deteriorate until the fleets start passing each other by.
So it seems that dumbfire boosters it'll be, unless I can reduce the forward acceleration enough (using RCS) for the MRLS to clear the launching ship and fire before it jinks in its way (without breaking fine manoeuvrability needed to fire spinal railguns) - with typical sideways launching speeds it seems hopeless, though.
Either way will cost me - either engine and fuel weight added to each MRLS or having to cut crew requirements enough to squeeze in some more reactorfolk.
This seems like it could be effective as spinal railguns can easily be made long ranged, launchers can be assigned arbitrary engagement range, blast launchers can easily (if mass inefficiently) reach decent velocities greatly increasing guided munitions' ranges and sideways->forward two stage launch should mesh perfectly with spinal mount and allow mounting even on skiff sized tinyships (unlike, say, missile turrets).
I've also had some preliminary successes with similar two stage launchers (albeit single tubed and with bigger both launch velocities) on my test rig.
Unfortunately, while the launchers I am testing currently seem to perform admirably while manually controlled (they can quite reliably release their entire payload on desired trajectory without going into a spin, even without RCS), they don't seem to launch on their own. Engagement range is set to beyond current range and target types are checked. What could be the problem?
The only differences between my test setup and current one is that the launchers tend to lag behind manoeuvring ships (while my test platform was pretty much sitting still and launching since it doesn't have any long range fixed armaments - it's mainly intended for testing payload guns and some drones) and may in fact cause some mild jinking when manually forced to launch, so maybe they consider allies to be in their line of fire? What workarounds could I use?
I am thinking of complementing the remote with the right fuse and dumbfire rockets to help them clear the ship OR putting RCS on launching ship to help it aim its spinal mount without accelerating.
Edit:
Tactical geometry would support "allies in the line of fire" hypothesis - at first I thought it would only delay firing, but with MRLS moving away at constant, slow rate and launching ship constantly accelerating due to its use of gimballed thrusters that can't help, but add some forward component to velocity with each manoeuvre, the geometry can only deteriorate until the fleets start passing each other by.
So it seems that dumbfire boosters it'll be, unless I can reduce the forward acceleration enough (using RCS) for the MRLS to clear the launching ship and fire before it jinks in its way (without breaking fine manoeuvrability needed to fire spinal railguns) - with typical sideways launching speeds it seems hopeless, though.
Either way will cost me - either engine and fuel weight added to each MRLS or having to cut crew requirements enough to squeeze in some more reactorfolk.
