This *does* bear a great deal of resemblance to the Death Star attack scene in the original Star Wars... -------------------------------------------- On Wed, 10/8/14, Tim <xxxxxx@little-possums.net> wrote: Subject: Re: [TML] Why do those big ships carry so many fighters? To: xxxxxx@simplelists.com Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2014, 8:49 PM It is much better to intercept further out. At greater range it suffices to merely disable and deflect the missile, as opposed to requiring that it be completely vaporized. If the fighters miss some, the final line of defense at the ship has a very much easier time picking off the remainder. They are the array of point-defense weaponry!. Just mobile and further from the single basket full of valuable eggs. If you like, think of taking each few dtons of the point-defense systems on a capital ship hull, then putting thrusters and a small power plant on it. The analogy isn't exact, but it's there. The point-defense systems won't be huge spinal mounts or bay weapons, those will be almost certainly geared toward sustaining an ongoing barrage of super-powerful blasts. Point defense requires more along the lines of high slew rates and rapid bursts of much lower energy required only for short periods, and infrequently. The main thing that point-defense weaponry is likely to require is surface area. It's probably quite "shallow" in terms of the volume of support systems required within the ship per unit hull area occupied. So it seems to me that it makes sense to increase the available surface area by making it mobile with its own hull. - Tim --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----
