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Missile Speeds

F

FrostJaeger

Chief Parakeet
Banned Member
To settle things once and for all regarding missile speeds, I'd like for @Wes - and only @Wes - to please answer the following questions.
  1. What do you feel the absolute maximum speed of missiles/rockets/torpedoes/etc. should be in space?
  2. What do you feel the absolute maximum speed of missiles/rockets/torpedoes/etc. should be in an atmosphere?

Note that by "absolute maximum," I mean the maximum speed the missile can propel itself plus the speed imparted to the missile by its launch mechanism.

I also mean no offense towards @META_mahn and @Toshiro; it's just that, well, the civil discussion occurring in the Adrast-Type Tactical Missile Update's thread appears to have died off and/or reached an impasse - and I'd really like to have this resolved, given how it affects the setting as a whole.
 
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Honestly, I think we need to stop listing maximum speeds for things that travel in STL in space. The thing that really matters is acceleration, not speed, because in a vacuum, there's no physical upper limit on speed except for the speed of light. Speed listings on SARP have become ridiculous and I consistently see creators trying to pass the .375c limit we set long ago, or to get to that speed despite not being one of the most advanced factions like Yamatai is, and I don't want to deal with it anymore.
 
The truth is we are writing, and from what I can tell no one understands the speeds. M x V = F is what it amounts do. In theory we can fire a popcorn kernel at .375 C and go significant damage to anything. Look at what a small ball of lead or copper can do, and some of those don't even breach the speed of sound.

All the numbers seem to do is make a kind of competition that isnt conducive to really anything.
 
At the end of the day to make a successful interception you need missiles and torpedoes that are faster by at least a 3rd, especially to deal with a maneuvering target.
 
Then the night begins and it gets loose. Stipulating hard numbers isn't conducive to writing. It turns what we do here into a text based race.
 
Also rendering missiles inert is a party trick at best. Even with extream speeds a star ship can project a shield wall around them
 
On the bright side, however fast or slow you make missiles there will still be a use for them. We just need to decide on what we want to do.
 
Honestly I like how DR3 is. The numbers are just a classification. To give us a good comparison.
 
Ira said:
Also rendering missiles inert is a party trick at best. Even with extream speeds a star ship can project a shield wall around them
Click to expand...
Which will generally endure a few hits and then the rest of the missile swarm arrives.
 
The missile swarm would hit a shield. Missiles are archaic technology. The super speeds we try to put on them are a mcguffin.
 
Imo? We can't address the speeds of one piece of ordinance without addressing all platform speeds.
 
The Hayai-class Gunboat is reportedly a quick ship, and has an acceleration of 0.25c per second, and can get up to speed from 0c to 0.375c in 15 seconds. That can be a basis.
 
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The Mindy 4's Turbo aether plasma's acceleration is measured in G-Forces, as another example.

But do we really want to start listing acceleration instead? I'm feeling like the main point is that stats that involve the rate of a weapon's travel are silly and lead to one-upsmanship, so just leave them out. Your missile is still a missile in RP and will do what it's designed to do. Neither GMs nor players are ever particularly concerned with whether their ship can outrun a missile that's locked on, and when they are, you can bet that whatever stats are listed won't matter.
 
I like to think that weapon designers are smarter than the people using their weapons. IC I just assume that missiles eventually catch their target and treat all weapons as dangerous unless specifically stated that they are ineffective. I mean, why would any faction or group field weapons that don't work?
 
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