SckizoBoy said:
Talshere said:
Read John Ringo's Posleen Series...THATS why we need battleships! Realistically though I dont understand why they are redundant. Shells are a damn sight cheaper than cruise missiles. They are great at continuas area denail and preparing shore assults. There minor flaw is range, but thats constantly increasing, so why not keep 1 or 2 on hand. I can see that they would be becoming redundant NOW since rail guns are nearly ready for production.
They're redundant because missiles don't require such a large platform to shoot them off, naval ordnance has accuracy issues missiles don't, don't deal as much damage as missiles, and are very vulnerable without aerial cover.
Reckon Taranto and Pearl Harbour (and even Bismarck, those fucking Swordfish!) taught us more than enough that battleship vs aircraft carrier is only ever going end one way.
BTW, please enlighten more about this 'Posleen Series'.
On the other hand such a large ordanace platform, as you correctly up it, would more than easily be decked out with modern small anti air capabilties. They cannot possibly be more lumbering than modern aircraft carriers. If proper modern shock technology and shifting balast were incorparate into the design the guns could be reduced in size considerable without losing any impact. More potent explosive compounds could be use for increase range, you could arm the damn things with fuel-air shells. You dont get much bigger than that. Plus, on the point of accuracy. With modern GPS aiming and calibration, I cant see that their accuracy could be that far off a missile, and provides far better suppresion. Granted collateral damage would be far larger. We wouldnt be dropping shells down chimnies like we do bombs and missiles, but we do that because we are in civilian areas. If we ever when back to total war, where 100's of miles of ground are devoid of anything but combatants, why the hell do we care about collateral?
My point is everyone says "Battleship", and we cunjure up 1940's giants. Realistically, the long guns of a BS are barly different from Napolionic era cannons, just scaled up. They have recived virtually no modernisation. Imagine the potencial of such a weapon if we had actually bothered with stages between the long guns and the rail cannon. Since they are in effect the same thing under modernisation.
The Posleen Series follows the story of the Earth, specifically the US and how it deals with a sudden unflux of knowelge including "Aliens are real", "your going to be invaded in 5 years by some", "we cant help you because we have evolved to be none violent to the point of death", "Having said that, you can have all our tech, try not to get wiped out".
It covers various socio-political problems. John Ringo himself was clearly in the US milatary and if focuses on the problems of transitioning from longstanding peace into total war. There are a few fan fic's that are considered cannon including a British based on called "The Yomen Of England" and a Middle Eastern one I cannot remember the name off.
You get the perspectives of Grunts, Generals and the poor civies trapped in the middle. Im not normally into Sci-Fi but I thurryly enjoyed them. I believe the are free to download from publisher "BAEN" website, or if you are like me and perfer a hard copy they are only like £5.
