Do Grav Tanks de-orbit like other re-entry vehicles, or are they carried to the surface (or let loose in air) via a landing craft?
Landing Grav Tanks
- Thread starter Blue Ghost
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Pickles
Guest
Depends on their TL. I'd say they would be carried until TL 14 or 15, based on what LBB4 says:
Man, I love my CT-CD ROM!
Man, I love my CT-CD ROM!
Quite simply, the answer is YES.
Some are orbitally deployed (TL13+, by MT), while most TL 10-12 are dropped in midair, or even on the ground, but can be orbitally deployed if need be...
It's something that's mission dependent. Grav Tanks during a combined arms drop, probably going down naked..
Some are orbitally deployed (TL13+, by MT), while most TL 10-12 are dropped in midair, or even on the ground, but can be orbitally deployed if need be...
It's something that's mission dependent. Grav Tanks during a combined arms drop, probably going down naked..
Interesting. It's just that I'd never seen reference to a grav tank going through re-entry, though I've read more than one reference to various grav vehicles going into orbit and beyond.
It would also depend on the specific drive system. In Classic Traveller, the time to orbit for an air/raft like Grav vehicle is 1 hour per planet size. That is a long time to be a slow moving airborne target. Small craft drives reduce the time to orbit to minutes – much less vulnerable.
(Obviously, I have assumed that the time-to-orbit is the same as the time-from-orbit. An argument can also be made that vehicles are not equipped to survive reentry – you can fly to a ship in orbit, but cannot land from orbit)
(Obviously, I have assumed that the time-to-orbit is the same as the time-from-orbit. An argument can also be made that vehicles are not equipped to survive reentry – you can fly to a ship in orbit, but cannot land from orbit)
I suppose lower tech grav tanks have HEAT-shields? I'm curious.
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TheEngineer
SOC-14 1K
Hi !
IMHO there is no need for a separate heat shield or stuff like that.
Even a lower tech grav tank dropped by a geostationary vessel in close orbit can carefully control its "drop" velocity (just like other Traveller starships), without any risk to be melted away
It just needs no atmo for braking ...
regards,
TE
IMHO there is no need for a separate heat shield or stuff like that.
Even a lower tech grav tank dropped by a geostationary vessel in close orbit can carefully control its "drop" velocity (just like other Traveller starships), without any risk to be melted away
It just needs no atmo for braking ...
regards,
TE
Hi !
IMHO there is no need for a separate heat shield or stuff like that.
Even a lower tech grav tank dropped by a geostationary vessel in close orbit can carefully control its "drop" velocity (just like other Traveller starships), without any risk to be melted away
It just needs no atmo for braking ...
regards,
TE
I concur. And on the air/raft time to orbit, that is a slow dinky open-topped air/raft. Speeders (and by extension most military grav craft) are much faster.
For my original visual design for the Imperial Trepida Grav Tank (TL14-15) (MegaTraveller Rebellion Sourcebook) I specified a lightweight, ablative aeroshell clamshell that completely enclosed the vehicle. This was for drops at VERY high velocities, coming in for planetary assault at much higher than orbital speeds of 5-6 miles per second. This way, the assault armor could be deployed from the carrier without the need to ever get into close planetary orbit. This gave you several advantages- the armor of the Trepida could probably take the heat of entry, but why stress it, when you can build a cheap, throwaway shield o do it for you? The tank gets where you want it FAST, minimizing time to detect/track it. Although I never worked it out specifically, I always kind of assumed the aeroshell would include an ECM package to help evade detection, and heat sinks to make a high energy entry less thermally unpleasant for the vehicle crew. But, you didn't have to use the shell, it was just one option.
Those were my thoughts at the time, anyway.
Those were my thoughts at the time, anyway.
TheEngineer
SOC-14 1K
Hi TPeters !
Why an ECM package ?
A hot reentry is perhaps a visually exciting thing and it might not need complex detectors for locate that :=)
Regards,
TE
Why an ECM package ?
A hot reentry is perhaps a visually exciting thing and it might not need complex detectors for locate that :=)
Regards,
TE
You've got a point there, TE! I was mostly thinking about the transit time before the tank hits the atmosphere.
BlackBat242
SOC-14 1K
"the transit time before the tank hits the atmosphere"
You mean the area where surviving orbital defenses could still take them out?
ECM would be important to mask the fact that you are dropping them as well (as well as the general part of the planet they are heading for).
You mean the area where surviving orbital defenses could still take them out?
ECM would be important to mask the fact that you are dropping them as well (as well as the general part of the planet they are heading for).
Yeah, BlackBat, which could be a pretty long time in my scenario where you could be dumping out the armor several planetary diameters away and letting them coast in. I agree that ECM would be really important during the deployment phase, too. BTW, Love your sig- nice to see another John Ford fan out there!
As stealth is important, I could visualize the Navy employing drop carriers, although it is well known fact among the Ground Forces that the Navy does not know how to land in the darkside of a planet. Also, concievably in the barrage of an orbital assault, it might be more effective tactics to employ the grav tanks in between sortees, although the risk of friendly fire would be greater.
