Tractor Beams for Traveller

[endersig]

In all forms of sci-fi movies, there is some form of tractor beam. This ability to stop ships cold or even make them come to you is incredibly useful, which begs the question.... Where is it in Traveller? this could be my lack of canon-ish knowledge, but i haven't seen it anywhere! Here is what i've proposed, but please come up with systems you think work better!
Basic Design Description: Uses a propulsion of Negative G’s to force the ship
backwards, but 6g ship can push past a 4 g tractor beam at 2 g’s... ect.
Name:tractor beam -G
TL: 12
Tons:5
EP: 2
Crew: 1, Gunner
Name:tractor beam -2G
TL: 12
Tons: 10
EP: 4
Crew: 1, Gunner
Name:tractor beam -3G
TL: 13
Tons: 10
EP: 4
Crew: 1, Gunner
Name:tractor beam -4G
TL: 13
Tons: 12
EP: 5
Crew: 2, Gunner and CO
Name:tractor beam -5G
TL: 14
Tons: 12
EP: 5
Crew: 3, Two Gunners, and an CO
Name: tractor beam -6G
TL: 14
Tons: 14
EP: 6
Crew: 3
Name:tractor beam -7G
TL: 15
Tons: 14
EP: 6
Crew: 3

 

[mike wightman]

The reason you haven't seen them in CT/MT/GT/T20 is that they are introduced at a much higher TL than the Imperial TL15 max.
Repulsors are a TL10 development in the above games. Short range tractor beams appear at TL16, while long range tractor beams turn up at TL18.

TNE and T4 turn this around and introduce tractors at TL12, while at TL16 you can have repulsors or manipulators that combine the effects of tractor and repulsor beams.

 

[Malenfant]

Tractor beams are available at TL12, according to FF&S. They evolve into Repulsors and Manipulators at TL 16 (the latter is a combination of Tractor/Repulsor that allows finer control over whatever is being manipulated).

 

[Antony]

Though focussing 2 tractor beams on a target and then moving the tractor beams in slightly different directions would have an interesting effect on the target.

 

[TheDS]

Make a wish by remote control?

 

[Antony]

Well I don't think hulls would be stressed for this sort of thing. To some extent is also reflects that repulsors in HG could be used as a missile defence. IN TNE just build either two seperate bays linked together (by MFD would work) or build more than one Tractor in each bay then as you said "make a wish" The thrust generated at 30,000km (1 hex) or greater is not great but you should be able to break a missile apart.

 

[Straybow]

Well, given OT grav tech maxes out at 6G, a tractor or repulsor won't be very effective as a combat weapon. A missile would be unharmed by a 6G stress. Effectiveness would no doubt drop off by inverse r² (or perhaps even r³), so that it would primarily be a docking/boarding aid.

 

[Antony]

Well my TNE conversion of the TL14 Regal class battlecruiser has 5 100ton Tractor Bays. At 30,000km these still impart 139 tonnes of thrust, at 60,000km 70, 120,000km 35 and 240,000km 17 tonnes of thrust. Now a standard space missile in TNE can do 12G acceleration (along one axis). The tractor beams are not likely to hit exactly along this axis. We have probably all seen footage of rockets with offcentre thrust.

 

[LordVince]

I have often bitc...uh, I mean, QUESTIONED this detail, myself. I mean, in ANY Traveller Universe, Grav Technology stars EARLY -- Tech Level 8 in T20. That's "Circa 1990-2100"; in other words the NEAR Future! Grav Thrusters, Grav Plates, Inertial Compensators, all these technologies -- in one form or another -- START at Tech-8. And yet, it's not until Tech-12 or Tech-15 that we get TRACTORS?!

Now, I'm not familiar with the mechanics of the FF&S system -- hell, I'm barely competant with the T20 Standard Design sequence -- but the CONCEPT that I've always thought of, for Tractors, is that it is a cluster (or maybe a "bank"?) of emitters, BOTH "repulsors" AND "attractors", of various strengths. "Playing", or balancing the beam strengths of, these emitters would let you "push" or "pull" or "hold" a target.

And, of course, Relative Mass is VERY important to the effect. A 100KdT ship which locks it's Tractors on a smaller, 100dT ship, will PULL the smaller ship to itself. A 100dT ship locking it's Tractors on the LARGER ship would PULL ITSELF toward the larger vessel. The LESSER mass will always move towards the GREATER mass, no matter who is sending the Tractor beams out.

As for the suggested "6G limit" to a Tractor's power, well, maybe. But I'd argue that a "Gravitic Tractor Beam Array" is using/manipulating a different form of gravitic "energy", than is a "Gravitic Thruster Drive System". And even if it IS the same, it would still be an effective anti-missle deterrent, even versus your example "12G" missile. Remember, missiles have DURATIONS; their drives will only burn/function for a set amount of time. You example "6G" Tractor vs. the "12G" missile (what happened to the "6G Limit"?), would still SLOW DOWN THE MISSILE! Perhaps long enough for the drive to burn out. If nothing else, it could "swat" the missile, and keep knocking it "off course" until the drive burned out.

Like I said, I have LONG thought that -- like computer technology -- Gravitic Technology in it's many MORE forms has been overlooked in the Traveller game. There's more to Grav-Tech than just Grav Plates, Grav Thrusters, and Inertial Compensators. LOTS more.

 

[Straybow]

In Antony's example the effect of the tractor diminishes only at 1/r instead of 1/r² like natural gravity. In all likelihood the artificial deformation of space-time would drop off at a higher order since there is no large mass to "anchor" the formation in space-time.

Internal systems (a-grav, i-comp) can operate between components above and below the affected area, creating a nearly uniform field. Thrusters only care about imparting motion to the ship, so if the synthetic gravitational effect on other objects diminishes very rapidly with distance it makes no difference.