Hicks Posted April 9, 2019 Report Share Posted April 9, 2019 FedCom 'Retaliator' Thermonuclear Torpedo Launcher A concept drawing of the FedCom 'Retaliator' Thermonuclear Torpedo Launcher loading mechanism General Information Name: FedCom® 'Retaliator'™ Thermonuclear Torpedo Launcher Role: Anti-ship torpedo launcher Manufacturer: FedCom Introduced: 4th June 2298 Status: In service Number built: 7,875 launchers as of 1st April 2299 368,045 torpedoes as of 1st April 2299 Unit cost: Launchers: £46.3 million (2299) Torpedoes: £246,000 (2299) Technical Specifications Dimensions of torpedo: Length - 4.6 m (15 ft) Diameter - 0.97 m (3.2 ft) Weight - 8.4 metric tons (18518.8 lbs) Firing Specifications Ammunition: One torpedo (8 warheads per torpedo) Original firing speed by launcher: 9,203 m/s (30193.5 ft/s) Acceleration during stage 1: 1,276 m/s² for 115 seconds Maximum velocity after stage 1 complete: 155,943 m/s (511,624 ft/s) Distance traveled at end of stage 1: 9,495.9 km (5900.4 miles) Maximum effective range: 28,209 km (17,528.2 miles) - full stage 1 burn + 120 seconds of stage 2 at full speed including course corrections Recommended effective range: Approximately 15,000 km (achievable in 151 seconds assuming full stage 1 completion. Reloading time: 25 seconds Approximate energy output equivalent: 475 kilotons per warhead (3,800 kilotons / 3.8 megatons in total) Stages Stage one: Acceleration stage. Full acceleration only by a solid fuel rocket booster. No course corrections to prevent the torpedo spiralling violently out of control. Stage one can be jettisoned to stop the acceleration but, due to the nature of the fuel, it is the only way to stop the acceleration once begun. Stage two: Maneuvering stage. After stage one disconnects, the torpedo can guide itself with smaller manoeuvring thrusters towards its target. This can either be done manually from the ship or by the onboard targeting array. 120 seconds after the torpedo is fired, automatic guidance takes over indefinitely and guides the torpedo to either impact the nearest hostile target or into empty space to safely self-destruct. Alternatively, a stop trigger signal can be sent from the bridge to cause the torpedo to begin immediate reverse thrust. While this won't be enough to stop the torpedo, it will be sufficient enough to slow the torpedo down enough to recover it later. NOTE: the torpedo will automatically self-destruct if the firing vessel goes out of range (2.5 million km). Stage three: Impact stage. Two modes exist for the impact stage. Solid impactor or fragmentation area coverage. Solid impactor setting triggers a set of ringed shaped charges on the end of torpedo several milliseconds before impact, causing severe damage to the outer armour of the target, allowing the torpedo to penetrate deeper into it and explode internally, destroying the target from the outside in. Fragmentation area coverage setting causes the internal warheads to disperse several seconds before impact, spreading up to approximately 6 km apart in order to cause maximum damage on larger, less armoured targets. Such a large spread of smaller warheads can even cause more widespread destruction than a full power MAC round on larger targets, especially when used in orbital bombardments. Mounting and Targeting Torpedo launch tubes are fitted on the port and starboard of a vessel, usually in the port and starboard quarters at the rear of the vessel, but sometimes amidships. The Retaliator launch tubes are fitted on mounts facing forward at a 30 degree from their respective hull side, and have a 20-degree traverse in either direction, allowing them a 40-degree area of operation. This is done so that any accidental activations of a torpedo's manoeuvring thrusters don't end up with a collision of the ship firing them, or so that the torpedoes can be fired while the ship is turning. Targeting data is set by the weapons stations on the bridge and then transferred to the torpedo before firing, giving the torpedo a hard copy of the telemetry data in case there are disruptions in communication to it. It is also possible to remotely guide the torpedo and issue it new commands while it is still in range (2.5 million km). Picture for example purposes only Link to comment
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