Attempting to Fulfill the Plan: GDI Edition
News from Discord: Looks like Orbital Laser deployment would be a separate project from ASAT Phase 3, but would be folded into ASAT 4+.
So, as long as we get ASAT 4 and the Orbital Laser Development done in the next ~2 years, we should be safe from Ion Disruptor-equipped missiles.
So, for advice on this, just see the front cover of your nearest Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy.
So, as long as we get ASAT 4 and the Orbital Laser Development done in the next ~2 years, we should be safe from Ion Disruptor-equipped missiles.
So, for advice on this, just see the front cover of your nearest Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy.
- Location
- USA
Yeah I was already leaning towards the 40 point dev project for orbital laser next turn, this just solidifies it for me.
- Location
- in the trash
Actually the ion disruptor tech on missiles thing is definitely a bit of an overreaction from InOps, and also I fucked up a bit. Assume someone panicked when writing that note and didn't understand the science very well (because they weren't the science person, they're an intel person, and later consultation with the science department told them "nah, they're overreacting")
Assuming Ithillid does take my explanation of "manipulates the atmosphere to shield from ion cannon strikes" for the mechanism, it won't work without an atmosphere. Nod might be able to devise a workaround for "insufficient atmosphere" by drawing upon Scrin ion storm control bullshit, but it's a pretty huge hurdle to overcome.
Plus it's probably not going to be very easy to shrink it down enough to fit on a missile which already has tight mass budget constraints.
Assuming Ithillid does take my explanation of "manipulates the atmosphere to shield from ion cannon strikes" for the mechanism, it won't work without an atmosphere. Nod might be able to devise a workaround for "insufficient atmosphere" by drawing upon Scrin ion storm control bullshit, but it's a pretty huge hurdle to overcome.
Plus it's probably not going to be very easy to shrink it down enough to fit on a missile which already has tight mass budget constraints.
Last edited:
While you're probably right it's still better to be safe than sorry especially considering most people appear to be agreeing that there needs to be some kind of additional Space funding.
- Location
- Outside the Box
- Pronouns
- She/Her
It sounds like we want to do that development project the turn before we start ASAT Phase 4. Given we haven't done ASAT 3 yet, and that even after then ASAT 4 is likely to be expensive+low priority, doing that development project next turn is multiple turns too soon.
So those will still take a while as NOD will have to work on making the tech small enough and other such factors. So we should make the laser system ASAP to keep us ahead of the game.
- Location
- in the trash
And gets blown up on fucking launch pad. You can't hide fusion torch.
ltmauve
"Excuse me?"
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
So, works outside of atmosphere, fits on a rocket, is available before the inevitable TCN negotiations, pick any two?
Also, has this technology been deployed yet?
Building-sized Ion Disruptors were used in TibWar 3. Refinements of such (smaller/better/more mobile), not that we have seen.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
I'm not sure there's a way to know for sure, aside from:
"Wait until the first time you take a potshot at something with an ion cannon and your shot bounces off."
- Location
- The Underdark
You don't know. Generally, unless InOps has a breakthrough, the first time you will know is when Nod starts trying to take potshots at your orbitals again.
KnightDisciple
Love God. Do Right. Fear No Man.
- Location
- Midwest, USA
I'm far more worried about a stealth-modified Banshee variant than anything with a fusion torch. Reactionless drives tend to be a lot easier to hide.
Which is actually a good reason to keep doing Orbital Cleanup - hiding things in orbital junk is a lot easier than in clear space.
Which is actually a good reason to keep doing Orbital Cleanup - hiding things in orbital junk is a lot easier than in clear space.
- Location
- in the trash
Assuming GDI can level an ion cannon onto the launch pad and fire before it's even left the ground ranges from extremely optimistic to downright delusional. Remember the system has to decide whether that thermal bloom really is a missile launch and not a very energetic spoof, and the easiest way to tell it's not a false alarm is when you detect a large object moving at very high speeds. Nevermind the actual issues of manuevering a cannon into position in time. And missile launches were already incredibly energetic to begin with, there's no way you can hide them anyway. Plus, within the atmosphere is where you can actually use ion disruptors with no issues.
Last edited:
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Come to think of it, it's quite possible that if you build a large missile with an ion disruptor shielding it specifically against ion cannon fire, and it takes an ion cannon hit... The missile may well be destabilized or knocked off course anyway.
Ion disruptors aren't necessarily "magically delete ion beam" devices, after all. They may well interact with the ion beam in some way that exerts physical force on the object they're anchored to. This isn't a problem if the ion disruptor is bolted to the ground, but it's a problem for a rocket that is underway, flying, and having to navigate air resistance and the atmosphere.
Ion disruptors aren't necessarily "magically delete ion beam" devices, after all. They may well interact with the ion beam in some way that exerts physical force on the object they're anchored to. This isn't a problem if the ion disruptor is bolted to the ground, but it's a problem for a rocket that is underway, flying, and having to navigate air resistance and the atmosphere.
Durabys
Miaow! Break the Chains!
- Location
- the land of the Boii
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Neutrino detectors say Hi to your neutrino generating fusion reaction. We have global coverage of ion cannons and anti ballistic missile systems. Both are pretty capable to shot targets mid-flight.
And the ion disrptors can cover only a few miles up, once it leaves coverage it is bye bye missile.
More likely first Nod space ship is gonna be Banshee AG drive derived stealth ship.
I am not disputing them getting into space. I am disputing the 'how' they will do it.
Last edited:
Neutrino detection is notoriously difficult for a reason. And I mean 'massive underground pool buried dozens if not hundreds of meter beneath a mountain lined with sensitive photoreceptors to detect the interaction of 1 neutrino with the water' difficult.
- Location
- in the trash
This is assuming tiberium does not fuck with neutrino detection somehow, which is possible given all the other crazy things tiberium does. And you know, neutrinos can only very weakly only interact with most matter which means they are ridiculously hard to detect and you probably can't even tell which side of the planet a signal originated from. Your sensors both need to be stupidly large and your resolution is probably going to be incredibly terrible because your detector is missing nearly all of the particles so how do you distinguish from statistical noise and instrument error? You can try using GPS triangulation techniques, but can you do that when one fusion reaction neutrinos don't have unique tagged ids that let you separate out signal sources, and the neutrinos aren't carrying time tags either so you don't know precisely (and you need atomic precision in GPS) at when they were generated? Like, maybe I'm wrong about the science, but you have to justify it because you're the one making the claim here.
You might as well claim that GDI can wave their magic wands and get what they want.
And all of this is assuming we have magic sensors that can fit on a reasonably sized satellite which is hard when they barely interact with fucking anything. How are you measuring them?
Last edited:
Durabys
Miaow! Break the Chains!
- Location
- the land of the Boii
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well GDI anti stealth sensors work well in Ion Storms since TW2. Aka the environment literally inimical to any and all electronic machinery and detection equipment. So yes, GDI sensors are quite bullshit. Not completelly bullshit!hax but well in bullshit territory.