Ad Astra ex Lutum

[IamtooSleepy]

[X]Plan Industrial Acceleration And Training

 

[edofthesquid]

[X]Plan Industrial Acceleration And Training
[X]Plan Industrial Acceleration, Training, Fusion and Spying on the Aliens/Ros Larping as Franz von Papen Edition

 

[Vi'Talzin]

Don't think they hit every box for fascism though?

Click to shrink...

The PSC is fascist, and Rós/PPP are probably going to coalition with them. Rós is a stand-in for Von Pappen in this case because she thinks she can "control them". When I say fascist, am referring to internal politics, the aliens are something else entirely.

 

[Blackstar]

Fusion and You Pt1: Theoretical Fuels and the Basics

Putting the Fuse into Fusion: Fusion in itself is a process through which two nuclei combine to release energy in the cases before iron on the periodic table. This combination comes with a slight loss of mass to energy which as with all nuclear reactions forms the principal source of energy for the transformation. Lighter nuclei tend to undergo fusion better than heavier ones but this is not a universal rule as the simplest and easiest reaction is the D-T reaction. This operates on the principle that the nuclear force is far stronger than the coulomb force but far weaker at a distance. Once the atomic cores of two molecules are brought sufficiently close together, the strong force potential of the molecules is similar to any mass in a high energy potential position. The best way to think of this is as a quasi-hill, pedaling up the hill to the very top takes a lot of effort but coasting down generates far more energy.

As simple as the metaphor is, it escapes several issues with large-scale fusion and the fusion of specialty fuels outside the normal low Lawson Criterion(Generalized Measure for Difficulty of Fusion) boundary. For two atoms to fuse they must impact each other in a way that their inertia carries enough energy to crest the proverbial hill of the Coulomb Force. Not only that but the impact has to be "head-on" enough that the two are combined. Further, the cross-section of the area where a successful fusion reaction can be achieved varies by temperature due to several complex plasma physics that are beyond the remit of this pamphlet. Broadly though this logically leads to very high operating temperatures of any viable fusion reactor or drive as most fusion fuels need them in both senses to operate.

To keep the numbers presented simple, the term keV(kilo-electronVolt) will be used to measure plasma temperature, as it is far more appropriate for a plasma state and one translates to approximately 1.16e7 or 11600000 Kelvin. This relationship is inherent to an understanding of temperature as all a thermal measurement comprises is the average kinetic energy of the molecules in a substance. Cross-sectional terms will be measured in Barn's and used as an isolated term as while there is a large quantity of complicated physics they are not that relevant for a practical understanding of drive types. When talking of fusion rate itself optimal temperature for fusion, cross section, and plasma density are not the only factors. A further contribution is that as gasses get hotter their average velocity and thus the number of internal collisions increases, modeled through the direct association of pressure with temperature, even if this relationship is weakened in fusion conditions due to how deeply non-ideal conditions inside a reactor are.




Source/Credit to: Nuclear fusion cross sections and reactivities

This leads into a series of complex math for the calculation of reaction rate as seen above that has the Maxwell equations plugged into the coefficient of averaged reactivity. This product requires a computer to easily calculate and makes an incredibly ugly equation when fully done out, but thankfully as the quantities are known it can be calculated as one integrated equation to get the reaction rate. The biggest thing to note is that the chart of average reaction rate is in a technical sense pressure agnostic. Pressure still affects the amount of fusion reactions occurring but confusingly not the inherent average reactivity or reaction rate. Increasing the density of molecules directly increases the ability of things to react practically on a separate axis then the above chart of average reactivity. From this several conclusions can immediately be reached: The temperature of fusion is very high, some reactions are easier than others, and sustaining a fusion reaction is a very complicated matter. While it would appear that D-T is the easiest reaction to perform and the one most commonly targeted, the inherent issues of it pose several problems.


Fuels and their Problems: Fusion fuels are not created alike and have major differences in implementation even besides the above charts of ease of actual fusion. The ease at which a fuel fuses is important, but it is not remotely everything relevant to their employment and use. One of the largest issues to deal with in a high-power fusion reactor used as a drive or really any reactor is the proportion of neutrons and high energy radiation given off compared to thermal power. Most reactions tend to yield a stable helium that has been stripped of any charge in the plasma, what I will refer to as an alpha particle for the sake of sanity. Different levels of energy yield from each reaction also to an extent determine their efficiency and maximum exhaust velocity though that is calculated through a complicated formula dependent on mass-energy equilibriums. The below chart gives a fast overview of the different fuels to be talked about and the chart from section one indicates their reaction rates at a set temperature.


Source/Credit to: https://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/fusionfuel.php#reactions

As a specific note here, the definition of a Lawson Criterion or L-C is dependent on current and conventional methods of fusion and is more of a comparative trendline rather than an iron law. It is a ratio and one that can be modified if different confinement methods are used. It however is still a good relative measure of the difficulty of containing a plasma and gaining energy out of its fusion. For this chart specifically, the two bottom reactions are more of a supplement for a conventional DT fuel cycle, as they enable the local generation of tritium. This specifically is needed as tritium is hard to obtain outside nuclear breeding and through the use of a lithium blanket the reaction itself can generate a large portion of its fuel through mechanisms to reduce radiation, but that also poses several technical problems and is questionably useful on a spacecraft.


DT The Easiest But Most Problematic: Deuterium and Tritium, otherwise known as fat and fatter hydrogen are the easiest two elements to fuse in a conventional fusion reaction. The forces involved are the lowest and a reaction rate half an order of magnitude higher (1e-15 s/cm3​ vs 2e-16 s/cm3​ for D-3He) than any other fuel can be achieved at a temperature almost half an order of magnitude lower (50 keV vs 200 keV for D-3He). Even better, the reaction yields 17.6 MeV per fusion which translates to a nearly unbeatable energy density of 340TJ/kg which is only beat out by D-He and Proton-Proton chains. These qualities would make the reaction seem to be the best but in the percentages of the type of energy released D-T has a major issue.

The 3.5 MeV carried by the alpha particle can easily be harvested as it is a charged particle but the vast majority of the energy is tied to a 14.1 MeV neutron. The chart itself has an error in representation, but this very high energy neutron is effectively impossible to capture outside of thermal applications, limiting the majority of harvesting to conventional thermal power systems. Even worse, the neutrons themselves are effectively deadly radiation and any D-T fusor is closer to a constant beta radiation machine than a fusion reactor as the majority of power comes out in the form of neutrons. Now, this is not notably different than a fission reactor but in space-based applications, it is easier to capture the energy inherent to fission reactions as the neutrons are used internally.

For D-T something similar to this can be done by breeding out Tritium from Lithium but that alone is not enough to capture the massive amounts of radiation released. In any space-based application, the use of a conventional thermal power plant is limited in the extreme forcing a compromise of either only using the 21% of the energy released in a usable form or dealing with massive amounts of radiators providing inefficient energy conversion. There is however one exception where the rocket can be used without too much issue, and that specifically is through sending a dense propellent through the magnetic nozzle. By effectively using a fusion reaction like a gas core fission reaction and some clever pipework the massive thermal energy released can go into the heating of propellant, allowing it to be received as thrust if inefficiently and effectively limited to combat modes of drive operation.


D-3He The Holy Grail: From the numbers seen D-3He seems like something of the holy grail of fusion fuels, it's clean, it produces no immediate neutrons, and it yields charged particles well suited for direct conversion into electricity. This is further improved by the fact that it has the highest performance per kg of any fuel used, achieving an amazing 353TJ/kg of fuel. As this is entirely in the form of charged particles(3.6MeV on the Alpha and 14.7 on the Hydrogen) it is well suited to high-efficiency MHD-enabled power generation and is revolutionary for a massive number of applications. Reaction rates are lower and the fuel needs to run hotter to achieve the necessary cross sections to further enhance rates of reaction, but 200 keV is not impossible to hold even in a magnetic confinement fusor. This, however, ignores the one largest issue with the fuel itself, in that current ideas on how to supply scarce helium-3 are deeply theoretical, necessitating the direct harvesting of a gas giant's atmosphere along with braving the accompanying gravity well and radioactive conditions.

The harvesting issue poses such a massive challenge that the fuel itself is unlikely to be used if only for the fact that getting at it requires high-power fusion drives that would require it, creating a looping situation. This is only made worse by the scale of gravity well necessary to navigate as while there are trace amounts on non-atmospheric bodies, the amount of regolith that needs to be processed is astronomical and unreasonable. Now, there are ways to produce helium 3 in a short burst D-D fusor, but due to the differential in cross sections much of the yielded product would burn up. A further issue is that while reacting D-3He there is an effective cross-section of deuterium and it will fuse with itself despite the lower temperature, this fusion will not be optimal but half of its side chains will produce tritium and a neutron, which will produce a further neutron. Even though these side chains will occur at an order of magnitude lower rate(⅕ the cross-section and only half of the DD side chains go trit), this still makes the reaction non-aneutronic even if it yields a far more manageable proportion of neutrons.


D-D A Hidden Workhorse: Looking at a surface level the D-D reaction seems to be one of the worst, reacting at an even lower rate then D-He3 and at a higher necessary temperature. Containment temperatures of 200 keV are likely to be used as higher temperatures can help but would minimize the largest benefits of a D-D cycle. By itself, both possibilities for the reaction only yield 3.2 to 4 MeV at the first stage and this translates to a poor efficiency of approximately 87 TJ/kg. Even worse, the containment of the reaction inherits some issues from D-T in that neutrons comprise a significant amount of the energy produced, limiting what can be done and leaving neutron radiation as a constant issue for any designed D-D fusor. This all however is countered by what was hinted at previously, the products from the reactions are both Tritium and Helium-3, which conveniently react at a far higher rate and are conveniently in a deuterium-saturated environment.

These further reactions are technically neutron-generating in that the D-T sidechain has the same issues as a normal D-T reaction but that is only a small proportion of the reaction products. Effective products of the reaction thus need to be looked at as the products of six deuterium atoms rather than as an individual reaction. In the first stage, two D-D reactions occur, yielding a tritium, helium-3, hydrogen, and a neutron. The neutron only captures 2.45 MeV out of the total 7.31 MeV of the reaction. In the subsequent reactions, both proceed as previously described with charged particles comprising the entire yield outside of the 14.1 MeV neutron released by the D-T sidechain. Effectively this means that out of the total energy in the reaction only 38% is rendered mostly useless through the release of neutrons, allowing all other products to be used for propulsion or energy generation at a high degree of efficiency.

The increased challenges of running the reaction are approximately double that of D-He3 in terms of containment and the temperatures needed for the same density and rate of fusion as the cross section is approximately half that of D-3He. The release of neutrons is far greater as side chain reactions from the Tritium do happen, but that in itself is a far lesser problem in the fuel cycle compared to the sheer quantity of neutrons released through the D-T reaction. Furthermore, the massive benefit of D-D is that deuterium is cheap, abundant, and can be locally harvested at almost any location in the solar system. A deuterium rocket will have the cheapest fuel and if the neutron and heating issue is conquered represents the easiest drive that can reclaim the solar system.


H-11B Pushing Theoretical Boundaries: Compared to all other fuels capable of fusing the reaction of hydrogen and boron-11 represents something of an exception to the rule and offers a unique advantage compared to all other fuel types. Its yield of energy is lower than the other types of fusion and as a fuel, it only has a power of 70TJ/kg but this is countered by one massive factor. As the only aneutronic fuel, it can be safely contained within a craft with a far lesser radiation risk compared to any other type of fusion reaction. The reaction itself uses cheaply available materials and yields its energy through alpha particles which can easily be harvested for either electricity or directed through a magnetic nozzle for thrust. It effectively solves the issue of craft design and reactor design, eliminating embrittlement and making one of the main limitations of spacecraft design obsolete.

The downside, because there always must be one due to how physics works, is the massive coulomb force surrounding the Boron atom, repelling any hydrogen that attempts to fuse with it. This can again be theoretically overcome with a reactor core that is operating at 200 keV or hotter, but the second insidious issue then comes in. Without a massive improvement in how efficiently a core can operate, the tiny energy yields from the reaction will slow down any form of continuous ignition of the fusion plasma. This effective loss of energy makes sustaining fusion in a conventional sense incredibly challenging and effectively requires a high reaction rate and thermal efficiency to keep it going. Now, because of the aneutronic nature of the fuel, this is easier done then the Lawson criterion would suggest but it is still the by far hardest fuel to induce fusion in.

 

[Mortenkam]

[X]Plan Industrial Acceleration, Training, Fusion and Spying on the Aliens/Ros Larping as Franz von Papen Edition

 

[Crazycryodude]

[X]Plan Industrial Acceleration, Training, Fusion and Spying on the Aliens/Ros Larping as Franz von Papen Edition

I suppose if we can get away with not actually building the entire run of mining ships then pivoting the money from launch ramp to more groundside infrastructure is a good call. The launch ramp would have relatively limited long term utility if we're tripling down on orbital industries, whereas tech rolls and spooks are going to have a much higher ROI.

 

[Kirai]

[X]Plan Industrial Acceleration, Training, Fusion and Spying on the Aliens/Ros Larping as Franz von Papen Edition

 

[agumentic]

[X]Plan Industrial Acceleration, Training, Fusion and Spying on the Aliens/Ros Larping as Franz von Papen Edition

 

[Blackstar]

Vote Called for:
[X]Plan Industrial Acceleration, Training, Fusion and Spying on the Aliens/Ros Larping as Franz von Papen Edition
-[X]Budget Decisions
--[X]Accelerated Industrialization (+600B)
--[X]Use the Volunteers(Light) (-600B)
--[X]Maintain the Current Standard
-[X]Space Infrastructure
--[X]Orbital Manufacturing Plants (-500B)
--[X]Accelerate Lunar Mining (-400B)
--[X]Outer Planet Colonization (-600B)
-[X]Groundside Infrastructure
--[X]Ignition Facilities (-250B)
--[X]Comprehensive Crew Simulators (-200B)
--[X]Form the Intelligence Directorate (-250B)
--[X]Expand Army Disaster Relief (-150B)
-[X]Total Cost: 2350/2675B

Rolling Dice for fusion tech, tech guaranteed fusion so 2 dice.

Blackstar threw 2 100-faced dice. Reason: Fusion Total: 109

 

[Blackstar]

Turn 8 (40AE): New Decade, New Quagmire

Budget: 825B Or
Government Support: 58


Recent Politics:

With several incomplete and contradictory responses by the Green PM and commentary from the PDL over disagreements on how exactly the welfare is to be allocated to the rising numbers of unemployed youths. Seeing the rising PSC and their strong polling advantage, the PPM has moved to guarantee the government, providing them with the votes necessary to pass budgets despite the split. The PDL for its part has split into a left and right faction, with the right faction advocating that the current line on welfare is sufficient while the left faction argues for a more broad reduction of market activity in favor of an economy that does not leave more than half the youth unemployed.

The PDL-L has effectively withdrawn from legislative activity outside a willingness to confirm budgets in the leadup to the next election, freezing government policy in a critical moment and effectively rendering parliament important. This move has drawn harsh criticism from the right-wing parties as a direct sabotage of the coalition against everything that wishes to bring it down. For the WP's part, the PDL-L has still been criticized as opportunists who sold out social progress in favor of political expediency, refusing to admit them into the party or to run common candidates due to the extent of the betrayal. For their part, the current PPM leadership ironically has proven to be moderate enough to be willing to work with either the WP or PDL, providing some route to a future government that does not involve the PSC.

Protests have only increased in recent years as unemployment continues to increase with few abating measures. For reasons involving qualifications and education, the youths have been hit the hardest with youth unemployment likely to cross the sixty percent mark through the next year as most positions are rendered redundant in the face of increasing automation. Accelerating computational breakthroughs have even led to protests at the labs involved, agitating that the new technology was taking away any chance to work or do anything in society. The best-educated youths have had more luck with finding work but the simple reality is that there are hard limits to exponential growth and much of the population cannot find productive work that is socially and politically useful.

So far the solution of the WP is something of a work program focused on the renovation of cities and the total reconstruction of the landscape, as if people are already being sustained, what's the problem with increasing that for willing workers? Many have attacked it as something of a make-work program with an excessive factor of manual labor but it's at least something. The PSC seems determined that the problems of labor are a problem of discipline and the sabotage of the Mouran spirit. The rest of the coalition and more specifically those that implemented the welfare system as a means of fixing the problem have remained staunch defenders of simple support systems as to them they provide the best compromise of labor and safety net.

A hypercane with wind speeds over seven hundred kilometers per hour has hit Fulracht destroying much of the city and the current number of identified dead has hit twenty thousand. Recovery of the city itself has been prioritized more as a symbolic gesture than a practical one as massive storms will only continue increasing in intensity as the years go on. Climate-related disasters have also stepped up considerably with little to constrain them. The limits of hardening at this point are visibly being reached without many options outside of bearing the losses. The PPM of course has several radical geo-engineering-based solutions and despite their experimental nature some will likely have to be fielded.


Military Politics:

The intensification of the navy build program and the strong commitment of the budget to purchasing more space assets has rendered the orbital navy content, if not happy. The orbital fleet both the auxiliary and combat one is currently going over the necessary operational requirements of the new classes of boats that are soon to be introduced. The service itself has focused on the needs of the space forces alongside the new classes of ships and, likely due to the funding allocated been content if grumbling about receiving a lower priority for this funding cycle with only a strong insistence on a standardized EVA suit along with the standardization of safety equipment for the crew. Both are unlikely to be an expensive project and with the increase in mining are almost certain to be necessary to avoid casualties from simple metal extraction.

The terrestrial army's primary complaint has involved a shortage of tanks and armored vehicles with formations being raised that are still light on equipment. The generals are upset at the current procurement decisions in terms of the lack of expansion and the slow introduction of heavy equipment but the knowledge that a ground war is at best going to delay extermination more than fight back against it has kept them in line. Currently, the strongest proponents have called for the adoption of a new tank to have something that can at least compete with enemy equipment, if at a heavier weight. The necessary procurement of a new rifle with the advanced features of a wartime system has also been strongly pushed for, though primarily by lighter and specialized units.

The Air Force and Navy are discontented with the Air Force as the principal source of most complaints. Sutharlainn is if anything far more coolheaded in conversations and understands the necessary limitations of an orbital response. While the aliens are unlikely to have a fleet, attempting to hide a navy from overwhelming orbital sensors is a losing proposition, especially when the enemy can bring down strikes anywhere on the globe. The submarine program has attracted some criticism in its implementation, but nothing more significant than some departmental friction on design requirements. The airforce for its part has strongly pushed for the production of any form of a new fighter as the branch currently has no role outside hauling cargo, a fact brought up at length several times by Urchardan in an excessively insistent manner.

In some limited good news, the soon-to-be-named Type-42 FTL Experimental Craft has been accelerated in production with the slipway teams managing to parallel several components. The ships are not going to come in under budget but they are likely to come in slightly ahead of when they were expected, allowing the first trips to be set off in late 42AE rather than early 43AE. Shakedowns will take much of the operational time, but it's almost certain that soon enough the first interstellar trip will be underway, opening the rest of the universe for exploration. The actual fight for who will get to be the first has also just started with several old space force captains and even a rear admiral trying to force their way onto the billet to be the first.


Fusion Breakthrough: As recent breakthroughs in fusion miniaturization and the deployment of more advanced reactors have shown it is now possible to at least theoretically design a fusion drive capable of overcoming all performance limitations. These drives have several issues including poor combat acceleration as effective open cycle cooling is not expected all while plasma densities are expected to be mostly static in the drive itself. Without a dedicated afterburner function capable of combat, the drive is stuck dumping liquid hydrogen through the primary fusion product stream to increase thrust with energy limitations as the predominant limiting factor.

Toroidal DT Drives: The development of fusion drives has come as a logical progression from terrestrial fusion reactors, lightening the entire assembly and introducing several thermal and neutron management concepts through the use of lighter plasma blankets. The gain factor of the system is expected to be just short of a hundred, allowing large-scale fusion drives to be designed. The inherent limitations of the DT reaction limit what can be done sustainably and without irradiating the crew but for everything but maximum thrust it effectively obsoletes fissile propulsion. Current drives are at the smallest 10GW of effective fusion power, but efficiency gains are expected as systems grow in size even if cooling plasma jackets will become more complex. (New 40AE)

[]Revive the Long Burn Space-Ship Program: The old program failed due to a lack of an adequate engine but now that a theoretical engine is available the entire program can be pushed ahead. Once a variation of the Fusion reactor is designed and space capable it can be fit to newly constructed long burn ship hulls built through the medium slips as a follow-on to the FTL craft, likely limiting slipway use for this budget cycle but providing an effective and useful platform for technical evaluation. (300B Or Cost) (2 Medium Slipways Used 43 to 45 AE)

[]Modify Two Mining Ships: Taking two mining ships and modifying them as propulsive testbeds would be the cheapest possible option as they are already being constructed and may as well be modified. This will convert them away from mining ships and to something approximating a fast transport and scouting ship. The massive performance of the drive and tiny crew sections will help when it comes to very long-distance exploration but the hulls will be too small to establish significant outposts on the gas giant's moons. (250B Or Cost)

[]Fit to Combat Craft: The limited production of fusion engines is going to limit them for at least a few years as the industry struggles to provide prototypes much less serial production models. To that end spending valuable engines on anything but the combat craft is going to be a waste of engines. Prioritizing the new frigate will technically force the adoption of a not entirely tested engine system onto the ship but it can offer something approaching the performance of the drives of the alien enemy. (No Current Cost)


Intelligence Service: The newly formed Fourth Department has been conglomerated from the few technicians who showed promise during the Lirrir crisis and those who have continued analysis. Several vetted members have further been included from the old intelligence services and army counterintelligence to provide a solid investigative basis while hardening the organization. The personal allocation is expected to be directly screened through several administrators eliminating any hesitancy in performing the most important of missions. Training programs are only now underway, but the department stands ready to start internal political work to help clamp down on corruption and treasonous activity. (Choose One)

[]Operation Shut Trail: The Workers Party is not inherently anti-democratic but according to a massive number of officers it has several sympathies towards anti-democratic elements. Starting with the formal infiltration of WP organs will be essential for providing an accurate picture of any illicit activities committed and it will ensure that things stay calm. While this is the likely smallest threat to the state, most officers believe this to be the most likely axis from which the political sphere will disintegrate. (Improves Military Unity)

[]Operation Jagged Rest: The PPP has massively reformed since the era of Ros but there is still something of a questionable character to the party. The presence of Ros in high-level organizations is evidence that there is something foul hidden under the lid that needs to be investigated. Putting military resources on chasing phantoms is arguably a misallocation, but it can be easily explained. The primary method of acquisition will be through the heavy use of electronic backdoors, allowing near-total monitoring of internal party activity and communications.

[]Operation Useless Wish: The army is no more immune to infiltration and anti-democratic attitudes than any other massive political body. Embedding a series of agents to monitor communications, intercept messages, and monitor the worst of the malcontents will be essential for force discipline. Several officers may not enjoy the experience of being consistently monitored but they do not need to know the extent of the monitoring network. Some will inevitably notice that they are being monitored but those are unlikely to cause a major problem. (Slight Reduction in Military Unity)

[]Operation Spiral Stone: The PSC is rising in the polls rapidly and outside the normal scope of a political party indicating that something is going on. It's unquestionable that at least something is going on with the misappropriation of advertising payments as only so much funding is available for campaigning and their impact has been significantly outsized. Further, many different violent activists are hiding under the cover of more reasonable PSC members, necessitating strong investigations and a thorough campaign of electronic monitoring.

[]Do Nothing: Turning the foreign intelligence arm on the domestic sector is an excessive over-reach even if it is in the allowances provided to the military. Avoiding the temptation of chasing internal enemies and focusing all work on the decoding of Lirrir transmissions and scanning space for traces of the Alien Enemy. This will direct the budget towards improving signals intelligence and for the comprehensive analysis of transmissions collected from the first few FTL jumps.

New Programs

(Currently, 4 Running, can select up to five concurrent programs)

[]Second Generation Infantry Equipment: The Alien Enemy has some form of viable laser weapons that no current system can compete with along with armor that is at a minimum resistant to GPMG-type munitions without significant degradation. The Lirrir were more primitive when fighting and suffered for it, but the general lessons from their engagements can still be applied to more modern systems. A new heavy rifle is going to be necessary in the mode of the battle rifles of old along with further improvements to mobility equipment and the issuance of a true heavy machine gun. (20B Or Expected)

[]Standardization of Orbital Troops: The enemy has a massive advantage in technology and an even larger advantage of experience for orbital fighting leaving it as the weakest sector of defense. The current orbital forces are not suited for heavy engagements and are effectively equipped with space-adapted weapons rather than more capable weapon systems. The effective microgravity allows for the use of heavier platforms along with provisions for low-intensity fighting over orbital bodies. (40B Or Expected)

[]Heavy Infantry Prototypes: We cannot remotely match the enemy in an infantry-sized platform but nothing inherently requires an infantry-scale platform. Going for a heavier integrated powered system incorporating the latest batteries and a direct neural interface can allow troops that can be partially defended against glancing beam exposures while providing the capacity for our laser weapons. They are almost certain to be restricted to a far lower rate of fire and total magazine capacity but weight can compensate for improved technology if only because of thermal limits. (???B Or Expected)

[]Space Capable Buggies: Making a buggy capable of carrying a fireteam and traversing a low-gravity lunar environment represents several massive technical challenges. Current examples have derived more from rovers but the technical work involved has left them deeply insufficient for most duties. The actual system would be a simple electric wide chassis focused on stability and the capacity for avoiding injury in case of a low gravity accident from lack of ground pressure. Weapon mountings on the system are going to be secondary with the vehicle serving more as a transport and towing platform. (80B Or Expected)

[]New MBT: With the confirmation of enemy heavy vehicles and shuttles, new and radical gun systems are going to be necessary to threaten, much less bring down theoretical enemy armor across primary threat aspects. Current thinking is tending towards a sixty to seventy-ton platform with an integrated DNI crew allowing the commander to have a constant all-round perspective that is further enhanced by several linked AI copilots. There are trends towards lighter systems that give up on sufficient anti-laser protection in favor of improved battlefield information and mobility but a comprehensive program must be started to test them. (400B Or Expected)

[]Multirole VTOL: Work on heavier air platforms is still limited in extent and exhibits several problems but the aviation industry needs to be started for an effective force. A turbine hot section of adequate power is already developed along with manufacturing methods over older composite airframe construction methods. The current focus of the program will be to provide something of ground support capability to forces while further hardening the planet against attack in a way any invader is unlikely to have. (800B Or Expected across several funding phases)

[]Loitering Munitions: Autonomous systems with high loiter times built based on disposable munitions have a limited effect on protected vehicles but are perfectly adequate in an anti-personnel role. Effective simplified systems with total autonomous control can be easily developed and produced in the thousands as a field expedient source of fires and suppression for concentrations of manpower. Some proposals have been made for mounting proper kinetic ordinance for APS penetration but those are primarily going towards heavier systems. Core aspects of the program are almost certain to focus on a heavier degree of automation and eliminating communications and jamming vulnerabilities. (100B Or Expected)

[]Next Generation Fleet Combatant: Long-duration patrol missions with a new generation of nuclear vessels with a high-efficiency gas core-mhd system can be designed to significantly improve capability. Massive onboard power systems can go towards the driving of electrical propulsion and laser anti-missile weaponry. Extending the old system of VLS cells and reducing the overall radar and physical profile of the ships will allow a massive improvement in strike and anti-aircraft capacity. The class itself is expected to mostly replace most surface ships on the planet with a follow-on class of LCS expected to allow for marine capacity. (750B Or Expected across several funding phases)

[]Militarized Orbital Destroyer: The capacity to fit a particle beam into a ship is an entirely open question and one that is going to have to be answered. There is so far no concrete role for a heavy orbital competent capable of returning fire in an anti-shipping role. Designs for it range from a heavy missile carrier with liquid nuclear core missile busses to allow for closer range engagements to a heavy slow combatant with armor designed around firing heavy particle beams. Technical development will be the core aspect of the program with few examples of the class expected to be constructed before a refined follow-on is made. (500B Or Expected across several funding phases)

Politics:

(Select 3 Actions)

[]Large-Scale Exercises(Army): The military has not fought anything larger than a skirmish for the last forty years and that needs to be remedied before new equipment is brought in to fight an unknown enemy. There is an approximate estimation of the capability of the alien enemy but it is almost certainly a lower order estimate primarily over their infantry rather than any significant armor presence. Running a series of comprehensive exercises on the brigade level against both conventional and approximate Redfor will improve capability and ensure that we are preparing for the next war. (100B Or Cost)

[]Money-Free Orbital Zones: Evaluating the concept of eliminating money on the orbital stations and colonies will improve morale and allow troops to keep on station longer. Shifting the allocations to troops to ones based on their needs and delegating recreational activity on a voucher system will improve morale and allow a more responsive system. This would ostensibly improve the morale of the forces in orbit allowing them to trade recreational time and receive it for the performance of harder tasks as a bonus. (Possible Political Support Cost)

[]Orbital Defense Exercises: The orbital troops are not ready to defend the orbits in any form and that is known to practically everyone in the military. The crews themselves are unprepared and undertrained to do their duty and provisions for final defense of the stations are not available in any significant form. Testing out theoretical defensive systems in lower orbit along with using the current fleet as Redfor can provide some experience on how to defend an orbit against a hostile fleet. (Political Support Gain) (50B Or Cost)

[]Harden Force Discipline: Every soldier with any remote technical knowledge knows they are outmatched in the extreme and are broadly being sent to die for any hope of species survival. Ensuring that the enlisted are exposed to only media that focuses on the ability to survive and the necessities of such fighting will improve morale especially once the conflict starts. Targeted algorithms will provide the correct context for the future and will be developed to ensure that any crew on stations and military bases can maintain combat conditions even if entirely overmatched. (20B Or)

[]Fleet Mental Health Survey: Work on the previous orbital vessels, habitats, and general space development areas has demonstrated a massive degree of increased adverse mental health outcomes. Performing a fleet-wide survey and a large sample of the personnel serving will guide what can be done to minimize the attrition of crew and the sheer extent of adverse outcomes from those finishing out their service terms. Several studies can further be funded on treating the condition as several have not even recovered from wartime deployments much less current operations. (20B Or)

[]Shellshock Treatment Grants: The stigma of shellshock and its accompanying treatments has been a persistent problem for the army as while it is an understood condition in a military context, it has a degree of civilian respect. Treatments for it are further limited as few viable methods can be done for the allocated amount of funding with it mostly not covered pre-war due to its view as a terminal condition. Funding several treatment centers and therapy methods now can save on reserve attrition and ensure that veterans of the last war can be given some treatment. Now that the army has some funding it is the least that can be done for the masses of veterans still left after the war. (100B Or)

[]Orbital Command Expansion: With the deployment of new mining ships, actually organizing the auxiliary command has proven essential. Four squadrons of mining ships are to be created along with more unified industrial commands focused on increasing production in space. This will consolidate the general forces and ensure a consistent hierarchy, eliminating snags in command and stabilizing the overall defense of the system. Without a solid organization, the auxiliary force is likely to be incapable of responding to combat threats, much less surviving long enough to organize a counterattack.

[]Study Wartime Issues(Select Specific Program): Committing some time to do a full literature report on a critical wartime piece of equipment and how it exactly failed is going to be a massive crawl through the archives but someone needs to do it. Working for a few continuous days on pulling the papers will take some extra leisure time but it's expected if one is to understand anything of what they are doing. (-5 to +15 depending on roll) (Wartime Equipment Only)

[]Study Theoretical Proposals(Select Specific Program): Taking the time to directly analyze theoretical designs and technical aspects of procurement can improve the performance of several systems. Without a wide basis of understanding little can be done and attempting to interpret theoretical concepts remains an open question. Pouring over a few hundred papers to get a surface-level understanding is still a good use of time especially for matters as important as procurement but there are limitations without large-scale experience. (-5 to +5 depending on roll) (All Equipment)

[]Enforce Democracy: The current government has broken from the democratic principle through the alienation of the average worker and persistent failure to meet their needs. Instead of the army allowing the government to exist movements can be made to change over the green government and hold new elections to enable a transition to democratic methods. This is currently untested and it's questionable if elections would change anything but it remains a constitutional capability.

Spoiler: Equipment

Infantry-Equipment Set:

Type 23 Combined Equipment: Working with wartime lessons learned and an anemic budget allocation that was expected to go towards all troops, a rationalized system of infantry equipment was developed. Any concept of semi-powered systems or technical sophistication was abandoned in favor of a more conventional system of a plate carrier and uniform combination with a degree of weather resistance. Chemical and biological protection has been limited to a simple respirator rather than the enclosed wartime suits, providing some resistance in the unlikely event of a chemical attack. The old electronically integrated rifles have been brought under a unified 6.5x52mm round along the lines of an R-45 system with effective mountings for optics. Anti-tank firepower has also been consolidated into a series of high-velocity kinetic systems favoring light systems capable of being fired at volume to overwhelm currently non-existent protection systems.


ATGM:

Type 35 Anti-Tank System: On the infantry end the Type-35 rocket system is an effective automated fire and forget that can fire on thermal or electro-optical signature acquisition from a polymer tube, coming in at a portable twenty-three-kilogram system loaded. Long-range and vehicle-based variations have been effectively constructed with the seventeen-kilogram terminal phase paired with a either thirteen or twenty-kilogram booster, providing long-range capability with an incorporated autonomous mode. Errant signature targeting remains a problem for the complex but all three are entering large-scale production to distribute anti-tank firepower. The forty-three-kilogram vehicle mount is to be standardized across the IFV force, providing a massive increase in long-range firepower.


Wheeled Vehicles:

Light Utility Vehicles: Repurposed vehicles ranging from civilian trucks to modified sedans that have formed several key fire elements. Design standardization has been implemented to the point that several models have a standard set of plating and mounting hardware, but these are effectively pressed into service civilian vehicles. Most mount some variety of medium or heavy machine guns but heavier variants do exist with anti-tank missile systems and recoilless rifles. A light vehicle replacement is considered a priority as the current mass of systems is both unwieldy and impossible to maintain.

Type 38 8x8: Developed as an all-field improvement over the original Type 14 truck the Type 38 mostly delivers on several improvements. Moving to a reinforced frame made of more advanced materials along with improvements in development has allowed the new truck to carry eight tons offroad and seventeen tons on the road. Hill traversal capacity is limited and the engine is notably underpowered but the truck does incorporate several lessons learned for safety design compared to all that came before it. Variations capable of carrying artillery pieces and operating as a basic bed for the mounting of anti-aircraft systems have already been proposed. The entire truck only has armor along the cabin against small arms, but that has been judged as sufficient.


IFV/APC:

Type-36 IFV: A standardized 8x8 IFV built on a series of reliable technical concepts with novel engineering focused primarily on armor and protective systems. Improved HEA plating has been interspersed with ultrahard ceramics in a quasi-NERA array containing far more detailed ultra-hard elements with features. The shift towards materials lighter and stronger than conventional steels alone has ensured that protection is sufficient across the vehicle to resist conventional fire while the ceramics serve to break up threats from cumulative munitions. APS protection has also been extended with eight heavy charges and twenty-four light charges mounted across the turret. The armament is a combination of eight types 35 ATGM and an automated 24mm cannon effectively offering a direct continuation from older APCs. Amphibious capability on the vehicle has been maintained with space for eight dismounts creating several questions on optimal squad sizes. Mortar-carrying and artillery-carrying variants are already being considered though the lack of a power train precludes its use as a SPLAA.


Tank:

Type 38(Pre War) Tank: The other component of the heavy armored system built around a 1500kW diesel engine combined with an electric drive. The tank is practically built around its central 152mm cannon and autoloader, feeding shells into the system at an acceptable rate with long rod penetrators of up to 1.6 meters capable of being loaded in two parts from hull-based cassettes. APS systems have been pioneered onto the tank with sixteen heavy charges and twelve light charges focused around the frontal aspect to degrade ordinance. Armor protection is not technically sufficient to resist an integrated penetrator from its gun, but that has been judged as sufficient. Automatic gun systems based on the Type 36 APC have been integrated with smart return fire capacity built-in with the 24mm Canon. Despite nearly a hundred operational vehicles the chassis has been used for everything from mobile laser anti-aircraft systems to IFVs in greater numbers.


Fixed Wing Aircraft:

Type 39 Aircraft: The General Aerospace entrant that has been delivered to specification, if universally derided by pilots as the equivalent of operating a garbage truck. The plane is powered by two high-power 240kN turbofans with a capacity for climb-outs in most cargo regimes with only a single engine if necessary. Automatic landing has been incorporated into the plane and a significant degree of redundancy has been incorporated as hundreds of the lessons learned in the old passenger industry are relearned. Over a thousand units are expected to be purchased for the army with variations designed for transportation, low-intensity missile transportation, and several further roles as general-purpose airframes. Even the civilian sector has started work on adapting a copy for the rapid transportation of mail, allowing GA to recoup its costs. Poor surface takeoffs limit the ability of the airframe to operate in a safe mode with increased cargo allocation but even that has been judged as sufficient.


Medium Drones:

None-Operational


Light Drones:

Improvised Surveillance Drones: A massive number of diverse quadcopters and basic fixed-wing drones have been produced at a massive number of workshops as systems for surveillance. These have mostly been built with simple radio systems and radio control systems built around applications on civilians and some specialized tablets. Some variants have been modified with basic tandem charge warheads for suicide attacks. The lack of standardization has limited their use of improvised munitions making the commissioning of new systems a high priority.


Naval Combat Ships:

19xType 37 LCS(Pre War): The older generation of lighter littoral combat ships utilizing gas turbines instead of more complex nuclear power plants. Most were built primarily for patrol and anti-piracy duties rather than complex operational requirements in wartime leaving most of them intact in the aftermath. The hulls themselves are equipped with a universal VLS system containing one hundred and twenty tubes rated for anti-shipping missiles along with a series of radar systems and a dual electrochemical canon setup for closer range support duties. Radar integration is considered acceptable even if anti-stealth tracking leaves much to be desired as a platform. Carrying capacities of marines and personnel are the primary purpose of the ship, with the current remaining stocks of the class effectively serving as oversized police cutters.

35xType 33 Frigate(Pre War): The lightest of the classes of ship in service in the thirties modernization program and one destined to act as a low profile low in the water universal combatant specialized in anti-aircraft work. A combined battery of sixty-four cells along with a light electrochemical gun makes up their primary armament. The main purpose of the vessels was the tracking and interception of anti-fleet missile systems while on a cheaper-to-build non-nuclear hull. More complex radar systems were pioneered on the class that would later go on every 30's era ship, allowing an unparalleled simultaneous over-the-horizon intercept capacity against sixteen targets in coordination with further data-linking radars along with data-link enabled lobs followed by terminal boost phase.


Submarines:

None-Operational


Orbital Frigates:

16xRiver-Class(Pre-War Type-35): Closer to a modified police ship than a true naval warship, the River class was originally designed as a vehicle to transport a platoon-sized element of marines between habitats. This was complemented by a limited degree of self-defense capability to police the orbitals along with enabling further orbital work. Drives were built around open cycle gas core reactors supplemented with MPDs for long-range maneuvers, giving each ship a healthy 50 km/s of delta V. With tensions increasing and ever-increasing conflicts with the northern colonial administration the 39 refit radically changed the role of the ships. A series of octagonal twelve-tube missile launches were incorporated into the frame by lengthening the ship along with an 8 MW pulsed laser system with a staggered series of lenses capable of engaging with three at any proper targeting angle. None of those helped in the retreat from lower orbit as guns ravaged the ships, but the few remaining examples have served as venerable shuttles after a total overhaul in 9AE. Reactor cores were replaced with new power ones and the crew section was further compressed to extend their capacities as troop ships, more than capable of supporting the transfer of three hundred men in an LDO-Lunar flight profile.


Orbital Destroyers:

6xDaring Class(Pre-War Type-32): More designed as a pleasure liner for important personnel in orbit along with a defended shuttle for crew transfers outward each Daring's practically the hallmark of a long gone age. Pioneering gas core systems in orbit along with massive travel drives the ships were meant to reach further than ever before in a state of unmatched luxury as tuned MPDs and massive power cores provided them with a usable delta-v of almost 180 km/s. In the 38 refit program, the previously peaceful ships were given a similar missile section to the Type-35 incorporating defensive systems and using the massive power system to mount massive high-temperature 12 MW lasers in a triplex configuration. Each ship can defend itself from anything short of a heavy missile attack, allowing unparalleled operational capacity while maintaining some luxuries. The 12AE refits only compounded on the class with the rationalization of quarters into a hot bunking system incorporating sectioned belonging storage and external mounts for additional crew or cargo. This has enabled a massive five hundred-man capacity along with tons of cargo, though life support resources are strained on such voyages.


Spaceborne Auxiliary Ships:

Debris Skiffs: The massive series of different classes of light skiffs that patrolled the orbits looking for debris and salvage have no unified class or performance envelope. The most universal factor for them has been the lack of a nuclear drive and a simple long-burning hydrogen engine for propulsion. Most were effectively a printed airlock, a radar, and a series of propellant tanks, capable of assessing larger debris and preparing them for deorbiting work. Lacking any defensive weaponry or nuclear systems a number of these have even been operated by practically civilian concerns from stations, offering tours and overviews. Standardization of small skiffs for moving around the orbital system is still deeply in demand but it remains a niche application now that debris has mostly stopped being a major threat.

8xType-22 Barge: Effectively an oversized gas core reactor attached to tanks of water and a system for mass on-site refining from carbonate asteroids the Type-22 miner is more of a tug than a true mining ship. Operations are conducted through the processing of several rocks until a reserve of water is built up, afterward the ship approaches a metalloid rock or chunk, and its crew drills into it. Using highly efficient MPDs that are downgraded the ship steadily pushes the rock and itself into a slow intercept maneuver of Dannan, allowing the rock to then be mined in lower orbit. The two-year missions each Type-22 conducts are long and with a poor crew retention rate as the conditions on board are considered poor even compared to more rationalized ships, if only due to the length of missions. Iterations on the miners are already planned, even if they have not yet been implemented.

Spoiler: Technologies

Automation:

Improved AI Market Models: Beating out a capable Seelie at modeling in the stock market has already been done but current ML models can take behaviors a step further. By optimizing direct data streams and using a model of learned behavior and information analysis, correct market decisions can be made well in advance by the general public and most investment agents. The actual deployment of the technology has been limited to financial firms focused on optimizing the market with significant gains expected for the early adopters. At this point, people have mostly been removed from market activity with high data algorithms trained off interpreting behavior taking precedence.

Enhanced Population-Facing Algorithms: Advancing population-facing machine learning models has only intensified with the state operation of social media interactions. It is still impossible to make a model that cannot be distinguished from a Seelie in all circumstances, but that is almost within reach. Basic chatbots have been refined so that one can be used with a focused set of goals and a solid general comprehension of information. Further advances in ensuring that models that fail can indicate a low-confidence answer, allowing for an improved user perspective. (30 AE)

Total Line Automation: Previous efforts at predictive logistics and advanced ordering programs have only developed further with improvements made to the autonomous operation of entire facilities. Current algorithms are insufficient to replace all staff but something as simple as balancing and troubleshooting basic parameter deviation has already been demonstrated with further gains expected on the direct testing level. There is little need for first-line employees when logistics can be conducted in an automated manner with a further simplification of most industries that require sterile standards. Continuous improvements are only expected to continue as more advanced algorithms can further reduce necessary labor. (35AE)

Technical Generative AI: Continued improvement in machine learning along with engineering-specific developments have continued to enhance the automation of industries. Previous generations of generative AI have been limited to non-technical low-risk applications but it has steadily gone towards a capability to act as an immediate reference and design optimization tool. Training datasets are still limited and the machines are nowhere near perfect but as a first-line tool for rapid prototyping and a second-line tool for assessing projects it is invaluable. Automation can now replace most positions that produce novel intellectual labor for conventional design work, with just a few needed to check the AI and ensure consistency in training datasets. (35AE)

Ballistics


Economics


Social Sciences


Computing

X-Ray Lithography Techniques: Next-generation lithography was judged as necessary to make the jump to 3nm gate widths, but even that has proven insufficient. New machines with X-ray light have been demonstrated on a laboratory scale, capable of making feature sizes smaller than previously considered possible with a lower number of errors from simplifications in the beam source. Effectively new machinery is now capable of making circuits on a previously thought-to-be impossible scale, eliminating lithographic challenges. The limitations of electron probability distributions are still notable, but they too can eventually be overcome.

3D Electronics: Layering on a single integrated die was already practiced to a limited extent but with the latest lithographic techniques density of packaging can be further improved to allow for three-dimensional features. Thermal transfer limits still are the same as any other advanced silicon computer along with the inherent issues of electron tunneling but effective 1.2nm gates can be printed in a three-dimensional matrix. These are then underclocked to improve thermal stability, providing on-die performance gains without needing new technologies or a jump toward new types of computational hardware. (New 40 AE)

Immature Carbon Electronics: Following a parallel solution of maintaining conventional electronics despite significant issues in electron tunneling the use of carbon rather than silicon has been considered at points. A carbon circuit has inherently far fewer issues than silicon ones and can be developed to an even smaller feature size with far less leakage. Current techniques allow for the manufacturing of gates down to a 45nm feature size, significantly improving the performance of non-silicon computers even if the tech is still a curiosity. (New 40 AE)

Basic Quantum Computing: Further achievements in computing have not come from shortening gate lengths or improving the density of conventional circuits but through the creation of dedicated quantum computing units. These processors can hold almost ten thousand qbits with some capacity for calculation, even if they are not relevant for most tasks that are better suited for conventional computing. Most of the units are useless outside of discrete applications in small data problems and low-level particle modeling, but the application alone is sufficient to drive investment in the field and push for improved models.


Cybernetics/DNI

Dual-Band NI: Downband neural interfacing has always been considered a massive challenge for control systems and is not practical as a system. Basic sensation feedback can now be delivered with a neural splice avoiding any invasive procedures, and even with a significant learning period basic interfaces can be developed. Further, the technology offers the chance to directly train a single nerve to operate a multi-faceted machine through learning simulations comparable to physical therapy. Some sterile implant programs have started for first adopters with an exclusive up-band-only mounting but the technology once matured can apply to any number of military applications. (30 AE)

Basic Cybernetics: Continued advancements in both genetics and neural interfacing have brought forward a practical new era of implantation and dual-way linkages between neurons and computers. Using basic genetic modification to designate several metals as non-invasive to prevent an immune response along with advanced coatings, safe implants can be produced with few issues of rejection and minimal follow-on treatment. Direct neural control along with the direct splicing of nerves represents a further improvement in old techniques allowing theoretical direct control of larger machinery from a direct linkage. (35AE)


Transmission

Terahertz Networking: Taking advantage of previously untapped bands of electromagnetic propagation has defined the last generations of networking but it can be taken a step even further. Consolidating work and increasing transmitter power can only go so far in improving penetration, but for most environments, a simple receiver can be used. Propagation of signals in the range can allow for the transmission of data in gigabytes per second over the air, simplifying significant areas of infrastructure. Signal doublers and lesser bands are still needed for the penetration of obstacles, but the improvements from moving into higher ranges hold immense promise.

CNT Filament Radiators: The use of carbon nanotubes as radiator surfaces has been proposed several times but issues exist in inter-tube connections along with the intensive thermal environment. If long chain tubes can be synthesized and placed on large rollers, centrifugal forces can keep the radiator array extended without much issue all while radiating a massive amount of heat. Even in an optimized configuration, new systems are expected to be heavier than contemporary liquid metal droplet radiators but they can be operated at theoretically hotter temperatures while being far more resistant to damage. (New 40 AE)

Currie Point Radiators: Taking an alternative track and basing the design of several proposals made for lower temperature circuits something of a novel concept radiator has been proposed. Rather than using large emissive structures of liquid metal the curie point of several materials can be taken advantage of. This way iron or cobalt can be ejected and then re-magnetized and returned as it cools to under 1000K, providing a significant radiative effect. Such a technique will not work for systems made to operate far outside 1300K but for civilian power systems, this is more than sufficient. (New 40 AE)


Energy Storage

MgLiS Batteries: A new revolution in the development of battery power has come from fundamental work on the development of next-generation battery chemistry. Combining the density of single-use aluminum-air cells with the rechargeability of lithium batteries, new magnesium-sulfur batteries with some lithium additives have been brought to commercial production. Voltage limitations and the need for finer electronics to take advantage of the lower voltage plateau have limited most implementations outside storage use to only 1000Wh/kg. Still, even that represents a massive improvement over previous chemistries. Current production costs are slightly greater than equivalent lithium ions, but as mass production takes off a cheap rechargeable battery capable of a massive number of cycles can be brought to every electronic device.

Thermal Storage: Paired high-temperature molten storage with a high-efficiency high differential thermocouple offers a novel if mostly redundant cheap storage method. The effective price of the system is only dependent on its throughput in the thermocouple with the salts themselves forming a very cheap factor. Efficiency is poor and the actual capacity is mostly superseded by MgS battery compositions, but for several low-cost applications, it can be used. Some new batteries have been designed as a speaker system as massive volumes of salts are heated up to provide energy outside of the productive bands of renewable energy plants as entire lakes of salt are far cheaper than even the cheapest batteries. (30 AE)

Ultracapacitors: The limitations of conventional capacitance are still notable but have been overcome through a new generation of designs. Even though the specific power of newer systems is only a fifth of electrolytic capacitors, new ultracapacitors have over one hundred times greater specific energy. The cells are hybrid capacitors based on a nitrogen-doped graphene nanocomposite with ZnCo2O4 that can be produced at some cost. The system itself is unlikely to replace batteries to any extent but the performance on offer has opened the way to several highly energetic systems. (New 40 AE)


Fission

Gas Core Reactors: In terrestrial applications, the maximum efficiency for a nuclear core operating in a conventional cycle has always been constrained by the Carnot equation. Working instead with a gaseous core and a partial system of harvesting using an MHD both thermodynamic efficiency and energy conversion efficiency can be nearly doubled. Electrical conversion efficiencies of nearly seventy percent have been achieved in theoretical test cases bringing orbital reactor core performance to larger-scale ground-side cores.

Third Generation MHD Generators: Through combined improvements in harvesting methodologies for power and better systemic thermal isolation significant gains have been made in thermodynamic efficiencies of power production. These mostly involve a more refined MHD cycle with some secondary thermal harvesting, bringing waste heat output down to a far more manageable twenty percent of the generative process. This in no way gets rid of radiators and further efficiency improvements will be a massive technical challenge but they can still be undertaken. The far greater scale of new unit generation systems will make refits challenging but new vessels can be built to far improved margins of thermal control. (35AE)

Non-Propulsive Dusty Plasma Reactor: Continued drives towards gaining efficiency and the modification of thrust systems have demonstrated significant further improvements to efficiency. By taking an ultra-light fissioning uranium plasma and confining it in a pinch between a dual-end MHD harvester an efficient method of power generation can be designed with few downsides. The power system will explicitly not be suitable for off-drive harvesting like previous generation gas-core MHD couplings but the gains from the new method will be massive. Thermal efficiencies in the order of eighty-five percent can be achieved with a hotter operating cycle, only limited by internal chamber materials, leading to more efficient radiative hot loops. (35AE)


FTL

FTL Tachyons: Combining a specialized method of particle physics, the interaction of W bosons in a strong magnetic and electrostatic field has managed to reliably produce several tachyons. These particles have managed to do a previously impossible interaction in conventional models of physics and effectively send a signal out instantaneously. Receiver infrastructure has only been built in another lab, but a basic signal was transmitted along with a narrow band data stream through a Morse-like system. Theoretically, larger and more capable systems have already been commissioned, but they are not expected to be smaller than dedicated buildings and will almost certainly be limited in data transmission. (An unscientific carve-out of relativity in the sense of a privileged special frame that is nonetheless for writing what I want to instead of the more speculative science approach I am taking with everything else.)

FTL-Jump Drive(Theoretical): Through the prompt generation of exotic materials something of a temporary cross-dimensional linkage can be generated. Previous experiments with tachyons have significantly expanded the understanding of particle physics allowing for some glimpses into a possible even space where far larger objects can be sent in a theoretically faster-than-light trajectory. Current ideas of particle generation arrays are unstable at best and experience intense interference from gravitons effectively limiting techniques to areas of the system under less than 1e-4 m/s^2 of acceleration with even less preferred. Actual points where a transition can be induced are even fewer with four calculated to exist in the Dannan system but outside of testing with small objects, it is impossible to know if the model is applicable. Targeting is also assumed to be a major challenge with few known solutions outside of directing the field at the point of initiation, necessitating a massive amount of further testing. (30 AE) (More unscientific carveouts from relativity)

FTL Jump Point Theory: The discrete detection of pockets of so-called jump-optimal space has proceeded logically from previous theories with the refit of a daring class destroyer to assessing pods. Initial guesses that the points would exist outside the orbit of the fifth planet and limitations of gravity have been confirmed though there is a curious phenomenon involved with most jump points in that some are significantly "deeper" dimensionally than others. It is believed that a jump conducted from a deeper point would both be easier and less intensive, leaving other areas of the system as more secondary. Confirmation of further points in the outer system will take time, but current mathematical understandings of jump space do indicate that there should be a few around the gas giant. (35AE)


Fusion

Optimal Band DT: Further improvements on the conventional fusion fuel cycle and a sustained temperature of 80 KeV can now be attained and maintained without a significant technical burden for reactors of the old scale. This effectively optimizes interaction cross-sections of the fuel, raising the reaction rate while maintaining a similar degree of plasma density. Improvements in the magnets involved have trickled down to smaller-scale reactors with the expectation that a positive 1 GWe reactor could be constructed. The largest improvements however come in the larger cores as once the optimal plasma temperatures are reached the reaction rate increases by almost five-fold making the largest cores economical for truly mass power-production applications. (35AE)

Toroidal DT Drives: The development of fusion drives has come as a logical progression from terrestrial fusion reactors, lightening the entire assembly and introducing several thermal and neutron management concepts through the use of lighter plasma blankets. The gain factor of the system is expected to be just short of a hundred, allowing large-scale fusion drives to be designed. The inherent limitations of the DT reaction limit what can be done sustainably and without irradiating the crew but for everything but maximum thrust it effectively obsoletes fissile propulsion. Current drives are at the smallest 10GW of effective fusion power, but efficiency gains are expected as systems grow in size even if cooling plasma jackets will become more complex. (New 40AE)

Biosciences

Genome Engineering: Taking a second look at the genome outside of the initial clumsy attempts by the old regime has yielded massive and rapid gains as transgenic applications have only grown in extent. Work towards tailoring physiological processes along with the specific location of genes responsible for appearance has effectively allowed an unlimited degree of modification. The forefront of the current breakthrough is a co-opting of internal systems of self-correction, allowing a specialized viral payload to infect large parts of the body along with the systems themselves with any remaining cells fixed to the new genetic package. Modifications ranging from more than tripling muscle mass set points to effective morphological control can be conducted, but most depend significantly on the degree of laws passed around them.

Self Healing Concrete: Targeted genetic engineering work on previous programs has come to the fore with the integration of organisms in conventional concrete pours. These engineered organisms are built to produce calcite to fill any hole left in the concrete from micro-fractures or thermal stress. While the material itself will still steadily get weaker due to the limitations of biological systems, the ability to fix most micro-fractures will massively extend all lifespans. Further, as the integration of organisms is practically a cheap step of end-state processing, it can be done for almost nothing, allowing all modern grades of concrete to have limited self-repair for no real loss in initial durability.

Hibernation Systems: Induction of a hibernation adjacent sleep-like state for long-duration orbital journeys has always been desirable but limitations in life support equipment have rendered it problematic. Rather than a total freezing of biological processes a sorta long duration low-calorie use sleep can be induced on a crew for long journeys performed by automated systems. Some degradation and risk are still expected from the process as it is refined but such sleepers can be kept at a minimal life support burden. Retrofits of the system onto ships have been delayed by the lack of automated systems capable of managing complex reactor parameters but several proposals have already been made for dual-setup craft. (30 AE)


Materials Science

High Entropy Alloys(Early): Developmental work on computational models of more complex crystalline structures has produced results practically as soon as sufficient computing power is applied. Breaking away from conventional understandings of bi-component alloys or base metals with mix-ins, the use of a massive number of mixed metals has allowed conventional material science to be revolutionized. Significant gains in basic structural alloys can be conducted in specialized smelting environments at a reasonable cost, even if many of the highest-performance materials capable of entering the realm of super-hard ceramics are limited by supplies of scandium and tantalum. Corresponding breakthroughs in additive manufacturing techniques have only improved performance, producing parts cheaply and with qualities well above conventional material science.

Engineering Plastics: Work in the biological sciences on easy-to-produce materials has rapidly enabled the creation of biological systems capable of making short-chain polymers. Limitations in internal chemistries and the needs of organisms to process feedstock from the atmosphere have made the process inefficient compared to the energy committed, but for low-quality biologically derived plastics, this is a revolution. Incredible cheap plastic can be brought into bulk construction roles as fillers, improving structural design and further lowering costs for low-quality biodegradable material.

Synthetic Diamondoids(low yield): Nothing prevents the production and shaping of a large block of diamondoid materials through innovative semi-conventional production methods along with improvements in deposition techniques. The only remaining question is if the expense of a diamondoid is useful in any good or product as the ultra-hardness can be almost replicated by more conventional and cheaper ultra-hard ceramics. Theoretical requirements involving only carbon are a positive factor but even those do not make the technology viable. (30 AE)

CNT Mass Production: Improvements have been made in non-biological processes for the production of long-chain carbon nano-tubes effectively making biological methods obsolete. Large-scale macro-catalytics have developed significantly on older techniques with scalable production of new materials. The changeover has forced the rapid adoption of new methods along with the increase of the chemical industry as simpler methods are steadily pushed aside. After some reconfiguration, it is expected that CNT incorporation can become a common factor for several industrial applications. (35AE)


Doctrine

Autonomous Drone Warfare: New theories of automation have not failed to reach the battlefield with concepts around a general increase in semi-automatic and automatic combat platforms favored. ECCM has only improved over time with many asking why it is necessary to risk Seelie life in warfare when a single soldier can manage a dozen autonomous platforms. Development of doctrinal and technical concepts will involve committed testing of new platforms and new procurement goals limiting what can be done, but several visionary manuals have been written on the topic. (30 AE)


Missiles/Small Craft

Fission Drive Miniaturization: Technical work towards miniaturizing a liquid core fission drive has been possible if consistently problematic. Ensuring that effectively spinning fission fuel can have enough room for operation and adequate separation from the propellant is still a major technical challenge. Theoretical work towards slightly lowering temperatures and increasing mass flow while accepting emissions has been pushed forward but even that is theoretical. Effective launch profiles for rockets less than fifty tons can be made even if current costs make it prohibitive for anything disposable.


Orbital Industry

Early Spaceship ISRU: Procedures for the in-space refinement of metals have rapidly been developed to further exportation and increase yields. Next-generation mining techniques in the form of total asteroid capture followed by pulverization and liquefaction under mild centrifugal forces have yielded significant gains in refinement and on-site processing. The next generation of mining ships is expected to entirely incorporate new methods, effectively breaking off chunks of asteroids before capturing them and refining them internally. Water off-gas can be directly utilized for propulsion and life support while more solid elements are left for further refinement, allowing lighter nuclear drives to easily provide sufficient transit reserve.


Particle Sciences

MPD Improvements: With the start of construction for new ships, previously experimental techniques in the construction of magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters have effectively gone mainstream. Increasing the charge of the surface and allowing for a tentative protective coat in the flow has massively improved thruster durability for longer burns all while supplying more power. The already fairly efficient drives have been further thermally improved with the integration of superconducting materials on all non-contact components, reducing heat burdens and further power to weight.

Bomb Pumped X-ray Lasers: Utilizing the fission fragments of a warhead to pump a laser has historically been attempted to consistent yet mediocre results, but with the integration of better lensing material and a slightly more coherent media far better results have been produced. The lasers are still hard to focus and carry forward a minuscule amount of power even compared to a shaped nuclear charge, but they have a far longer range and exist outside of conventional atmospheric limitations. Fissile material use for each laser-specialized warhead is expected to be heavy due to the negligible impact a second stage has on device design, limiting any approach to use a dirty single stage.

Particle Beam Theories: Nothing prevents the mass scaling of the particle accelerator into a viable orbital weapon system capable of breaking the previous expectations of warship design. Massive linear accelerator designs can be made to accelerate a mass of particles to near relativistic speeds allowing for a massive impulse of radiation to be delivered to any target regardless of previous armoring attempts. The scattering will effectively limit the ranges and the massive capacitor banks required for the generation of the beam have made the system at its lightest a thousand-ton intensely magnetic tube, but it can be developed to a sufficient point to cram into a warship. (35 AE)


Production Methods

Advanced Additive Manufacturing: The largest gains in additive manufacturing techniques have not come from the methodologies themselves but from the materials fed into them and their integration into general industries. The manufacturing of specific specialty parts and the ability to rapidly prototype has remained from previous generations of manufacturing, what has changed however has been improvements in feedstock and deposition methods. Utilization of mixed powders has been a near-universal factor with finer grinding and materials that maintain hardness with a minimum degree of hardening prioritized. Using mixed powder high entropy alloy parts can be made to a higher standard than possible with other methods, integrating techniques as mainstream manufacturing methods on a previously unheard-of scale.

Biological-Epoxies: Complete production chains for biosynthetic epoxies and resins have been developed with only some requirements remaining for molding. The material is not as cheap as conventional regenerative cement construction but it is better insulating and far more portable for logistically challenging areas. Molding is still necessary making the process not truly automated but some proponents of prefabricated resin paneling made in a factory as a light alternative to prefabricated panels especially for external insulation applications. (35 AE)

Macro-Structural Polymers: Biological mechanisms for twisting the exact localization of structures along with the pre-production of dead tissue have long been coded for. Taking advantage of the more primitive systems left to us by nature most trees can be brought to productive ends. The production of ultrahard wooden items competitive with some lighter plastics can be made without too much issue. Better yet ultrahard microstructures can be built into them allowing materials to be grown that significantly outperform their contemporaries on a similar weight allotment. The use cases for such ultralight materials are limited by their flammability and the limits of biological systems but they still offer a useful capability. (New 40 AE)

12-Hour Moratorium Vote by Plan

 

[Kirai]

Alright so just listing out what the high command wants. We have 1 slot for doing any program rn.
Army - []New MBT (conventional mech), []Second Generation Infantry Equipment (light infantry)
Navy - []Next Generation Fleet Combatant (but they get the focus on submarines)
Air Force - []Multirole VTOL
Orbit - []Standardization of Orbital Troops

Given this, I'm definitely for doing []Multirole VTOL just so the air force shuts up about "not wanting to just fly cargo planes anymore"

 

[Kirai]

Here's 2 plans I'm thinking up rn. VTOL to shut the airforce up. Some internal spying on the army because it leans right-wing, to put it lightly. I'm split between doing shellshock treatment and money-free zones. Shellshock is honestly more important at the time. We're helping out our veterans, which beyond boosting electoral support for the BFP (our party), will hopefully temper down a little bit of radicalism. While the unemployment rate is greatest amongst the youth, I doubt it's good anywhere. Money-free zones just sounds like a fun idea, and I'm skeptical of it lasting too long turn-wise. Very deep internally, it's Ricky wanting to do a little socialism, as a treat. And y'know, it'll hopefully boost morale.
Edit: Plan named added
[] Plan: Securing the Military (with a little socialism)
-[]Multirole VTOL
-[]Modify Two Mining Ships
-[]Operation Useless Wish
-[]Fleet Mental Health Survey
-[]Orbital Command Expansion
-[]Money-Free Orbital Zones

[] Plan: Securing the Military and treating shellshock
-[]Multirole VTOL
-[]Modify Two Mining Ships
-[]Operation Useless Wish
-[]Fleet Mental Health Survey
-[]Orbital Command Expansion
-[]Shellshock Treatment Grants

 

[SuperHeavy]

Well time for fully automated space communism or stuffing all those spare people into a military/government uniform.

 

[Rockeye]

Didn't we already start surveillance drones?

 

[OatmealOatmeal]

"An enemy at the gates is less formidable than a traitor within the walls." -Julius Caesar

Useless Wish should definitely be completed before any other spying programs. I also don't think Money-Free Orbital Zones should be attempted yet, given the precarious political environment that we are in.

 

[Kirai]

"An enemy at the gates is less formidable than a traitor within the walls." -Julius Caesar

Useless Wish should definitely be completed before any other spying programs. I also don't think Money-Free Orbital Zones should be attempted yet, given the precarious political environment that we are in.

Click to shrink...

We're honestly not that bad on political support? We're at 58 and our guy isn't bad at politics. Now if you're saying it because we have more pressing concerns, like one bad event roll or the need to make sure the veterans aren't radicalizing, I can see that.

 

[Manowl]

Well time for fully automated space communism or stuffing all those spare people into a military/government uniform.

Click to shrink...

Don't think it's really going to be communism or stuff like it least hope it's not personally, because plan quests have done it a lot already and would be fun to see having to deal with the current democracy/Republic faction chaos or something else new, also we can't really do the second one there is only some many places where you can put them?

 

[SuperHeavy]

Don't think it's really going to be communism or stuff like it least hope it's not personally, because plan quests have done it a lot already and would be fun to see having to deal with the current democracy/Republic faction chaos or something else new, also we can't really do the second one there is only some many places where you can put them?

Click to shrink...

A traditional capitalist economy doesn't really work if the majority of the population can't find work to earn capital. A society that can't find something meaningful for the majority of the population to take part in is not going to last long.

 

[OatmealOatmeal]

We're honestly not that bad on political support? We're at 58 and our guy isn't bad at politics. Now if you're saying it because we have more pressing concerns, like one bad event roll or the need to make sure the veterans aren't radicalizing, I can see that.

Click to shrink...

I mean that given the political parties are radicalizing further in the face of job loss, a bad roll on trying to implement the vouchers could lead to the military being criticized, or maybe Ricky specifically being targeted by the PSC and him being replaced by someone more in line with their views.

 

[7th Hex]

Yeah, we did @Rockeye. Went for the Straight Wing option.

As for the options, we did talk about delaying VTOL for a turn so we could hit it with a Wartime Study to make sure we got a good result for that 800B total price tag, so I'm going to try to fit those into any of my plans. The Air Force getting tetchy enough about it that it's actually showing up in the updates themselves rather than just QM comments only further cements that to me, and with the PSC on an unfortunate rise and the possibility of us needing to Enforce Democracy in the near future I really would like to avoid testing if Blackstar will give us enough rope to hang ourselves by starting to put fractures in military unity that way.
-[]Multirole VTOL
-[]Study Wartime Issues([]Multirole VTOL)

Next for the fusion drive options, while it's really good for efficiency it doesn't hold a candle to our current NTRs in terms of thrust. So I don't want to put it on anything that has the desire to do anything close to tactical maneuvers like our new frigates. Which leaves either the Long Hauls or Miner Conversions. This is mostly just a cost decision to me, I'd prefer the Long Haul but with the political need for the expensive VTOL if we think it'll be important enough to save that extra 50B then the Miners should be fine to test them on.
-[]Revive the Long Burn Space-Ship Program
-[]Modify Two Mining Ships

Then for our new department, the three I'm thinking of are siccing them on the military itself, the PSC, or not turning our foreign intelligence apparatus on our own citizens. The first would be good for trying to prevent any suborning of the military, the second is better to figure out what exactly the fascist party is cooking, and the last is self explanatory. One thing of not however, is that we are explicitly hiring people who working in the old Pre-Exchange intelligence services and filtering for the kind of people who will do whatever we order without hesitation, so don't be surprised if that comes back up later.
-[]Operation Useless Wish
-[]Operation Spiral Stone
-[]Do Nothing

I am not quite sure what I want to put in for the last 2 Political actions yet, waffling between Mental Health, Shellshock, and Command Expansion.

 

[Manowl]

A traditional capitalist economy doesn't really work if the majority of the population can't find work to earn capital. A society that can't find something meaningful for the majority of the population to take part in is not going to last long.

Click to shrink...

Didn't say want people to suffer and stuff and so changes are necessary just mean that besides personally wanting to see something new, that as the military of likely multiple moons planets and asteroids and other stuff in the future that there is the big chance that they will choose their own government system because of the distance from the homeworld and slow ftl and gradualy changing into there own unique cultures, but if they still send us materials and do other helpful stuff why should we put them under one they don't agree with?

 

[Moonless-seas]

I mean the last time the species was devided in multiple states over 90% died in nuclear armageddon sooo...
yeah I don't think "letting our colonies go" is a viable political proposal, and the military is absolutely going to kill any independance/freedom fighters wannabees.

 

[Fireiy]

Next for the fusion drive options, while it's really good for efficiency it doesn't hold a candle to our current NTRs in terms of thrust. So I don't want to put it on anything that has the desire to do anything close to tactical maneuvers like our new frigates. Which leaves either the Long Hauls or Miner Conversions. This is mostly just a cost decision to me, I'd prefer the Long Haul but with the political need for the expensive VTOL if we think it'll be important enough to save that extra 50B then the Miners should be fine to test them on.

Click to shrink...

Do also keep in mind that we chose to design a heavy frigate which would also need to be built on the medium slipways that reviving the Long Burn Space-Ship Program would occupy, so its not just a cost decision but one that would likely delay the construction of our heavy frigates by several years.

Of the political programs I feel that we can afford to delay the orbital command expansion by a single year when the first mining ships should only be launching in 42AE with our first post-war combat ships not being laid down until 43AE at the earliest. Our poor orbital morale and the near complete lack of treatment for PTSD are long ongoing issues that are long overdue for a proper assessment.

[] Plan Military Surveys & Surveillance
-[]Multirole VTOL
-[]Modify Two Mining Ships
-[]Operation Useless Wish
-[]Fleet Mental Health Survey
-[]Shellshock Treatment Grants
-[]Study Wartime Issues(Multirole VTOL)

 

[Adronio]

I dont like the idea of converting mining ships when we've already delayed their procurement. Are we really delaying the heavy frigate that much by using up the medium slips until the next cycle? Weve only just started their procurement after all.

 

[Adronio]

[X] Plan Military Surveys & Surveillance, Long Burn Return
-[X]Multirole VTOL
-[X]Revive the Long Burn Space-Ship Program:
-[X]Operation Useless Wish
-[X]Fleet Mental Health Survey
-[X]Shellshock Treatment Grants
-[X]Study Wartime Issues(Multirole VTOL)

I really, really don't like screwing with our mining ship production even more, so have a variant. Not only will we be turning two mining ships into whacky test bed drives that cant do mining anymore, because the fusion drives are too large for the mining ships, but we're also almost certainly gonna delaying the production of other mining ships as these test-beds will probably take longer to build and as such take up more time in our small slips. Yes, I know we might delay the production of our heavy frigate somewhat, but remember that the last time we did a spaceship program we didn't get to start production of any ships until the next budget cycle. Now, there are reasons to believe that procurement will be a bit faster this time around, but even then we'd only be delaying for one or two years in all likelihood. I question how much difference a couple heavy frigates a couple years earlier will actually make if someone decides to come punch us in the nose, since Ricky is almost certainly correct in his assumption that if we want to actually fight off a raid in space we will need to out-mass the enemy to a significant extent. And to that end delaying mining ship production would be harmful to the current space industry sprint we are trying to do.

Otherwise, I agree with the rationale of Fireiy's plan. Spying on ourselves is honestly just taking responsibility for our own whackiest people, and I don't particularly care for the poor officers who got their careers shitcanned for liking fascist tweets on their main twitter account.