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Fighter Guide/Tactical Spacecraft Generally: Difference between revisions
Fighter Guide/Tactical Spacecraft Generally (view source)
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After the reconstruction and the advent of the Warp era, tactical spacecraft development, at least on and by Terra (and then eventually by her growing circle of allies) stagnated. The principal reason for this was the character of early Starfleet contacts and policy. Not much more need be said of this than that the Romulan Wars were fought with capital ships almost exclusively; armor, shields and energy weapons were still primitive, heavy and costly (from every angle: space required, resource, energy, logistics, etc), and could not be effectively utilized on tactical craft. When it was realized that capital ships could not enter atmosphere, ''but troops and landing craft could'', the dedicated planetary defense tactical craft created were not terribly evolved from the IE-5{{fn|5}} design. | After the reconstruction and the advent of the Warp era, tactical spacecraft development, at least on and by Terra (and then eventually by her growing circle of allies) stagnated. The principal reason for this was the character of early Starfleet contacts and policy. Not much more need be said of this than that the Romulan Wars were fought with capital ships almost exclusively; armor, shields and energy weapons were still primitive, heavy and costly (from every angle: space required, resource, energy, logistics, etc), and could not be effectively utilized on tactical craft. When it was realized that capital ships could not enter atmosphere, ''but troops and landing craft could'', the dedicated planetary defense tactical craft created were not terribly evolved from the IE-5{{fn|5}} design. | ||
During the latter part of the 22nd century (after the birth of the Federation) and the early part of the 23rd, tactical spacecraft were still essentially weakly armed variants of shuttles. Although they were called by various and sometimes ambitious names | During the latter part of the 22nd century (after the birth of the Federation) and the early part of the 23rd, tactical spacecraft were still essentially weakly armed variants of shuttles. Although they were called by various and sometimes ambitious names, the issue was still that the things that made a ship capable in a battle (armor, shields, weapons) were still too 'bulky,' costly and just plain 'big' to fit on small ships. Nonetheless, just as the advent of the transistor (and then the microchip) had revolutionized Terran technology in one bold jump, tactical spacecraft were to see their true Renaissance in the 24th century as a result of a similar technological epiphany. | ||
The same advances that made the 'next generation' of shield generators, phaser power cells and armor tiling possible in capital ships after 2355 also made it possible for Federation R&D personnel to begin to 'think small' once more. | The same advances that made the 'next generation' of shield generators, phaser power cells and armor tiling possible in capital ships after 2355 also made it possible for Federation R&D personnel to begin to 'think small' once more. | ||
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So we did what good simmers do. We made a command decision, and put the fun back into this. Just for you people. | So we did what good simmers do. We made a command decision, and put the fun back into this. Just for you people. | ||
So here's the technobabble, for those who enjoy it: | So here's the technobabble, for those who enjoy it: | ||
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* {{fnb|4}} It is interesting to note the irony attendant to the relationship between the deployment of the IE-5 and her competitors and the start of WWIII itself. The nations of the world had become utterly dependent on satellite networks of every kind had every nation state become (not only for the guidance of its weapons and military units but also for all official and private communication, entertainment, etc). Very quickly, every nation had IE-5's or something like them. The destruction of these systems had the very real effect of thrusting the suffering nations into the position of having no alternative but to fall back on the very weapons they had all tried so hard to ban. The lesson: the effectiveness of the IE-5 in dictating the terms of battle on the 'high frontier' (as space was then called) neutralized what every nation had come to think of as it's divine right. The rule of tactical improvement, therefore, discussed in section 2.1 and embodied by the IE-5, was a significant factor in the first resort to nuclear weapons. | * {{fnb|4}} It is interesting to note the irony attendant to the relationship between the deployment of the IE-5 and her competitors and the start of WWIII itself. The nations of the world had become utterly dependent on satellite networks of every kind had every nation state become (not only for the guidance of its weapons and military units but also for all official and private communication, entertainment, etc). Very quickly, every nation had IE-5's or something like them. The destruction of these systems had the very real effect of thrusting the suffering nations into the position of having no alternative but to fall back on the very weapons they had all tried so hard to ban. The lesson: the effectiveness of the IE-5 in dictating the terms of battle on the 'high frontier' (as space was then called) neutralized what every nation had come to think of as it's divine right. The rule of tactical improvement, therefore, discussed in section 2.1 and embodied by the IE-5, was a significant factor in the first resort to nuclear weapons. | ||
* {{fnb|5}} Though it was hastily updated with improved systems and composites the craft was, in most respects, the same 'plane' it had been a hundred years before. | * {{fnb|5}} Though it was hastily updated with improved systems and composites the craft was, in most respects, the same 'plane' it had been a hundred years before. | ||
[[Category:The Fighter Guide]] | [[Category:The Fighter Guide]] | ||