quote:Originally posted by Shipbuilder: I think someone has brought up the fact before that the quantum and photon casings are similar enough (width/thickness-wise) to be launched by the same type of launcher.
I'll raise my hand and claim responsibility for that... I think I've argued loud enough to be known as that theory's biggest fan.
quote:So why, for example, don't we see the Defiant's "shoulder-mounted" pods firing photons? Maybe each of the launchers has a specific "ready load" that only includes a particular type of torpedo....shoulder launchers = quantums, while the nose = scientific loadouts, and aft launchers = photons.
You're probably right, the Defiant more than likely to save room doesn't have a single store room, but instead just has weapon packages near the launchers. --- At the same time someone else brought up the little problem the Defiant has with loading photon torpedoes with antimatter. More than likely the Defiant's weapons are already armed, making a loading system for the antimatter unnecessary.
-------------------- Later, J _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ _ The Last Person to post in the late Voyager Forum. Bashing both Voyager, Enterprise, and "The Bun" in one glorious post.
posted
DS9TM specifically states that the launchers have the necessary reactant systems for photon operations. This isn't inconceivable if you consider that the Defiant probably has a smaller magazine per launcher than other ships. For instance, if the loadout for each launcher is 20 torps, that's only 60 kg of reactants (based on the TNGTM max 1.5 kg of antimatter per torp). I could see quick change type magnetic bottles that could feed the reactants into the torps. This wouldn't require feeds from the main reactant lines and would probably be alot safer than carrying around live warheads in the torps.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
come up with a better explaination than me will ya...
show off!
-------------------- Later, J _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ _ The Last Person to post in the late Voyager Forum. Bashing both Voyager, Enterprise, and "The Bun" in one glorious post.
posted
I'm all for "quick change" type multi-munition launchers, with the added complication that "quick" is a relative term.
Aboard a small ship like NX-74205, it may not make sense to carry along all the modules needed to change a launcher's configuration. Nor may the small engineering crew have the time to perform the operation in practice. So instead, the ship is pre-configured for the mission back at DS9, where there is time and space and manpower. Launchers X and Y are configured for q-torps, launcher Z for p-torps, and a few probes are also loaded into the magazine of launcher Y. For the next mission, all launchers might carry p-torps.
Aboard a large ship, "quick swapping" is quicker. But a large ship need not *have* the capacity for quick swapping, since it can carry a larger number and thus a larger selection of fixed-configuration launchers to begin with. Thus, each launcher can be optimized for a certain type of munitions, thus avoiding the inevitable compromises of a multi-munition device.
So the E-E *could* have a q-torp-only turret and p-torp-only paired tubes, if the drama so requires. Or she could have multi-munition weapons all over. There's plenty of engineering logic for both alternatives.
posted
Actually Timo, the quick change idea was referring only to the reactant loaders. This negates you needing feedline taps into the main matter/antimatter supply lines. If I read your comment right your thinking more like the current VLS tubes aboard naval ships....they come prepacked and loaded into the ships (can be reloaded at sea if necessary).
Earlier, I was stating that the Defiant had a smaller magazine, not necessarily a changeable one (which would require penetrations in the hull or a big pathway from a cargobay etc. for loading).
The ready loadout that I was mentioning would be similar to what you said about specific torps for a particular lancher, but it would involve loading individual torps into the magazine, not an entire quick change magazine. Basically, you don't have to configure the launcher or the magazine any differently, you only load up with whatever type of ordinance you want. This could allow engineers to perform reloads during operation by basically pulling torps from other launcher magazines.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
The DS9TM makes it seem that the newer Quantum kind is waaay better than the older Photon type and would be replacing the photons eventually fleetwide, but as of the start of hostilities with the Dominion, there were few overall torpedos in inventory and those were rationed to the ships in harm's way (Defiant)..... and bozos (Enterprise)guarding the Neutral zone!
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Probably more like a supplement to photons and not a direct replacement due to the manufacturing problems mentioned in the DS9TM. Inventories would stay low, and probably reserved for the ships like you mentioned above, until these problems were addressed.
Registered: Mar 1999
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