Possible Roles For Fighters

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Considering how wonky AI can get... I think it's pretty damned smart to limit it .

[Aaron]

There's no need to have an AI for the torpedo, if you want to mount it on a fighter the copilot/WO can guide it using the crafts sensors. Akin to Semi-Active Radar Homing or laser guidance today, the only reason why the first is a limitation today is because the radar is in the aircrafts nose. With all-round coverage on a SF fighter the torpedoes can be guided by the launch craft and leave it free to manoeuvre.

[SomosFuga]

We're not debating whether SF actually WOULD do it

We're not? Then we're discussing the use of fighters in which fleet?

We use SF because is the one we know better but i think we are talking about ST universe not just SF.

[Sionnach Glic]

Why couldn't they just stick a simple sensor unit on the torp, then set it up so that it will guide the torp into whatever target the pilot aims at? Given the advances in tech, I doubt this'd be particularly hard to do.

[Aaron]

Why couldn't they just stick a simple sensor unit on the torp, then set it up so that it will guide the torp into whatever target the pilot aims at? Given the advances in tech, I doubt this'd be particularly hard to do.

It shouldn't be. Some of our first guided missiles where controlled by nose camera, flares or radio beacon. No reason at all why it couldn't be done in ST except writer laziness.

[Sonic Glitch]

Why couldn't they just stick a simple sensor unit on the torp, then set it up so that it will guide the torp into whatever target the pilot aims at? Given the advances in tech, I doubt this'd be particularly hard to do.

I believe in ST VI they did just that didn't they?

[stitch626]

Torps already have guidance systems. The only change made to the torp in STXI was to allow the guidance system o track the ionized gas.

[Coalition]

Why couldn't they just stick a simple sensor unit on the torp, then set it up so that it will guide the torp into whatever target the pilot aims at? Given the advances in tech, I doubt this'd be particularly hard to do.

Given that space is really big, you'd need a sensor on the nose of a torp. Heck, ST6 had them replace the torp's sensor with a modified gas sensor package to kill Chang's cloaked BoP.

It shouldn't be. Some of our first guided missiles where controlled by nose camera, flares or radio beacon. No reason at all why it couldn't be done in ST except writer laziness.

They've had even more unusal guidance systems proposed and tested too:
http://electronicdesign.com/Globals/Pla ... /4964.html

[Aaron]

Yeah, I read about the Pigeon project before.

[Deepcrush]

Seems like this topic has about fallen out.

[SomosFuga]

But in order for said fighter to get off a reliable shot, it would have to get in close. Well within range of the cap ships weapons and withstand withering fire.

No matter what you do, thats going to happen. Any cap ship will out range the fire power of a fighter. Thats just fact. So, you might as well do it with something that can hurt the cap ship back. Plus, the fighters shouldn't be attacking until they're at point blank range. They should use their mother ship for cover or spread out and swarm the enemy ship. Filling the sky with small targets.

People here are still trying to find a bloodless way to make them uber weapons. That will never happen. The fighters are always going to take heavy losses in exchange for being effective in battle. That's all there is too it.

Unless you can make the fighter much more resistant. A powerfull enough shielding able to take several hits from a capital ship heavy weaponry it's unlikely, the option is of course ablative armour, if Janeway's shuttle (10m long) could take all that fire from those klingon cruisers a fighter like an armoured Peregrine must be able to do the same.

[Reliant121]

Keep in mind that was an alternate timeline, we have no idea how the balance of technological power was in that period. Those Klingon battlecruisers could well have been much older models, after all he was a bit of a rogue operative if I remember correctly.

[Sionnach Glic]

Unless you can make the fighter much more resistant. A powerfull enough shielding able to take several hits from a capital ship heavy weaponry it's unlikely, the option is of course ablative armour, if Janeway's shuttle (10m long) could take all that fire from those klingon cruisers a fighter like an armoured Peregrine must be able to do the same.

That would make the ships far too expensive to be cost-effective. Best to just have them lightly armoured and shielded, and have them use friendly capships for cover.

[Reliant121]

People seem to think that casualties cant be existent or have to be really low. It isn't going to happen. Casualties will be high, no matter what you do. Unless you make them mini-uberships. It was precisely the same in world war II, the casualties of fighters were monumentally high. It's going to be the same here, just on a much bigger scale since there is a possibility of having far more carriers in a fleet.

[Coalition]

Unless you can make the fighter much more resistant. A powerfull enough shielding able to take several hits from a capital ship heavy weaponry it's unlikely, the option is of course ablative armour, if Janeway's shuttle (10m long) could take all that fire from those klingon cruisers a fighter like an armoured Peregrine must be able to do the same.

If you can put the super armor on a fighter, why can't you put the same armor on a ship?

When comparing fighters to ships, let's try to keep the differences to a minimum. Same tech base, same/equivalent weaponry, shields, protection, training, etc.

The best use for fighters would be long-range firepower for a fleet command ship, so it can contribute to the battle without getting near enemy ships.