Archives

Title Posted
Grav lance Oct 2002
Missile orientation during flight Oct 2002
Missile pods: where are they tractored? Oct 2002
Missile pods as strap-on weapons? Oct 2002
Missile pod launchers Oct 2002
Missile pods: how well can you fit pods/box launchers on the exterior of a hull? Oct 2002
VLS cells for light units Oct 2002
Missile power systems Oct 2002
What happened to Erewhon's League Membership? Oct 2002
How do the Sollies regard the Havenite War? Oct 2002

Filters

Narrow the posts above by selecting a series or specifying a keyword.

Options

Pearls of Weber

A collection of posts by David Weber containing background information for his stories, collected and generously made available Joe Buckley.

Asymmetrical broadsides

  • Series: Honorverse
  • Date: October 22, 2002

Why Are Starships Symmetrical? The question of why ships aren't designed with separate broadsides optimized for different types of combat -- that is, missile-range combat as opposed to energy-range combat -- has emerged once again. Do you want to comment on this one at all?

 

Symmetrical Broadsides. No, I don't want to comment on this. I've done it before, and the statements I made then still apply. Indeed, they've become even more relevant in an era in which broadside missile tubes are becoming less and less significant for major combatants and the need for missile defenses has never been greater. Asymmetrical broadsides would be a bad idea.