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Keyhole platform survivability Nov 2006
Coursers and the Fall of Kontovar Oct 2006
The nature of the hradani and the Rage Oct 2006
Survival of the Church of Humanity Unchained Sep 2006
Relationships between universes Sep 2006
Misconceptions about the League Aug 2006
Stability of the Republic of Haven and system secession Jul 2006
FTL fire control communication lag May 2006
Expanding upon the Eridani Edict Dec 2005
Manticore's relationship with Beowulf Dec 2005

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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.