PsyWraith wrote in reply to djwj:
> > We know the Kra'Vak use HKPs (railgins) but do they
DFFG)?
> Actually, the DSII hyper-kinetic penetrators (HKPs) are not railguns
In other words, the HKP is the ultimate development of today's discarding
sabot rod penetrators. Most modern tanks use them for
anti-tank work; we make smaller ones for the Bofors 40mm guns, etc.
They're not exactly experimental any longer - no more than any
relatively new weapon is, that is :-/
Later,
> PsyWraith wrote in reply to djwj:
Just to set the record straight, the HKP was "inspired" by the hypervelocity
antitank guns in one of the Slammers books (The Warrior, IIRC); in the book
they used a tiny plasma burst rather than a chem explosive, to propel a small
calibre osmium round that penetrated and
killed with KE alone. Don't know how practical this is/would be, but it
sounded a cool idea so it went into the game!! :-)
> On Wed, Jun 02, 1999 at 10:29:58PM +0100, Ground Zero Games wrote:
I think that was "The Forlorn Hope" -- actually a non-Slammers
book, but set in the same universe.
> Jon (GZG) wrote:
And Drake was inspired by the description of solid rod penetrators all ready
in existence at the time of his writing. While "osmium" and "plasma" bursts
are the SF parts, the rest is a reasonable description of a rod penetrator
projectile being fired. So even though fictional, it's based on fact. So
PsyWraith and Oerjan are quite correct, just one step out.
Reality APFSDS (solid rod penetrator) fictionalised to David Drake's "Warrior"
Osmium small calibre round propelled by plasma burst went into game as Jon's
DSII HKP (hyperkinetic penetrator)
So there we are, the steps from APFSDS to HKP.
> >In other words, the HKP is the ultimate development of today's
Just in case anyone is interested, a government contractor in Virginia is
working on (or was, the last time I tried to sell them something a few months
ago) AP sabot.50 cal rounds. They were having a problem with funding cycles
when last I heard, but didn't see any serious technical problems.
> On Wed, Jun 02, 1999 at 10:29:58PM +0100, Ground Zero Games wrote:
No, it wasn't, because I've never read Forlorn Hope - it is one Drake
book
I've been unable to find. Anyone got a copy to trade? :-)