The fly in the ointment of the rail gun theory is the assumption that a
stealthy object is undetectable. The only reason low observable weapons such
as cruise missiles are such a serious problem is that the circular shape of
the planet prevents the earliest detection at the radar horizon of the
defending vessel, thus not much time to find, ID and respond. There are no
cloaking devices these days... In space there is not horizon like this. So my
detection possibility starts a long way out. Even if my detection
possibibility is low say 0.001 then we have to look at my sensor sweep rate
and what I saw from your target. The Rail weapon will generate heat, I WILL
know when it is firing that much mass and the rounds will have an initial IR
signature. Therefore, I see them or infer their existance at the initial phase
where my maneuvering is the most effective. I just avoided the death dart
cloud altogether or I clear a hole in it with a nuke. Since your rail weapons
have a seeker head, I'll launch my rail guns with balloons that expand into
the size of my ship.... great heavens there's a lot of decoys for your small
warheads to discriminate from. This is not to say the rail guns are a bad
idea, just far more effective at close range.
> This is not to say the rail guns are a
Well, that goes for just about any weapon operating in Space.;-)
As far as Stealth vs. Cloaking the RAM on the Rail rounds serve to minimize
the radar return until it's too late to effectively maneuver
away. Also, if my understanding of railguns in a non-atmospheric
setting is correct, There is little if any IR flare at launch(probably less
waste heat than the launching vessel) There is no such thing as a perfect
weapon (sob!) With lasers you spritz aerosol and roll ship to spread the heat
energy, with Particle beams you use Sandcasters and ablative armor, with
missiles you shoot 'em
down and Jam-Jam-Jam. nukes lose their Shockwave in space so their
effectiveness is severely hampered (after all even now almost every bit of
sophisticated military equipment is EMP hardened) Bomb pumped laser missiles
are nifty but can suffer from the drawbacks of Missiles AND lasers. I think
the reason I like the "stealthy thrown rock" weapon boils down to personal
taste. I like a hard kill. An impact from a fractional C penetrator would be
measured in miilions of Joules of energy. Even a graze would impart a
staggering amount of
structural damage to a target-possibly distorting the hull bracings
(assuming you aren't using cast hulls;-)) and causing shock damage to
secondary systems throughout the target vessel as well as slapping them off
course. An interesting read on space combat can be read in Larry Niven's
"Protector" book where Brennan duels the Pak scouts. He actually kills the
scouts with copper jacketed slugs from a rifle. (OK a Slight stretch but well
worth the read) Lasers figure prominently in the battle and take days and days
to be effective (it is an STL battle over the course of several months)