Some of you may recall my article to TML nightly some weeks ago on the
component parts that constitute a Jump Drive. I have changed certain things
in this version of the article: all volumes are in kilolitres, the cost of
the high-yield power plant has been increased to reflect that of normal power
plants (necessitating a decrease in the cost of energy sinks), and the weight
of the components is now specified. The breakdown of the jump drive into
components is based on DGP's Starship Operations Manual, vol. 1.
A Jump Drive is composed of a:
Jump Governor - a dedicated computer expert system and accompanying connections.
The governor finely regulates the transfer of energy from the Jump Power Plant
to the Energy Sinks, and from the Energy Sinks to the Lanthanum Hull Grid. The
size of the governor is dependent only on ship size, not jump performance.
Lanthanum Hull Grid - a grid of Lanthanum wires implanted in the outer layer of
the ship's hull, spaced at about 1 meter intervals. For design purposes, the
grid is assumed to occupy no volume (it displaces part of the hull armor), no
weight (it weighs as much as the armor it displaces), and its cost is computed
as Cr1,480 times the total ship volume in kilolitres. The cost of the grid is
dependent only on ship size, not jump performance. Installation of a Lanthanum
grid does not alter the hull armor rating.
Energy Sinks - extremely efficient sinks of energy. These accumulate the energy
produced by the Jump Power Plant, to later release it rapidly into the hull grid
during the jump process. The sinks hold 650 MW per kilolitre of sink. 20% of
the energy is released gradually to 'warm up' the jump grid, then the remaining
80% is dumped into the grid to enter jump. According to Book 5: High Guard, it
is possible to install additional energy sinks (e.g. for a Black Globe). These
additional energy sinks cost Cr296,000 per kilolitre, but are otherwise the
same as Jump Drive energy sinks.
Jump Power Plant - a fusion power plant tuned for maximum energy production, at
the expense of inefficient fuel use. I have specified 3 mton/kl as a nice
average weight for such a power plant, which will produce the same total Jump
Drive weight as in the Referee's Manual.
Jump Drive Component Table
Percent of Hull
Component________________________Volume_Occupied____Weight_____Cost(Cr/kl)
Jump Governor 1% 2 mton/kl 74,000
Lathanum Hull Grid --* --** 1,480***
Energy Sinks 0.5% X Jump # 1 mton/kl 245,000
Jump Power Plant/Hull Radiators 0.5% X Jump # 3 mton/kl 200,000
Weight: stated as metric tons per kilolitre of component.
Cost: stated as credits per kilolitre of component, except for the Lanthanum
Hull Grid (see the ***).
*the Lanthanum Hull Grid has no effective displacement because it is assumed
that the grid is implanted in the outer hull.
**the Lanthanum Hull Grid has no effective weight because it is assumed to
have the same weight as the hull armor it displaces.
***the cost of the Lanthanum Hull Grid is computed as Cr1,480 per kl of total
ship volume.
e.g. 1. a UCP 100 Starship has a Jump-2 drive. This can be broken down into:
Component________________________Volume______Weight_____Price(Cr)
Jump Governor 13.5 kl 27 mtons 999,000
Lanthanum Hull Grid -- -- 1,998,000
Energy Sinks 13.5 kl 13.5 mtons 3,307,500
Jump_Power_Plant/Hull_Radiators__13.5 kl___40.5 mtons___2,700,000
Total Jump Drive 40.5 kl 81 mtons 9,004,500
In other words, exactly the same total displacement and weight, and essentially
the same cost as stated in the Referee's Manual! (No accident, of course).
e.g. 2. a UCP 400 non-Starship has a Lanthanum Hull Grid installed. This will
add Cr7,992,000 to the total cost of the vessel. Compare this to the cost of
the SDB on p. 85 of the Imperial Encyclopedia. This will add 2.1% to the cost
of the vessel (factoring in the 20% discount for a standard design). Note
that the vessel is still considered a non-Starship, because it is still
dependent on its jump shuttle to enter jump (see Seeker Gaming System's 'System
Defense Boat & Jump Shuttle' deckplans for the stats for the jump shuttle.
Perhaps the more important change is that in Space Combat. Since the effect
Jump -n on the damage tables can be attributed to damage to the Lanthanum hull
grid (albeit damage so extensive that this result is located on the Interior
Explosion chart), the above mentioned SDB can now suffer this damage in combat.
This effect is difficult to attain, so that the Battle Rider concept still
makes sense. See Traveller's Digest #16, pp. 42-43 for a more extensive
discussion of this.
e.g. 3. The above mentioned UCP 400 SDB is normally capable of Jump-1 when
mated with its Jump Shuttle. In combat, the SDB suffers the result Jump -1.
The SDB/Shuttle Combination can no longer jump together. Of course, the
Jump Shuttle can still mate with another, undamaged, SDB, or jump by itself.
Damage to the SDB results in no reduction in performance for the jump
shuttle.
As an interesting side note, it is possible to determine that the energy
required to enter jump is 2.6 MW X Jump # per kl of vessel (see DGP's Starship
Operations Manual, vol. 1, p. 13, and the Referee's Manual, p. 95).
Suggestions for the future: those of you who like this breakdown of the Jump
Drive into components may want to ponder the following ideas: scrapping the
3 mton/kl for Jump Drive power plant and using the stats for normal power plants
in the Referee's Manual; using the superior performance of higher-tech power
plants to figure out the relative 'charge up' times to enter jump (i.e. a TL 15
[address removed]
altering the hull armor rating of a vessel with a Lanthanum grid; determining
the weight and volume of a Lanthanum grid; and other things I hope to address
in a future article.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Lewis Taylor Goss