Re: How long can your fleet endure?

Richard Johnson writes:
> 	[About resupply during Carrier operations]

About resupply in Traveller Naval Operations:

This would be a major problem in extended naval operations ranging over
a Sector or more. It is alleviated somewhat by the use of pure-energy
weapons whose only reqirements are power from the powerplant (and in some
cases: hydrogen from the tanks). Hydrogen is free for taking at your
friendly neighbourhood gasgiant (in most cases).
The trouble is the material munitions (missiles, sandcannisters etc).
Those weapons is popular because they give more "Bang for the MegaWatts"
Their disadvantage is their limited ammo and the need to bring extra ammo
along. Supposedly on large, armored cargoships.
Other material things a fleet will need is spareparts, spare crew and
recharges for the life-support systems. Some of this can be carried on
the warships but the main part of the supplys will be stored on supplyships.
The supplyships will either follow the fleet or travel between it and a source
of supply (Naval Depot or Industrial world with TL 14+ can supply everything
a fleet need (except perhaps life-support recharges) but these can be found
on any Agricultural world regardless of TL).
If the supplyships are to follow the fleet there have to be a large number
of them to guarantee that the supplys will last until the next supplyrun
to a planet. This large number of ships is a tempting target and must be
protected.
If the method of continous supplys are adopted the major problem involves
finding the fleet. Information flows with the same speed as the fleet moves
(1 jump per week) so when the supplyships arrive they might find that the
fleet has been chased away and that the enemy now holds that system.
One approach to this problem is using predesignated meetingpoints that the
fleet will jump to to be supplyed. These points might not even be in systems,
they might just be coordinates in deep space.

These problems with supply will lead to a preferrence for pure energy weapons
(Lasers, PA's, Fusionguns, Plasmaguns, Mesonguns, Disintegrators, Repulsors
and all kinds of screens) in forces that are not geared towards pure defence-
missions. Likewise a planetary invasion force will equipp themselves with
as big proportion of laser and enery weapons and possible. The troops will
have lasers, FGMPs and PGMPs, and the vehicles will only use munitionusing
weapons in specific circumstances. (VRF GaussGuns).
The planetary defenders, on the other hand, may defend with every kind of
weapon imaginable: missiles, artillery, massdrivers, rocketlaunchers etc
*in addition* to the normal spectrum of weapons.

Planetary invasions are even more supplyconsuming than "pure" space battles.
There is a need for troops, landingcrafts, combat vehicles, recon drones,
decoys, weapons for the troops, ammo for all kinds of weapons, bombs for
defence supression, food for the troops, etc etc.
All this will require continous supplymission out of the system. Harrased
by hiding SDB's and Commerse Raiders and disturbed by the largescale fighting
that might still go on in the subsector.

All this condenses to: It's easier to defend than to attack.
The defender might have large stashes of supplys hidden beforehand in systems
and deep space while the attacker must bring everything with him. In any case
the defender will have shorter supplyruns than the attacker.
In the case of planetary sieges and invasions this advantage for the defender
is even more pronounced and will in some cases outweigh the tactical advantage
of "holding the high ground" that the attacker has.

> 	The AOEs were huge. THe main deck was at about the same level
> 	as the hanger deck, which made unrep a little easier. They were
> 	almost as long as the carrier. There were at least two fuel lines
> 	and four cargo lines between ships.  The AOE also had a helicopter
> 	pad aft and a hanger for two CH-46s (I'm not sure about the type,
> 	it had two rotors fore & aft). The helicopters would take the light
> 	stuff to the flight deck.

Supplyships will probably be very large. 50 000 tons and larger. If the fleet
is forced to bring it's own fuel it would also contain several 1 000 000 tons
fleet tankers. Other supplyships that can be found in a fleet are big refinerys
that produces pure fuel for those ships that lack their own plants, And also
a mobile repaircenter of 500 000 tons that provides extra repair facilies.

> 	Mostly we took on bombs. After 2+ hours there would be bombs and
> 	bomb finn pallets everywhere; in the magazines (full), the mess decks,
> 	the hanger deck, and the starboard side of the island on the
> 	roof.

I would imagine that a IMC Landingship or a IN Destroyer also would
look something like that at the start of a long mission. All available
space occupied by supplys. Ammo, spareparts and Liquid Oxygen bottles stacked
in all passageways, recreation rooms, and even in the cabins.

"Sarge, do I really have to have 200 kg of explosives stored under my bed?" :-)

- -bertil-
- --
Bertil K K Jonell @ Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg
NET: [email removed]
VOICE: [phone removed] / +46 300 61004     "Don't worry,I've got Pilot-7"
[address removed]                             (Famous last words)
"And so for more than a decade Tiamat had been observing Lucifer with
every possible kind of instrumentation" A.C.Clarke "2061: Odyssey Three"

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