Re: [DS] Heavy Weapon Teams [SG] Laser weapons

Roger Books wrote:

>>For artillery rounds, not true - at least not with current Stealth
>>tech.
> 
>That's odd.  It seams like if	you use a discardable sabot you could
>use whatever shapes and coatings on the round you wanted.  

You could use a discarding sabot provided that it doesn't reduce the
payload too much and that its separation doesn't disturb the path of
the round too much. This could allow special stealth coatings to
survive the launch.

The shape of the round is only really important in the trajectory -
*after* you've discarded the sabot. Stealth shapes tend to give poor
aerodynamic properties unless combined with advanced control and
maneuver systems. A stealth aircraft has such systems, but it is hard
to fit them into an artillery round without reducing the payload
drastically. It's no good to fire a stealthed round if it can't hurt
the target when it arrives.

>Are artillery rounds spin stabilized?

Most are; the main exception are mortar grenades (since the mortars
usually aren't rifled, so they don't have anything to make the rounds
spin). 

Fins are large and heavy (which either decreases the gun's range or the
round's payload), increase the drag (which also decreases the range),
and tend to increase the radar cross-section from angles other than
straight ahead. An artillery round is rather less able than an aircraft
to maintain the same attitude to potential observers throughout its
flight path.

Regards,

Oerjan Ohlson
oerjan.ohlson@telia.com

"Life is like a sewer.
What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."