RE: To Grav or not to Grav?

--- Michael Brown <mwbrown@veriomail.com> wrote:
> I had the same train of thought a while back as I
> took a good hard look at the > Traveller universe. 
The largest constraint on > operations is food
distribution  > and crew rest.	Dispersion during 

Modifying food to all CLI supplies, yes.  Water will
be a bigger problem than food.	You can feed a tank
crew for several days off of one case of MREs.

movement and > concentration for action are the 
> rule of the day.  All operations take on the aspects
> of  Deep Battle, and	> non-orbital fire support can
become almost > meaningless.  

I'd argue with that--since you have to drop down to a
managable speed and a deck-hugging altitude to
maneuver tactically, then if your arty can keep up
they can contribute, most especially to digging out
dug-in troops.

If I can move 100 kph  > in VTOL mode and have decent
communications the > operational envelope becomes so 

Yeah, the commo is the sine qua non of this sort of
operation.  Presumably disposable commo drones and
satellites will keep messages going.  And with modern
Situational Awareness tools like FBCB2 (presumably
with another 200 years of development they might get
it to work under field conditions) with expert systems
(or even full AIs) as the digital "fourth crewman"[1]
it will just be that much easier for every vehicle to
have a complete up-to-date picture of the battlefield.

> huge that only key points (strategic objectives) are
> defended.  All other	> points can and will be
bypassed.  Take a good look > at Attack helicopter 
> operations and then give them the ability to hold
> ground.

And without the severe range limitations.  This also
plays off of the other reality of colonial warfare
which is that generally only small forces are
involved.  Tiny, high tech professional forces will be
the deciding factor--mass armies won't be able to
train the specialists needed.  Afterall, to manhandle
a grav tank will take practically as much expertise as
driving a space fighter.  

John
[1]Driver, Gunner, TC.	You won't need more and can
rarely make do with less on a modern battlefield.

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Find the one for you at Yahoo! Personals