Chapter 146 Space Battleship Design II_2

Lin Sen: "Ultra-long-range sneak attacks, attack and then flee."

"Somewhat unscrupulous, but there's no other way. Offense far surpasses defense, so we have to use submarine-mode strategy."

"What about its weapons system?"

Chief Battleship Designer: "Even though it has no combat requirements, it still has the task of weapon testing."

"We have equipped it with nuclear-pumped X-ray laser weapons systems."

"The principle is to focus the gamma-ray energy produced by a nuclear explosion onto the working material of an X-ray laser, using the energy of the gamma rays to generate high-energy X-ray."

Lin Sen: "You've already successfully developed nuclear-pumped X-ray lasers? That's effectively directing the energy of a nuclear explosion, instantly melting or even vaporizing targets at ultra-long ranges."

Chief Battleship Designer: "In fact, we've successfully developed it a long time ago. Over the years, we've been committed to enhancing its power and reducing the divergence of the high-energy rays."

"Now its divergence is very small, and the effective attack range can even reach 0.1 astronomical units (nearly 40 times the distance from Earth to the Moon).

"With the continuous upgrading of new materials, its power has vast potential for improvement, which currently seems almost limitless."

In the original work, a single space battleship could destroy the surface of an entire planet, with unparalleled power. During this period, all interstellar warfare concepts revolved around 'offense is greater than defense, better to evade than to defend'."

Lin Sen: "Very good! However, I've noticed that in all your design plans, there seems to be no allocation for kinetic weapons, such as space missiles or high-speed projectiles accelerated by electromagnetic rails."

Chief Battleship Designer: "The design of space weapons indeed started with two branches: kinetic weapons and directed energy weapons."

"The mainstream view is that kinetic weapons should be used for close-range combat, while directed energy weapons should be used for long-range combat."

"Directed energy weapons include laser beams, high-energy particle beams, microwave beams, plasma beams, and even sound beams. Most of them attack at near-light speed, quickly burning and melting the defenses of the opposing battleships."

"Kinetic weapons do indeed possess greater attack power, but speed is their biggest bottleneck. For example, to achieve 60% of light speed with high-speed projectiles, the size of their launch wells would nearly equate to the size of the battleship itself.

"Moreover, such high-speed projectiles can easily be evaded by swiftly moving battleships at long ranges, as the battleships can detect these projectiles from a great distance."

"Therefore, unless it's within close-quarters combat range of the battleships, these kinetic weapons find it difficult to be effective.

"As for space missiles, the situation is similar. They too can be effective in close-range combat but are very easily detected. Once discovered, enemy battleships can quickly use secondary laser cannons to destroy them."

"So we believe that with the advancement of technology, kinetic weapons will soon become obsolete, and they take up too much volume in a battleship.

"Such a design is not worth the loss, unless the battlefield is at close ranges similar to that between Earth and the Moon.

"Future battleships are unlikely to engage in close combat, and if there is a need for melee, it will only be for defense within the motherport.

"However, if there is such a demand, it's better to just fix the defensive main gun bases in the Starport.

"And if it ever gets to that point, the battle situation would already be extremely dangerous. It's better to fight at a longer range and there's no need to waste precious battleship space."

Lin Sen: "Your philosophy is correct. What else is it equipped with?"

Chief Battleship Designer: "Finally, the battleship is also equipped with a certain industrial production capacity, with a simple industrial system."

"Most replacement parts for the battleship are manufactured using 3D printing technology, so important components can be maintained and repaired during a voyage."

"The environmental control and life support system are expected to last at least 30 years, and even if something goes wrong, with the energy the battleship carries, it can still return safely to the motherport from anywhere in the Solar System."

Lin Sen: "Have you consolidated resources, industry, weapons... and all other aspects onto a single battleship?"

"Why not follow the navy's approach with an aircraft carrier, frigates, destroyers, submarines, and comprehensive supply ships... All types of warships working together in a combined fleet?"

Chief Battleship Designer: "Indeed, a combined fleet is the optimal strategy for naval vessels. You can't let a single battleship take on too many roles; doing so would reduce its combat effectiveness."

"But space battleships are different. They need to stay deployed for extensive periods because warfare in space can be very prolonged, and they can't return to the motherport often. So, they won't have resource transport ships, and if there's a malfunction, they have to be able to repair it themselves."

"With the current warfare situation in mind, battle ships now have relatively weak defensive capabilities. As soon as they're targeted, attacks arrive at the speed of light, and the ship's defenses can't withstand such strikes."

"If escort ships were used, they would need to match the speed and maneuverability of the main battleship, but escort ships simply can't keep up with those demands in terms of resources. And with the combat distances in space warfare being so vast, escort ships don't really make much sense."

"At most, battleships might carry some small-scale war and resource collection platforms to execute various other tasks."

Lin Sen: "Excellent, your design fully meets my requirements and is far better than what I imagined."

"But future battleships will need diversity. You must also develop some close-combat battleships primarily armed with kinetic weapons."

"Does this battleship have a name yet?"

Chief Battleship Designer: "We wanted you to name it!"

Lin Sen: "'Hou Yi' will be its name, after the archer who shot down suns to save the people."

"The Trisolarans are like a scorching 'Sun' looming over our heads, and likewise, the three scorching suns of Trisolaris need to be shot down."

"Future battleships of the same class will be known as 'Hou Yi' class."

The 'Hou Yi' class battleship is a prototype warship and also humanity's first battleship, symbolizing the beginning of humanity's conquest of the sea of stars. The significance of the 'Hou Yi' class battleship goes far beyond its practical use.

Lin Sen said, "'Hou Yi' class battleship—how long is the estimated construction period? How is the construction of the Lunar Spaceport coming along?"

Chief Battleship Designer: "Construction of the 'Hou Yi' class battleship will start next year, with an estimated building period of two and a half years, followed by six months of sea trials before being delivered to the Space Force."

"The Lunar Space Motherport has yet to be completed, with the space dock expected to be finished within half a year."

"Space battleship construction is a system engineering project. Without solving every industrial shortcoming, it is impossible to achieve successful construction. Over the past few years, a massive influx of talent from Earth to the Moon has resulted in rapid scientific and technological progress on the Moon."

"Construction of the space dock has been underway for a year and a half now, and the major structural framework is already complete. At this moment, there are over ten thousand space construction workers working meticulously and orderly on the construction of the space dock."

"Next year, as the battleship is being constructed, I will redesign our next-class battleship based on problems encountered and feedback. That will be our first battleship truly equipped with military strike capabilities."

"The next class of battleship will have a similar outer design to the 'Hou Yi' class, but there will be substantial changes inside. We currently have only a preliminary design concept."

"Mr. Lin Sen, please name it as well!"

Lin Sen said, "'Divine Bow' it shall be, the weapon of Hou Yi... Divine Bow."

PS: Regarding the use of small boats to counteract heavy cannons, is aiming with turrets or aiming with the ship's body better?

The author's view is that it depends on the specific combat philosophy. In space, if ships are lined up like sitting ducks, they lack stability and are better off engaging from a distance with small boats against heavy cannons, hitting and then retreating.