Adventure: Hitler Must Die!

[BetterThanLife]

Well according to NASA's terminal velocity calculator, a streamlined projectile dropped from geosynchronous orbit (36,000km) has a terminal velocity of about Mach 22 (based on speed of sound at sea level). ICBM don't get anywhere near that high. And since we are dealing with acceleration of 9.8m/s^2 a little altitude translates into lots of speed. And there is nothing stopping you from strapping an engine to it. (Or even a warhead for that matter.)

I didn't know WWII torpedoes had shaped charges. (AFAIK they didn't but the Mk-46 does.)

And which of the aircraft I listed can't carry either a Tomahawk, a Mk46 or a 2000 lb laser guided bomb? (Well the Bear would have to carry Russian equivalent.) In fact even if they don't routinely carry a Tomahawk, that doesn't mean they couldn't. (I have seen F-15's carry 2 Tomahawk ALCM.)

Further your protest about carrying Tomahawk, doesn't address the fact that the armor from the top was definitely weaker than from the side. Also the armor below the waterline was weaker than the main armor belt. Because the main armor belt is where Battleships were traditionally hit.

The POW and the Arizona were both sunk by a freak hit where the bomb went down the stack. (And broke their backs.) The Tirpitz would suffer the same fate and a guided weapon can intentionally go down the stack.

However none of this helps the defense of a bunker complex. Which is still going to be a joke for TL12 Mercenaries to take. Hitler isn't hiding on the Tirpitz. He is about 50% likely to be at Bertchesgarten in early 1944. And kinetic, Laser and Missile strikes could easily seal all the entrances where the Mercs aren't breaching (if nothing else) and suppress any AAA, and destroy any reinforcements attempting to relieve the bunker's defenders.

The defenders in the bunker are firing blind, yet the attackers can easily see. Unlike Panzerfauts, which need a clear backblast area, RAM grenades don't and have more penetration than the Panzerfausts. (And because of the attackers' vision capabilities could be put through firing slits. PGMP12's make flamethrowers look like popguns and would also do a good job of clearing strong points. Add in the element of surprise and, even without resorting to chemical agents more serious than smoke, clearing the entire facility could be handled within a couple of hours. The only thing that would slow them down is the size of the facility.

 

[mbrinkhues]

Your opinion. Mine is different. Since we can't check them your TL12 troops succeed and mine get slaughtered by Elite Waffen-SS soldiers.

As for the T-Hawk: Except your generic bomber NONE of the aircrafts mentioned is normally matched with ALCMs.

 

[BetterThanLife]

Actually of the three planes I actually identified, the Bear routinely was equipped for carrying ALCM. While the normal load out for a P3 and a Nimrod is Torpedoes, there is nothing physically stopping either the P3 or the Nimrod from carrying Tomahawk. (Though they don't routinely do so.) Just like there is nothing actually stopping a VLS Ticonderoga from carrying 60 Tomahawks, and then firing all of them within 2 minutes. It just isn't done. I would actually suggest this is more because of availability than capability.

But again, that is neither here not there, and has nothing to do with an assault on a bunker.

Since you don't seem to understand the actual energy delivered by a kinetic strike, will you agree that a Mercenary Cruiser can at least seal the entrances to a bunker complex, at least in the short term, with that strike? (Preventing people from escaping and others from getting in.)

Since it is January, exhaust, air vents and entrances should be fairly easy to determine using TL8 thermographic sensors. (Forget about TL12 sensors.) Especially at night, when the entire city is "blacked out." Locating the AAA gunners in January (the guns and crews are exposed to the weather) should also be fairly simple before even beginning the approach. Crossing the engagement envelope of AAA weapons at Mach 2+ should render the majority of the AAA weapons useless except at the actual LZ. (Mostly because of speed, but also because the gunners aren't trained to look for or fire on something that fast. By the time they can react to the assault boats they are already out of the engagement window. Remember no Radar warning, on a steep high velocity approach under the cover of darkness, with very accurate AAA suppressive fire. Besides the AAA is going to be firing at the bombers dropping all that ordinance and blowing the crap out of the place, even though they can't see the bombers. (Dropping it from a bit out of range.) Watching for craft landing during an air raid, in the middle of a city or in the Bavarian Mountains, (not at an airfield) is not something that would be expected by even the most elite defenders. Hell in 1944 it wasn't possible to land a Paratrooper force during an air raid. Also remember that without radar warning an aircraft flying supersonic gives you no warning until it is already past you.

Your elite troopers are going to be hunkered down, because of the air raid and are not going to be expecting a commando raid in the middle of Germany during an air raid. Teh certainly aren't going to be expecting one that can see them in situations where they can't see the enemy. (If they are that clairvoyant, then they wouldn't have lost the war.)

 

[mbrinkhues]

BTL:

My previous mail was End of Discussion for me. Our opinions and numbers are too different. "Can do" does not equal "will do/do routinely", we are still using different bunkers since you insist on the (less likely) Berghof while I use the (more likely) Wolfsschanze (where the 1944 assasination attempt happened), we disagree about what a kinetic strike can do etc.

EOD

 

[Coality]

Just send in the Zho in the 1920's to heal the mentally ill son of an Austrian painter.

atpollard FTW