EMPLOYEE 2-4601 wrote:
So, does ortillery even need a forward observer? Or just the ship's Sensors? The LBB1 description looked far more fitting to low-mid TL ground-based indirect fire than to high-TL (TL10+) ortillery.
_________________________________________________________________
For
precision strikes, IMHO, yes, [no matter what version of Traveller you use].
_________________________________________________________________
Far Trader, Badbru, are correct, satellite/sensor imagery detection isn't the only thing that advances. Deception technology will have advances as well. Looks at the 1996 'Airwar' over Bosnia. Milosevic's boys camouflage techniques and the Balkan weather patterns made imagery a problem--thus the human element cannot be dismissed.
Weather also can play havoc on your sensors imagery, unless your target world has atmosphere.
Mal is correct on his answer of imagery times from taking the shot to analysis, to handing it off to those who will use it for ortillery purposes. Turn around time could be 1-6 hours, as we saw in Iraq-Gulf War I for mission sorties for Aircraft, some squadrons flying 4-6+ sorties a day in pre-groundwar phase [okay its not ortillery, but the satellite gurus traffic to the USAF/ USN flyers was about that speed]. And thats at TL-8/9.. higher tech, better & faster resolution I'd say.
As for defining ortillery...
there's
meson ortillery, and
rocket/ Gravity-solid shot ortillery. Personally, the latter version would rely on FO's, as your more precise, handing off to the man on the ground. Meson ortillery [pre Tne era warfare]well, heck, its a shipborne re-usable nuke.], isn't so precise, and the blast area is usually larger.
Can Anyone from MT/HT spell
Kamurinimur/Daguudashag? Glassed over 4 billion+ dead. Meson ortillery, courtesy of Lucan's 1122 Vengeance Fleet.
Jim_Hopper:
If it's infantry you're after, there are cluster munitions already available at TL-8 & 9. Putting something like the flechettes into a missile warhead for anti-personnel purposes, not a problem.
For hypothetical sake lets say, you have planet A, and you wish to control it/capture it/subdue it right?
And you know from spies, etc. that they have x-amount of troops. [a lot] More than you're willing to meet head on.
Your intel shows where their land forces are based, and you have decent imagery etc and grids to each. You have drop troops [TL-9+], and you wish to seize the starport and several airbases with these to "space-land" your main body forces..
Taking a page from the RC-Star Vikings..drop chaff and drop-missile pods before during, and after the drop troops deploy.
The pods burn up in re-entry, and the missiles parachute down where drop troop FO's/ or ships master gunners tracking them, tag them and rain them down on enemy troop bases--by now going out on all out alert and mustering up..just in tme for your flechette submunitions over their marshalling areas, motorpools..
Your meson Fo's paste the bunker systems of vehicles and key leaders..and kaboom..no armor opposition, and no one to lead the troops against you..
Now if this an airless world, and all the target stuff is underground, you'll need those mesons and human intel to hit where you need to. if its a world with a gaseos atmosphere say like Venus, you'll definitely need "eye-on" the objectives.
My .000000125Mcr worth, [inflation figured in]
