Progress Report
Here's the current version of the assault capsule, with some analysis of the design. I'd like to generate some more discussion before I move on to the next stage.
The cost of a .5 Td sperical hull with armor value of 20 is Cr 24,990.
I've built a battery power supply that powers all systems for 1 hour, with .048 MW left over, so actual life is a little over an hour depending on how much the grav drives are stressed.
I used a hand computer (lifted intact from the IE) and an inertial locator (also straight from IE) for guidance, figuring the system would be set to maneuver automatically to a pre-determined LZ.
Since the hand computer has the equival;ent of a model 1 in computing power (per the IE description), the control requirements dropped to just one computer linked control panel.
I removed the inertial compensators but kept basic environment in the capsule.
There is one "roomy" passenger position (4 kl) and 2.55 kl of extra cargo space. However, I capped total weight at 1.5 Mg so the total weight of the passenger and gear cannot exceed .8641 Mg without decreasing performance. That equates to 1905.014 lbs so I think there is enough of a weight allowance there. Users would probably reach the weight limit before the cube limit, and available space always gets used so the capsules may end up being a cache with extra battery packs for the BD, extra ammo, and other supplies.
Total cost is Cr 42,858. I was trying to get it down to the Cr 25,000 area but the hull alone already had me at that price. The grav drive costs Cr 9,000 and provides 2G of thrust.
Given the cost and the capability of this system, I'd see it being re-used as much as possible. Once the trooper reaches the ground, he could send the capsule back to the ship or the capsules could be locked and retained for MEDEVAC if needed. Of course, all returning capsules would have to be subjected to a densitometer scan before recovery to ensure that there were no "presents" put aboard. If the capsule carries more extra supplies than the trooper can carry, he would have to remove them and establish a cache before hitting the 'return' button.
Imperial units would only re-use the capsules a set number of times for safety reasons (10? 20?), but companies like Instellarms would probably refurbish and sell models that had been used more times for mercenary and planetary force markets.
If this looks like a workable system, I'll start on the standard re-entry capsule (lighter armor version used for training and for assaults on low-tech or low-threat worlds), high-survivability (heavier armor and ECM package), and a civilian lifeboat version (I think this will carry multiple passengers, at least 3 and maybe 4).
After that I'll work out the launcher details.
