The further and continuing adventures of the girl who sat in the back of your homeroom, reading and daydreaming.
Monday, August 01, 2011
Space Marines?
Suborbital Semper Fi -- "Project Hot Eagle. " It seems the USMC has space travel plans of their own. A better use for my Defense dollar, I can hardly conceive.
Sounds more like a job for the DC-X, which showed promise until it was killed. Too much promise? Death from way, way above. When it absolutely positively has to be destroyed in less than an hour.
An old concept. An artist's rendition appeared in Aviation Leak in the late 70's of a MUCH bigger version of the sub-orbital troop transport concept, as proposed by MDAC. The Mac-Dac version was the larger predecessor (conceptually) of the DCX, and would have been capable of a vertical landing, thus not requiring a landing strip (as this newest concept seems to require), and it would have transported 100 fully armed troops to anywhere on the planet in 45 minutes.
And the launch platform? Well, the artist's drawing showed this sub-orbital troop transport/launch vehicle (which was not small), sitting on the back end of one of our larger nuclear aircraft cariers.
Gave me a new perspective of the phrase "Projection of Force".
While there might be times when getting one squad of marines someplace is important enough to use such an expensive mode of transport, I would also like to see sub-orbital transports available for commercial use.
I would too, but sadly, as long as there are religious fanatics and other nutcases who like to blow stuff up, commercial sub-orbitals will never happen, because they are indistinguishable from an incoming ICBM. I'm not sure even the most sophisticated IFF system could guarantee against a trojan ICBM.
If a major power (*cough*theUSofA*cough*) had a fully-functional missile defense system, and it were tied in with real-time commercial launch tracking, and there was a world-wide protocol against in-flight direction changes, and said protocol allowed blowing errant sub-orbitals out of the sky, it might be possible, but not before.
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Sea, Land, Air and now Space. Doesn't matter where, it's still just Marines. Kicking ass and blowing stuff up.
ReplyDeleteThe USMC. When it absolutely, positively has to be destroyed in hours.
ReplyDeleteSemper Fi guys.
First deployed vessel damn well better be name the USS Roger Young.
ReplyDeleteAnd anyone named Rico has an inside track to deployment.
No, it should be named USS Heinlein.
ReplyDeleteI think they're gonna need a bigger boat...
ReplyDeleteSounds more like a job for the DC-X, which showed promise until it was killed. Too much promise?
ReplyDeleteDeath from way, way above. When it absolutely positively has to be destroyed in less than an hour.
An old concept. An artist's rendition appeared in Aviation Leak in the late 70's of a MUCH bigger version of the sub-orbital troop transport concept, as proposed by MDAC. The Mac-Dac version was the larger predecessor (conceptually) of the DCX, and would have been capable of a vertical landing, thus not requiring a landing strip (as this newest concept seems to require), and it would have transported 100 fully armed troops to anywhere on the planet in 45 minutes.
ReplyDeleteAnd the launch platform? Well, the artist's drawing showed this sub-orbital troop transport/launch vehicle (which was not small), sitting on the back end of one of our larger nuclear aircraft cariers.
Gave me a new perspective of the phrase "Projection of Force".
BoxStockRacer
Where's Sergeant Apone when you need him?
ReplyDeleteWhile there might be times when getting one squad of marines someplace is important enough to use such an expensive mode of transport, I would also like to see sub-orbital transports available for commercial use.
ReplyDeleteIf it doesn't involve powered armor and capsules I'm just not excited.
ReplyDeleteBGM
- @Fast Richard:
ReplyDeleteI would too, but sadly, as long as there are religious fanatics and other nutcases who like to blow stuff up, commercial sub-orbitals will never happen, because they are indistinguishable from an incoming ICBM. I'm not sure even the most sophisticated IFF system could guarantee against a trojan ICBM.
If a major power (*cough*theUSofA*cough*) had a fully-functional missile defense system, and it were tied in with real-time commercial launch tracking, and there was a world-wide protocol against in-flight direction changes, and said protocol allowed blowing errant sub-orbitals out of the sky, it might be possible, but not before.
BoxStockRacer
Nice, but it looks like that would still need a friendly place to land. I want to see sub-orbital HALO jumps.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I have to agree with Comrade Misfit - call the first one the USS Heinlein, and the second the USS Roger Young.
Hopefully someone's been reading some Ian Douglas? A Mars Expeditionary Force would be awesome!
ReplyDeleteNext step, we need to build the terminator armor and storm bolters for our space marines.
ReplyDelete