From: jcurrie@ccu.umanitoba.ca (James Gordon Currie)
Subject: Re: Robotech vs. ?
Organization: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 18:13:31 GMT


          Personally, I think the Big-E'd win. It's computers act at FTL speeds,
and the computer is fully capable of firing on hostile targets if so ordered...
(the only problem is that it isn't too creative) So, the fighters are toast.
As for the missiles...

       Worf: Sir, incoming missiles, speed Mach 3. They seem to read as
             nuclear.
       Picard: Mr Data, back us away from them, .2C; Mr Worf, fire low-power
               phasers to cripple the fighters. Prepare two prox-torps, and
               bracket thier mother ship.
       Worf: Sir, the missiles are loosing tracking, and all have finished
             their burn-time. Tactical says the phaser barrage on the fighters
             has resulted in a 93% success, the remaining fighters are holding
             thier current position, and have ceased all hostile actions. The
             mother ship seems to have been shaken by the explosions of the 
             torpedoes, but has taken no damage.
       Picard: Mr Data, take us over the missiles, keeping at least 10km 
               between us and them. Speed, .01C. 
       Data: Yes, sir... We will be in transporter range of our opponent in
             twenty seconds.
       Worf: Sir, their shield-disks have gone down! Sensors reading massive
             power load in the booms projecting from the front of the ship!
             The undamaged fighters are changing shape, and are attempting to
             move the crippled fighters out of a fire line! The computer
             estimates that the current power levels are enough to breach our
             shields, and destroy the ship.
       Picard: Fire full salvo of photons at full strength, fire a full phaser
               barrage at the ship as well...
       Worf: Photons away... Phasers firing... (pause) Direct hit with all
             weapons sir! The two forward booms read as 97% destroyed, the
             ship itself reads as 78% damaged, emergency power generation only,
             her engines have been either destroyed or damaged beyond repair.
       Data: Sir, I am reading 58,000 casualties among the crew of the ship,
             and the command structure seems to have been destroyed.

etc...

      You have to remember two things: First, the shielding on the Enterprise
IGNORES lasers, and could shrug off all the particle cannons on the SDF-1. As
for the rail guns, the *navigational* deflectors would take care of them
BEFORE the shell hit the shields, almost immediately after the shell left 
the cannon muzzle! The only weapon the SDF-1 has that could harm the Enterprise
takes several MINUTES to charge, and doesn't have the range of the Enterprise's
weapon systems. So, the SDF-1 looses. The only way it'd win is if it caught the
Enterprise flat-footed... (fat chance, since the Enterprise's sensors have a
range of PARSECS, and the SDF-1's main gun has a MAXIMUM range of 100,000km!)

      As for the effects of a nuclear blast, if the STRONGEST nuke built by
humans todate (about 100Mt) where to detonate less than 1km from the E-D,
there would be *almost* no damage done to the ship at all! There'd be a few
dozen people who'd need to be treated for radiation exposure, and a few dozen
people who'd need treatment for sprains and bruises because they lost their
footing when the ship shuddered. So, a meesley little Robotech multi-warhead
reflex missile (less than 1Mt, far less...) whouldn't even shake the E-D on
impact with the shields (if the Nav deflector hadn't knocked it off course).

Ciao
J G Currie