From: shoham@ll.mit.edu (Daniel Shoham)
Subject: Re: Questions
Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 04:33:10 GMT

In article <1993Jan12.180703.1@vax1.umkc.edu> kgassner@vax1.umkc.edu writes:
>> Even if the battle as a whole is offensive in nature, the
>> SD role is always to defend itself and nearby assets while providing 
>> firepower and basing support to the offensive elmenets (the TIEs).
>
>At some points the star destroyers don't send out any ties but seek close
>combat themselves. So when one attacks Leias ship, when they pursue the Falcon
>off Tattooin(sp) or when they try to intercept the freighter and its fighter
>escort (!) in ESB.

First, my postulation of the operational doctorine of SDs during *MAJOR*
battles is based on the operational doctorine of battleships and aircraft
carriers (which, in the overall philosophy, have not changed since before
World War II).

During a major battle, SDs (or aircraft carriers) should expect to be attacked
en-mass since their loss would neccessarily lead to the loss of the short-range
fighters they base (the ones allready in flight would have nowhere to land).
Hence, their function is to defend themselves with all available resources.

However, when a SD engages ONE or a handfull of small ships (Falcon, Blocade
Runner, Hoth escapees, etc.), there is no danger to the SD. In such a case,
it would be counter-productive to risk TIE-fighters when the SD could do the
job herself.


>> Well, the most obvious thing for the rebels to shoot at is the
>> shield generator (the white ball). Once the shield protecting the generator
>> failed, the next shot would (did) strip the SD of it's shield.
>
>That makes sense, but leads to another question: The screens of a SD seem to
>be awfully weak for a ship that size. In none of the battles there's any sign
>of a shielding effect. None of the shots fired terminate without hitting their
>target, the ion cannon pierced clear through any shield, the asteroid that hit
>one SD in TESB hit right home and even a single fighter managed to blast away
>the bridge shield of the executor. Is there any scene when a shield actually
>protects a SD from something?

Not weak at all. The shield seem to be able to take several hits IN THE SAME
PLACE. As long as the SD is taking random hits, it can take quite a few 
(observe the number of shots the Blockade Runner took at the SD, it is hard to
imagine that many of them missed the huge behemoth; nonetheless, it was not
damaged). Unless several fighters manage to stay alive close enough to the 
SD to take MULTIPLE, ACCURATE shots at the same spot, no damage would result.
Needless to say, when that happened, the shield generator was the target.

As for the ION cannon, I was never sure if the sparks that flew when it hit
the SD where the results of the cannon energy interacting with and being
absorbed by the shield, penetrating the shield, or the shield was off to begin
with as Captain First-Catch-of-the-Day did not anticipate being shot at. In
either case the SD did not appear destroyed, just disoriented for the few
crucial seconds until the transport entered hyperspace (had the SD been
destroyed, the moral-boosting annoucment that followed - "The first trasport
is away" - would sure as hell mentioned it). 
Of course, the ION cannon is portrayed as a rather heavy duty weapon. As a
land-based weapon, it is not subjected to the stringent requierments of
spaceship-borne equipment (weight, power consumption, heat production, aiming
mechanisms, etc.) and can be quite powerfull. I would not have been surprised
even if the ION cannon was portrayed as capable of killing SD's.

As for the bridge of the Executor, this was AFTER the shield generator was
destroyed!


>> All in all, I wouldn't fault the designers.
>
>Oh, i would fault them for placing vital parts of the ship on the outside and
>even outside of the armour. You could argue that the shield generator for some
>reason needs to be the outermost part, but a bridge definitely does not belong
>into a vulnerable tower with large windows but into the well-armoured belly of
>the ship. You don't steer a battleship by sight (though I admit that it looks
>awfully cool).
>
>Bye
>		Klaus

I would certainly argue that the shield generator should be outside (the
shield presumably extends from the generator, and around the ship). I would
also argue that the bridge is well placed in the tower with large windows.
Note that combat ships - even in the age of radars and video-cameras - have
their bridges on the, well, bridges; and they also have large glass windows.
(Aegis Cruisers, are the first - and thus far only - ships with the command
center in the belly. From what I hear, their captains hate this feature.)

Why? you might ask. Well, the different level of protection afforded by
steel or by glass is hardly considered relevent. Once fighters has been
allowed to get close enough to the ship, disable the shield, and take
accurate shots at the bridge - the ship is in serious troubles as it is
(glass or steel, hardly a difference). On the other hand, having large
windows allow HUMAN operators to scan a wide field of view, and SEE for
themselves what's going on. "Situational Awareness", the term used to
describe a captain's need to understand what is taking place around him, is
much enhanced when a human uses his own two eyes and wide field of view to
observe events. No amount of "glass-cockpit" (where computer screens and
video displays replace windows, like the Enterprise bridge), is likely to
ever be a substitute.

Another consideration: In large combatant ships, most areas below the deck
are so hot (140 degrees or so) and humid as to be nearly unlivable. It is
quite possible that the ONLY life-supporting part of the SD *is* the bridge,
and some access corridors to important ship organs.


Dan Shoham               shoham@ll.mit.edu
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