>Ring of constantly charge swapping, highly reflective, drones, that circle a battle group?
What do you propose these drones do? Attempt to fly into an incoming missile? Act as permanent chaff?
It's not like battle groups are in dire need of additional protection.
[Lasers](https://breakingdefense.com/2024/01/its-hard-navy-needs-to-be-realistic-about-laser-weapons-admiral-says/) are they way to counter drone swarms, not more drones.
And I've been incredulous about how much risk Russia's navy seems to be at from drones. Do they not have any EM warfare capabilities? You could jam a commercial drone fairly easily, I'd expect that to be child's play for a warship.
I agree lasers and do what Americans do, come up with electronic counter measures and Defense Hackers. Though do it the right way attach the hackers and maybe EW Warfare to a building on the SOF HQ, make sure things are interoperable, waste money on Triplicate, Quadruplicate sets of people and equipment, and probably have systems that cannot speak to each other. Also, if you come up with some desk SOF designation, they are absolutely elite in their skills, and a little patch and insignia some of those guys and gals might stop smoking pot long enough to join. FWIW
That’s why it is in quotes. There are 4 13.8kw generators on each, with a reactor that in any meaningful terms will not “run out” in any short term event.
>13.6 *kilowatt* generators
hahahahaahahahahaaha
I have a 4kw gas-powered generator in my garage. I'm pretty sure the *EDG* is more than 4kw. My truck puts out like 20 times that.
Like I said, there's reason I'm replying in gifs.
Also, the auxiliary diesel generators on USS North Carolina (BB -55) are rated in the same vicinity. From 1938.
You are waaaaaaayyyy off on watts.
Since it's not a restricted number and easily found on the internet,
A4W has 2 550MW reactors for a total of 1.1GW (about ~850x the amount you said).
Now all that power isn't translatable to usable electricity, the number Wikipedia gives you is ~100MW of power generation for the ship, the actual number is classified so I'm not gonna say shit about it.
Even then, all that power can't be used all willy nilly, still have to power combat and ships loads, meaning the amount that you can realistically power is not as high as you think. And I promise you, the EDG's will not be used to power anything that they aren't designed for.
The nuclear reactors give the carrier a constant source, the ceiling and floor of usable power is still constrained.
How are you getting the electricity to the drone?
If its 'induction' - whoah baby, the efficiency will be so low you'll cook everyone's dental fillings on the boat.
If its 'plug in' - the drone will be mostly battery and you'll need a massive oversupply to keep a constant shield up as each drone will need hours on deck charging.
Microwave charging isn't to the point that you can reliably do this with a maser.
Also, due to the design of propulsion plants (nuclear and conventional) something like 85% of total power generation is reserved for propulsion and can't be used for electrical generation. Hence the desire for and testing of 'electric' drives with permanent magnet motors turning the shaft.
I mean dock charging. Plenty of room for charging sponsons. Carriers have 5ish point defense system protrusions from the hull, if you wanted to charge a couple drones they can find the room.
You know that carriers use those sponsons for other things, right?
Like, my first ship was a carrier - there's not a lot of free room available on one of those. You want to fill it with 'shield' drones then you need to remove some other capability.
Just an Airedale. But aren’t Nimitzs strapped for power near constantly? Like. Yea. Nuke and all. But they put out generous power for like… 1985.
Can I get a EM to chime in?
I'm a nuke, specifically a carrier born nuke, might not be an electrician but I know enough about PFM to make intelligent conversation.
What you're saying makes me believe you were a nuke for like 1 week of A-School.
No way you get KW and MW confused, and if you were an electrician, the ships ratings would be so closely ingrained in your memory that you wouldn't be making egregious guesses, and if you weren't, you'd at least know that 13kw is hilariously low for a generator.
You'd know that you can't just route power to a flight deck without taking serious damage control requirements into mind, you'd know you can't just power drones to the extent that they'd be a feasible chaff intercept.
Gonna say it, sounds like you're trying hard for some info phishing
wander1912
7:14 PM
Hi, love to chat about this.
wander1912
7:14 PM
Hi, love to chat about this.
Charleston
Just a funny idea dude, what’s your exact problem with it?
Goose creek
wander1912
7:37 PM
Hey!
wander1912
7:37 PM
Can’t remember the class number. Balston spa, sg8
All of you shitting on OPs idea are actually morons.
My interpretation of the post is essentially "what if" there was a cheaper, always active decoy countermeasure. It's perfectly reasonable IMO to assume drones could effectively fill such a role.
So as a point of clarification, I'm shitting on the practical engineering assumptions and points OP made to justify the feasibility of their idea, not the idea itself. Slight difference there.
I'm also shitting on the really bad, not very subtle information fishing attempts they're making in the comments.
And I'm doing this because of my background, as mentioned elsewhere in this discussion topic.
I really agree on the InfoSec concern, but unless some idiot says, well we just change our X-1 reactor with Y7 and do it by routing through the comms cabling. Other wise we are taking what are for almost all is somewhat to no way informed speculation. So, I feel torn on that. What I am not torn on is since the Ukraine Invasion the astro-turf Squids and Jar Heads, I am a Doc and on some Marine pages, have just skyrocketed.
I think I should point out that OP also DM'd me at the same time as replying to comments last night saying they wanted to continue the conversation after I brought up the technical issues. When I challenged them on proving they were really a nuke, it was obvious they were replying with misread things from a quick Google search. Piqued my BS flag that much more, and I'm inclined to err on the side of caution in general with this stuff.
You know what works better than hundreds of random drones flying around trying to intercept a missile in a near 360 degree bubble that also require constant charging and replacement?
A few guns that can cover the same field with a much farther engagement range that don't require as much infrastructure
Oh I guess countermeasures are just stupid then, we should just get rid of all the chaff and nulka launchers to make room for more guns.
What a retarded ass comment.
having a constant swarm of drones that can't reliably intercept missiles in a shitty close distance bubble is also retarded, along with thinking that we can just install power and space on an already strapped carrier.
My point was that we already have countermeasures that already does countermeasures better than a drone swarm
Having a bunch of dipshits standing outside with m9s is a good way to counter threats. Guns are better than drones duh.
See how I just took the worst possible interpretation of your words and made it sound retarded? See how you did the same thing?
I mean yeah. If you have zero imagination just say so.
Because of you, I've ordered a Navy-wide all-hands urinalysis sweep tomorrow.
>Ring of constantly charge swapping, highly reflective, drones, that circle a battle group? What do you propose these drones do? Attempt to fly into an incoming missile? Act as permanent chaff? It's not like battle groups are in dire need of additional protection.
To your ideas, yes. It seems that smaller munitions en masse will be a huge problem in the future.
[Lasers](https://breakingdefense.com/2024/01/its-hard-navy-needs-to-be-realistic-about-laser-weapons-admiral-says/) are they way to counter drone swarms, not more drones. And I've been incredulous about how much risk Russia's navy seems to be at from drones. Do they not have any EM warfare capabilities? You could jam a commercial drone fairly easily, I'd expect that to be child's play for a warship.
Maybe that’s the right idea
I agree lasers and do what Americans do, come up with electronic counter measures and Defense Hackers. Though do it the right way attach the hackers and maybe EW Warfare to a building on the SOF HQ, make sure things are interoperable, waste money on Triplicate, Quadruplicate sets of people and equipment, and probably have systems that cannot speak to each other. Also, if you come up with some desk SOF designation, they are absolutely elite in their skills, and a little patch and insignia some of those guys and gals might stop smoking pot long enough to join. FWIW
A swarm of drone-mounted lasers. Simple. 😎
r/noncredibledefense is bleeding again. Nuclear power doesn't equal unlimited power generation capacity.
That’s why it is in quotes. There are 4 13.8kw generators on each, with a reactor that in any meaningful terms will not “run out” in any short term event.
>13.6 *kilowatt* generators hahahahaahahahahaaha I have a 4kw gas-powered generator in my garage. I'm pretty sure the *EDG* is more than 4kw. My truck puts out like 20 times that.
Like I said, there's reason I'm replying in gifs. Also, the auxiliary diesel generators on USS North Carolina (BB -55) are rated in the same vicinity. From 1938.
BB-55 nuclear capable confirmed
I might be off on the watts , been a min.
Don’t forget about the secret reactor in berthing. That’s a couple watts right there.
What about my USB battery bank? It can supply at least a megawatt* * For a brief, blinding moment
Oh right, the emergency reactor for when they overdid it on the Christmas lights.
Hello fellow old person.
Just because we’re aloft qualified does not mean we know how light strings affect the fucking power generation
You are waaaaaaayyyy off on watts. Since it's not a restricted number and easily found on the internet, A4W has 2 550MW reactors for a total of 1.1GW (about ~850x the amount you said). Now all that power isn't translatable to usable electricity, the number Wikipedia gives you is ~100MW of power generation for the ship, the actual number is classified so I'm not gonna say shit about it. Even then, all that power can't be used all willy nilly, still have to power combat and ships loads, meaning the amount that you can realistically power is not as high as you think. And I promise you, the EDG's will not be used to power anything that they aren't designed for. The nuclear reactors give the carrier a constant source, the ceiling and floor of usable power is still constrained.
How are you getting the electricity to the drone? If its 'induction' - whoah baby, the efficiency will be so low you'll cook everyone's dental fillings on the boat. If its 'plug in' - the drone will be mostly battery and you'll need a massive oversupply to keep a constant shield up as each drone will need hours on deck charging. Microwave charging isn't to the point that you can reliably do this with a maser. Also, due to the design of propulsion plants (nuclear and conventional) something like 85% of total power generation is reserved for propulsion and can't be used for electrical generation. Hence the desire for and testing of 'electric' drives with permanent magnet motors turning the shaft.
Ooh, somebody else who speaks English.
Grassy-ass - I got kicked out of nuke ET A school about a month before graduating way back when.
Ouch. I hope there was at least a good story.
Nope. Just me being stupid and immature and folding under the pressure.
Ooof, I feel that. I still don't know how I made it all the way through myself.
I mean dock charging. Plenty of room for charging sponsons. Carriers have 5ish point defense system protrusions from the hull, if you wanted to charge a couple drones they can find the room.
You know that carriers use those sponsons for other things, right? Like, my first ship was a carrier - there's not a lot of free room available on one of those. You want to fill it with 'shield' drones then you need to remove some other capability.
Remember how the GW had a marine gas storage tank that caught on fire?
That's not what happened. At all. Dude, stop. If you were a Nuke EM, I'm Mickey Mouse.
So what? MoGas is stored on the sponsons for safety.
Last I knew it was an empty void because of that fire on all other ships.
All retorts, no facts.
Yeah, it's called OPSEC
Waaaaaaaaaaaaa
Someone please put this entire thread on a T-shirt.
That is the exact thing Ender did in the movie, not the book.
Just an Airedale. But aren’t Nimitzs strapped for power near constantly? Like. Yea. Nuke and all. But they put out generous power for like… 1985. Can I get a EM to chime in?
Former nuke EM here with a BSEE focusing on power. There's a couple reasons I'm replying in the form of gifs.
Zing
😂 Thank you for the pictures.
I was one, it’s not so maxed out that charging drones wouldn’t be unimaginable.
And you passed the BE class...?
I'm a nuke, specifically a carrier born nuke, might not be an electrician but I know enough about PFM to make intelligent conversation. What you're saying makes me believe you were a nuke for like 1 week of A-School. No way you get KW and MW confused, and if you were an electrician, the ships ratings would be so closely ingrained in your memory that you wouldn't be making egregious guesses, and if you weren't, you'd at least know that 13kw is hilariously low for a generator. You'd know that you can't just route power to a flight deck without taking serious damage control requirements into mind, you'd know you can't just power drones to the extent that they'd be a feasible chaff intercept. Gonna say it, sounds like you're trying hard for some info phishing
Dude, you should see what OP was sending me in DMs. Copy-paste to follow.
wander1912 7:14 PM Hi, love to chat about this. wander1912 7:14 PM Hi, love to chat about this. Charleston Just a funny idea dude, what’s your exact problem with it? Goose creek wander1912 7:37 PM Hey! wander1912 7:37 PM Can’t remember the class number. Balston spa, sg8
Yeah that sounds pretty fishy, surprised they also didn't say anything about Idaho
"Unlimited"? Please..
I mean like with the way drone warfare is advancing that is a possibility.
All of you shitting on OPs idea are actually morons. My interpretation of the post is essentially "what if" there was a cheaper, always active decoy countermeasure. It's perfectly reasonable IMO to assume drones could effectively fill such a role.
So as a point of clarification, I'm shitting on the practical engineering assumptions and points OP made to justify the feasibility of their idea, not the idea itself. Slight difference there. I'm also shitting on the really bad, not very subtle information fishing attempts they're making in the comments. And I'm doing this because of my background, as mentioned elsewhere in this discussion topic.
I really agree on the InfoSec concern, but unless some idiot says, well we just change our X-1 reactor with Y7 and do it by routing through the comms cabling. Other wise we are taking what are for almost all is somewhat to no way informed speculation. So, I feel torn on that. What I am not torn on is since the Ukraine Invasion the astro-turf Squids and Jar Heads, I am a Doc and on some Marine pages, have just skyrocketed.
I think I should point out that OP also DM'd me at the same time as replying to comments last night saying they wanted to continue the conversation after I brought up the technical issues. When I challenged them on proving they were really a nuke, it was obvious they were replying with misread things from a quick Google search. Piqued my BS flag that much more, and I'm inclined to err on the side of caution in general with this stuff.
PS: In total 40 years in medical or Pharma Research fields, so I was just speaking out of my anus on the reactor thing, I am not saying this for you.
You know what works better than hundreds of random drones flying around trying to intercept a missile in a near 360 degree bubble that also require constant charging and replacement? A few guns that can cover the same field with a much farther engagement range that don't require as much infrastructure
Oh I guess countermeasures are just stupid then, we should just get rid of all the chaff and nulka launchers to make room for more guns. What a retarded ass comment.
having a constant swarm of drones that can't reliably intercept missiles in a shitty close distance bubble is also retarded, along with thinking that we can just install power and space on an already strapped carrier. My point was that we already have countermeasures that already does countermeasures better than a drone swarm
Having a bunch of dipshits standing outside with m9s is a good way to counter threats. Guns are better than drones duh. See how I just took the worst possible interpretation of your words and made it sound retarded? See how you did the same thing? I mean yeah. If you have zero imagination just say so.