Ragnarok Project

[<Ragnarok>]

I am hoping to work on a project. This "uberweapon" Ragnarok is a warship idea in my head. But I want to make it real. The basic concept is it's a warship of the future. Using lasers, particles, biological armours.

[mooeypoo]

Okay, Ragnarok

 

As we discussed in the chatroom, you need to start with a single concept first.. a ship like this probably has a whole bunch of technology that doesn't exist yet, so choose one and start with that first. If we start with everything, we'll stray too much and confuse everything, and the potential science of it can be lost.

 

After you choose the one thing you want to start with, try telling us what your vision of it is -- what will it do? what's unique about it as opposed to other technologies that already exist today? etc

 

That way, we can start taking your idea and see if it's possible physically, and maybe hypothesize *how* it may be possible -- that is, give you a few ideas on what to start researching and checking to see how to actually design this piece of technology, if it's possible.

 

 

Take into account that you're not the first to think of developing such a machine/uber-weapon -- so when you explain what you think it should do, try to show us exactly what you think is unique about it, and maybe try to think how it can work in real life; what physical aspect can it use to do what you want it to do? how can you start developing it? etc.

 

Let's start with narrowing it down and go from there.

 

~moo

[<Ragnarok>]

Right now I would like to start with the basic concept of the hull of the warship. In my mind I see crystalline armor, with Titanium plating 3inches thick covering the crystalline. The warship will be about 800yards in length, it has two hulls connected by an alien saucer looking piece. The width of one (1) hull will be approximetely 200feet. It will be the color of Lime Green and Black. A model is being worked on this week. The ship will be able to deflect Railgun rounds, projectiles and small missiles.

[Mokele]

And, with that sort of armor, it will also sink like a stone.

[mooeypoo]

Mokele, I think he means a space ship, but regardless, that's a good point, even to space -- in order to move and such, you need to be relatively light, otherwise the energy requirements to make a movement (or change it, like change directions or stop) is going to be enormous. That's true for space AND ocean.

 

Ragnarok, are you talking about space ship or regular ship? I remember you said something about a space ship in the chatroom, that's why I assumed this is a spaceship too, but I might be wrong. Obviously, We will have different points to relate to if it's meant to be in water or in space.

[insane_alien]

no, he means a naval ship. he showed us a video of the game this thing is it.

 

also, with crystaline armour that could be ANYTHING. proteins form crystals, metals form crystals water forms crystals etc etc. need more infor here.

 

if it is capable of withstanding railgun shots we can probably assume its something like a wipple shield though. an thin-ish outer layer of armour to be sacrificed to disintigrate the projectile and then an airgap to allow the projectile and armour vapour to spread out followed by a thicker layer to catch the expanding cloud of vapour and particles. although with the mass of a railgun projectile you'll probably want at least 2 air gaps and some kevlar lining on them all.

 

the armour will need to be better than 3-inch titanium plate though. that would likely be something like the outer skin. for the inner armour you'd be looking for a ceramic composite and super-alloys. titanium isn't the strongest metal but is used in a lot of stronger alloys.

 

the colour can be handled by a paintjob although i don't know why you'd want it black and lime green. you'd want it to be camoflaged. or at the very least dazzle patterns http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage

[<Ragnarok>]

Mooey it is a naval ship. Using spacelike technology. Whats the point of camo Insane.? The ship is so huge it doesn't matter how camoflaged it is it's going to be seen. Also the crystalline I'm talking about would be formed by protiens, from genetic engineering. The titanium would break the projectile and the crystalline would stop the explosion from hitting the hull. It's just an idea so don't judge.

[Sisyphus]

What purpose does the protein "crystal" serve? Why use that rather than something else? Does anything like what you're looking for currently exist? If not, why do you expect that it could?

[<Ragnarok>]

You know how diamonds are the hardest material in the world.? Well protien Crystalline is just 2 below that. wikipedia.org/crystalline . should tell you how that works.

[insane_alien]

protein crystalls are absolutely crap. their structure is too loose to be used as armour. and the hardness of a substance usually counts against it for armour as it laks the ability to deform and absorb the blow. hard stuff tends to shatter.

[<Ragnarok>]

So then what do you suggest.?

[Mokele]

Does anyone even *need* a battleship anymore? I mean, what possible use do they serve in a modern war beyond a taxi service for ground troops and a platform for air forces?

[insane_alien]

i already posted what i suggest but you only seemed to have read the camoflage part. and stealth is always a good idea, they even camoflage aircraft carriers.

 

Mokele: mobile artillery platforms, mobile missile launch platforms, mobile airfields, mobile command and control etc etc.

[<Ragnarok>]

Ok please explain to me what a wipple shield is. Then we will go from there.

[insane_alien]

i explained in the post. how about you READ it.

[<Ragnarok>]

an thin-ish outer layer of armour to be sacrificed to disintigrate the projectile and then an airgap to allow the projectile and armour vapour to spread out followed by a thicker layer to catch the expanding cloud of vapour and particles. although with the mass of a railgun projectile you'll probably want at least 2 air gaps and some kevlar lining on them all.

How can we make such a thing.? Or is that already made.?

[insane_alien]

they are employed on the ISS for protection against micrometeorite protection.

 

they are relatively simple to build. just two or more layers seperated by an air gap.

[<Ragnarok>]

If I may ask. Where can I get these materials to start experimenting with.?

[insane_alien]

perhaps you could be more specific about which materials you want?

[Sisyphus]

You know how diamonds are the hardest material in the world.? Well protien Crystalline is just 2 below that. wikipedia.org/crystalline . should tell you how that works.

 

Just a note, "crystalline" is an adjective, not a noun, and it just means a repeating pattern of molecules. Diamonds are crystals. So is water ice, and countless other solids of all degrees of hardness. (Also, as has been noted, hardness is not a good criterion for quality of armor. Glass is about as hard as steel.)

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Does anyone even *need* a battleship anymore? I mean, what possible use do they serve in a modern war beyond a taxi service for ground troops and a platform for air forces?

 

True, nobody uses "battleships" anymore. They've been obsoleted by aircraft carriers since WW2 (though it took a while longer for everybody to realize it). But in a thread about one person of no extraordinary means planning to build a battleship the likes of which the world has never seen, I think we can sidestep the larger questions of practicality.

[<Ragnarok>]

The materials needed to build a wipple shield. And this warship isn't like your average warship. It's much MUCH larger. Also, Sisyphus... I'll look into minerals that could be used as a armor.

[insane_alien]

there are no specific materials you make them out of. if you really wanted you could make an all wood wipple shield.

 

and as i doubt you know, wipple shields are only effective against hypervelocity projectiles.

[<Ragnarok>]

Alright

[<Ragnarok>]

Any other thoughts on this.?

[the tree]

Why would a warship need to be much bigger? This aircraft carrier can already get weapons right across the world pretty easily. And these submarines, together, could launch an ICBM to anywhere on the globe on demand (when the aren't busy playing chicken with the French).

 

I don't really see the motivation behind mineral amour. Steel commonly used for quite a few reasons - it's easily available, malleable and difficult to break.

 

If you're ship is going to be heavily armed for short range combat then it would only really be useful if it came with some serious speed. This means that amongst other things, you'd need to be economical with the overall weight.