What will actual space combat be like?

[Eric]

We've all seen sci-fi movies like Star Wars, where space battles are fought within a few kilometres distance, up close and personal, huge starships exchanging broadsides of laser/phaser/whatevaser fire while tiny fighters dogfight in between the bulk of the larger ships. But what will space combat actually be like when we Humans start fighting up there? I know one thing for sure: It will be quiet. There is no sound in the void, so there will be no roar of engine nor boom of cannon.

It'll probably be push-button warfare. Extremely long distance missile duels that'll make current naval operations look up close and personal. We'll kill millions from lightyears away with just the flick of a switch.

Also, do not let Star Wars fool you, we won't have starfighters. Due to the nifty set of laws known as Newtonian Physics, in the space the largest battleship will be able to turn barrel rolls like the smallest fighter. Why it would want to, that's anybodies guess, but it could do it. Adding in fuel requirements and the amount of armament neccesary to do serious damage to an interstellar warship, i'd say that the fighter would be worthless in space. So all battles would be fought between capital ships.

And don't let Star Trek fool you either, there is no stealth in space. There is no such thing as a cloak, if you can see your enemy, he can see you. So no stealthy Romulans sneaking about.

So, what do you guys think space warfare will be like?

[Rex Invictus]

First of all where do you want to fly to? You cant be faster then light, according to A.Einstein's relativity theory you could live longer by traveling near the light speed but thats not proven yet.

[Scar Face]

Yes it is.

To enlarge this statement, I can show how its proven though GPS. Clocks that are moving relative to each other will go out of sync even if they're very accurate. Its not large, I believe it is only microseconds a month, but that does become noticeable. GPS satellites are specifically adjusted to take notice of this Time Differential so that they remain accurate.

[Simetrical]

I know one thing for sure: It will be quiet. There is no sound in the void, so there will be no roar of engine nor boom of cannon.

Not true at all. There will be sound from within your own ship. You'll hear your own ship's engines, the sound of your ship's weapons firing, and the sound of enemy weapons striking your ship (assuming that all of the above make noise). You just won't hear anything that happens on any other ship, at least not directly.

It'll probably be push-button warfare. Extremely long distance missile duels that'll make current naval operations look up close and personal. We'll kill millions from lightyears away with just the flick of a switch.

Not with greatly sub-light speed weapons. Far too much advance warning to kill much of anyone, then, unless it remains undetected until it gets very close (which would be after many years, which is kind of stupid in itself).

Also, do not let Star Wars fool you, we won't have starfighters. Due to the nifty set of laws known as Newtonian Physics, in the space the largest battleship will be able to turn barrel rolls like the smallest fighter.

No, it won't. Doing a barrel roll (of a given angle within a given interval) requires a torque to be applied proportional to the spinning object's moment of inertia, which in turn increases with both its radius and mass. Greater torques, as David Deas astutely notes, put more strain on the materials, and they also require more energy.

And don't let Star Trek fool you either, there is no stealth in space. There is no such thing as a cloak, if you can see your enemy, he can see you. So no stealthy Romulans sneaking about.

Not true at all. It's entirely possible to cloak something from radar: modern stealth planes use this technology. In fact, all you have to do is reflect any incident radiation at a suitably oblique angle, and in space you're invisible to all EM-based detection. (This doesn't apply if you have enemies on directly opposite sides and they're shining a light between them and watching for it to break, but that's hard to arrange over long distances and large volumes.)

Of course, then you have to not actively emit radiation yourself. With sufficiently good insulation (kind of necessary anyway, in space) and engines cold, that's not a huge problem, although probably sensitive detection equipment could still pick you up. Really, I would say detection would be the major problem, not cloaking.

Well personally i think railguins would be the primary weapon given the long ranges and large damage they can do. Plus unlike missiles they can't really be shot down, and they're a lot cheaper.

They're also ridiculously easy to dodge at distances of more than, say, a thousand miles. I concur with David Deas here, it's going to either be tracking missiles or light-speed weaponry.

I always wondered why artists never seem to remember space fighters don't need wings.

They can be useful if you want to do atmospheric operations too, like landing, say.

[Rex Invictus]

To enlarge this statement, I can show how its proven though GPS. Clocks that are moving relative to each other will go out of sync even if they're very accurate. Its not large, I believe it is only microseconds a month, but that does become noticeable. GPS satellites are specifically adjusted to take notice of this Time Differential so that they remain accurate.

Yes. I know that about the clock, but that humans accually arent getting older at thesame time, isnt really proven yet.

[Dylanesque]

Actual space combat will be non-existant. It's completely unrealistic, considering how difficult it is to get to space, the technology needed to stay there, and that there doesn't seem to be any strategical value in space.

[Lusted]

Well personally i think railguins would be the primary weapon given the long ranges and large damage they can do. Plus unlike missiles they can't really be shot down, and they're a lot cheaper.

And with fighters, whilst technically any sized ship could do complex manouvers, you've still got to move the ship to do it, and smaller ships would be easier to do it with. I could perhaps see fighters as possibly being used for getting in close and firing missiles(because close wouldn't matter about being intercepted), otherwise i can't really think of a use for them. Plus adequate Point Defence Batteries could deal with them.

[Rex Invictus]

And you cant travel out off this sun system. I guess, this whole modern Sience Fiction is accualy Fiction.

[Medicus]

Mass drivers over distances of hundreds or even thousands of kilometers.

[David Deas]

Also, do not let Star Wars fool you, we won't have starfighters. Due to the nifty set of laws known as Newtonian Physics, in the space the largest battleship will be able to turn barrel rolls like the smallest fighter. Why it would want to, that's anybodies guess, but it could do it. Adding in fuel requirements and the amount of armament neccesary to do serious damage to an interstellar warship, i'd say that the fighter would be worthless in space. So all battles would be fought between capital ships.

Who told you large ships would be able to do barrel rolls in space according to Newtonian physics?

If you try and accelerate a large ship rapidly, it will crush itself like a soda can because the forces encountered during rapid acceleration as result of interia will far exceed the tensile strength of any material you could possibly come up with. A large ship could not possibly have the structural integrity needed to perform the same manuvers as a small craft, and the concept of inertia happens to be one of Newton's most basic laws.

First of all where do you want to fly to? You cant be faster then light, according to A.Einstein's relativity theory you could live longer by traveling near the light speed but thats not proven yet.

Yes it is.

Well personally i think railguins would be the primary weapon given the long ranges and large damage they can do. Plus unlike missiles they can't really be shot down, and they're a lot cheaper.

Waaaay too slow.

How do you figure its remotely possible to hit anything at interstellar distances with a bullet? If your barrel is off by a nanometer, you miss the whole shot. Not to mention the enemy will still have an eternity to dodge even if it were possible to be that accurate. At least a missile is actually guided, giving it some chance to score a kill depending on the blast radius.

Your best and only real chance is lasers and lightspeed weaponary.

Triple post. :o

[Ummagumma]

It will be specially bred and trained space monkeys with rocket boots, using ultra-sonic can openers. Of course, the human race will be mostly extinct by then - except for a few kept in 'living history' exhibitions to help educate the young, bipedal, English speaking telekenetic funguses that rose to power during the great 'shroom revolution, circa 4583 in the old, defunct Human dating system.

[ZaPPPa]

Well, for one there won't be much sound and much fiery explosions. Second of all, manouvring at high speeds will be quite different. I always wondered why the fighters in Star Wars had so much trouble pointing their nose (and fixed mounted lasers) at the enemy. The laws or aerodynamics don't apply in space. You can as easily fly forward, sideways and backward.

Frontier: Elite II is one of the few space combat computer games that tries to be a bit realistic with regards to space combat. It utterly sucked though, too many bugs.

[David Deas]

I always wondered why artists never seem to remember space fighters don't need wings.

[Maverick]

Since my mind is usually stuck in antiquity I haven't put much thought into the future of warfare. I can't imagine what they will come up with in hundreds or thousands of years but I can see how some small craft or missle that could destroy enemy satellites would give a huge if not insurmountable tactical advantage in the next major war.

[Sétanta]

There won't be space fighters or space battleships that is for sure. Fairly small, Space Shuttle sized, ships would probably be the main fighter, although the whole concept of space combat is rediculous.

Why fight in space when you can conquer somebody on the ground.

[Sosobra]

There won't be space fighters or space battleships that is for sure. Fairly small, Space Shuttle sized, ships would probably be the main fighter, although the whole concept of space combat is rediculous.

Why fight in space when you can conquer somebody on the ground.

Why go on the ground when you can bomb the crap out of someone from space? Or with enough nukes make a planet uninhabitable, all from the comfort of space.

Distance in space warfare will be dictated by logistics if planets are the source of supplies the battles will take place closer to the planets and at shorter distances. If (big if ) we do travel faster than light the mode of FTL will dictate warfare as well. Jumpgates lend themselves to shorter distance around large industrial centers while warp like drives would make the battlefield more fluid.

[ZaPPPa]

Why go on the ground when you can bomb the crap out of someone from space? Or with enough nukes make a planet uninhabitable, all from the comfort of space.

Using Setanta's logic, an airforce would currently not be necessary. However, it has been proven in every war in the last two centuries that aerial domination is the key to winning wars.

In other words, future wars will be fought out in space, no doubt about it.

[Oldgamer]

There won't be space fighters or space battleships that is for sure. Fairly small, Space Shuttle sized, ships would probably be the main fighter, although the whole concept of space combat is rediculous.

Why fight in space when you can conquer somebody on the ground.

AHA!

But to fight someone on the ground ... say, a rebel colony on one of Jupiter's moons ... you actually have to get your transport vessel to the colony. If the rebel colony has mastered the art of manufacturing system vehicles, what's to stop them from building a large number of small craft, each mounting laser-weapons, and blowing the transports to pieces?

We won't be fighting aliens, in the future. We'll be fighting each other, just like we do now!!

[Chaigidel]

long distance I would say-- and kinda like subs? whoever sees the other guy first can hit you an hour later something like that .

[Sétanta]

long distance I would say-- and kinda like subs? whoever sees the other guy first can hit you an hour later something like that .

Probably that. Long range nuclear missiles or something like that. Of course, lasers would be able to destroy the missile if it got detected. And there is no point in having short range laser duels, because both sides would be destroyed.

Of course, there is no point to fighting in space in the first place...but if you had to, that is how I'd fight. Stealth.