SWM wrote:JohnRoth wrote:Exactly. The fission-fusion tradeoff isn't that simple. IIRC, the big problem with the Shrikes is that they're power-limited - they don't have enough power for both the wedge and the graser at the same time without using stored power, which affects their cycle time significantly. On the other hand, the fission pile means they don't need a lot of volume for hydrogen bunkerage.
I'd assumed that the Nat Turners had two of those fission reactors, not one, which would go along with the original description of them being two Shrikes end-to-end. That goes along with the two grasers and the additional magazine capacity, and it also goes along with the Hauptman Cartel being able to design a completely new frigate class without the years of work that would usually be done by a star nation's weapons design department. Now obviously a Nat Turner isn't just a pair of Shrikes bolted together, but that design approach is a whole lot simpler than either starting with a blank sheet of paper or trying to upgrade a conventional frigate design. It also gives Hauptman another export line - or at least it did before Oyster Bay.
With all that, I would be highly surprised if the Nat Turners didn't have significant weaknesses beyond what you would expect in a frigate.
No, they don't have fission reactors. Shrike's are already power starved--even a pair of fission reactors would not be enough for a hyper generator. The comparison to a pair of Shrikes is only about the weapon design. Consider: a ship twice the size of a Shrike is at the bottom end for a dispatch boat. Such a small ship could not possibly be big enough to carry any weapons at all.
A Nat Turner is not really the equivalent of two Shrike's end to end, in any way except weapons mounts.
Think of two Shrikes' worth of weapons and systems in a hull larger than 2 Shrikes with a dispatch boat-sized fusion plant in the middle of it. The automation lets you build a frigate sized vessel with much better armament and a far smaller crew than was ever possible previously. It's still toast against a properly designed DD from the same tech base, but it can chew the posterior off of substantially larger ships w/out Haven Sector-level weaponry.
