Challenge: Defend Earth and Mars

[The Yosemite Bear]

Ok, this is a result of all of the Nemesis vs., First Contact etc.

Based on Starfleet tech, and what is available with Starfleet tech (Example, no one has yet thought of a decent warp capable unmaned missile, or drone fighter, in B&B verse. Or building a System Monitor Class Starship (something so big it really doesn't have much range, but lots of power banks for shields and firepower))

Design a layered defense that can protect Earth and Mars from invasions, and won't be too personel costly.


Think logical here.

You have Earth, & Mars with a ship building starbase at each location. You have all of the Jovians, the Asteriod belt near Mars (Partially explioted for materials, before the advent of replicators, enabling one to use the Jovians and the ice fields for your ship building needs)

Build a defense

[Kazuaki Shimazaki]

Able to stop a Star Destroyer? A Borg cube? A Romulan Warbird? It is not really possible to build a feasible defense at a reasonable cost that would stop an all out assault by another nation, so some limits should be set.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Actually the best low cost/semi low tech one was using the Jupitor/Mars asteriod belt and some Startrek equivilents of the old Harbor Chain/Submarine net. to make a decent defense against Borg Cubes and Uber-Rom Warbirds.

The larg number's of exhaust seeking torp launchers, built into the Jovian Moons was another Idea, as was the Galaxy class Monitor Refit (No Warp drive, Just lots of Sublight Engines, armour, bracing, and shields, along with very, very heavy Phasors, and metal slugs, attached to a warp one reactor for missiles instead of Photons.....

[Kazuaki Shimazaki]

Even a Borg cube is a very tiny blip in comparison to all the space in between the asteroid fields, so a net would likely snag nothing.

Maybe if I stuck lots of automated, long-range photon torpedo batteries into any asteroid big enough to take them, then I might at least be able to hit them with something, if the ranges on the missiles are long enough.

Does anyone know how far are the average asteroids from each other? Even if they're close, I'll probably want a VERY long range weapon so I can build fewer of these defense batteries.

After that, most weapons built on Mars can only defend against a very limited vector at any one time. I'll build some on Mars, but in the full knowledge they are point and not area defense weapons.

My main defense will probably be near Earth itself. I'll put a hypervelocity gun on the moon that fires the BIGGEST, DENSEST slugs it can at near light speeds so it can cause some damage to the enemy.

The only thing after that I can do is to build orbital defense platforms of one sort or another, armed mostly with torpedoes or mass-drivers, whichever proves more efficient.

Beyond that, I'll simply have to rely on a mobile fleet defense, whatever is available. Stationary defenses just aren't worth much more than point defense in space...

If only I can spend a few million Imp credits to buy a cheapo SW planetary shield (the KDY-150 ion cannon is 500,000, and according to ISB, a planetary shield, which is probably a cheap one, costs 4 times that.)

[Darth Fanboy]

Mines, lots and lots of mines probably similar to the self replicating minefield used in DS9. Limit travel through the minefield to points defended by Starfleet ships such as the Defiant which aren't too personnel heavy yet full of firepower. As for Earth and Mars themselves man them with Defiant-style starships for defense as well as whatever they have in place.

And for gods sake do something about the "no cloak treaty" after the Shinzon incident, the Romulans will hardly be in place to negociate terms with starfleet.

[Patrick Degan]

Layered field defence lines to cover an entire star system are pointless. The sheer volume involved would require the construction of literally trillions of mines, battlestations, missile platforms, or beamweapon satellites to cover the space between weapon sites. And in any case, it would be a relatively easy matter to blast gaps in the "field".

The "barrier net" idea in the asteroid belt is likewise pointless, not only because of the amount of space between asteroidal bodies but also because the asteroid belt is on the same orbital plane as the system. Space is three-dimensional and attack vectors from high above the plane of the ecliptic would nullify the effectiveness of this design.

The only feasible fixed-orbital system would be "point defence" around each major planet; battlestations located in trojan orbits with very long range weapons, then networks of mines and beampweapon satellites in geostationary orbit at points surrounding the planet at all vectors, followed by another layer of beamweapon and missile platforms at lower orbits; configured to provide overlapping fields of fire.

In actuality, however, the only effective defence in terms of a space war would either be planetary shields (if the technology exists) or a large mobile warfleet. Defence satellites can be too easily knocked down with massed firepower, and attackers approaching from outside the gravity well will always have the advantage.

[Ender]

I just spread out huge clouds of antimatter all over the place to restrict the ways in and out and use mines and space stations to control those ways.

[Pastor Andy]

I just spread out huge clouds of antimatter all over the place to restrict the ways in and out and use mines and space stations to control those ways.

Antimatter????

Are you sure that's wise? Space is not an empty void, but is full of dust, free gas atoms, etc. Any antimatter would likely be annihilated as quickly as it is released (with many detrimental side-effects to the releaser, I might add)!

[Ender]

That's why you use the deflector on the ship spreading the stuff to clear all that out of the way and collect it ala ST9 so that it is not a problem

[Pastor Andy]

That's why you use the deflector on the ship spreading the stuff to clear all that out of the way and collect it ala ST9 so that it is not a problem

Yes, that would clear the way for the initial placement, but what's to restrain the inevitable intermixing once the ship has moved off to release its next cloud? The only way to prevent the annihilation of the antimatter is to contain it (i.e. put it in a shell and call it a mine).

Ultimately, static defenses just won't work. A mobile strike force is a far more reasonable use of resources to defend stationary assets.

[Zoink]

Design a layered defense that can protect Earth and Mars from invasions, and won't be too personel costly.

Build a huge "we surrender" sign. The imperial ships will very peacefully accept their surrender. The people of the federation would be freed from communism and go about their happy lives with very little overall personal cost, if any.

[SWPIGWANG]

planetory shields, TOS style.

[Ender]

That's why you use the deflector on the ship spreading the stuff to clear all that out of the way and collect it ala ST9 so that it is not a problem

Yes, that would clear the way for the initial placement, but what's to restrain the inevitable intermixing once the ship has moved off to release its next cloud?

I'm failing to see a problem here. The amount of dust left afterwards would be small, and thus the reactions that result no big deal. You just beam more AM into the voids to replentish it every so often.

[Lord Pounder]

What would be the problem with building Defence platforms like in SW. DS( was able to wipe out a large portion of a sizible Klingon then Jem' Hadar fleet. So if you had similarly armed platforms spaces arround the planet you'd be well defended.

[Darth Fanboy]

Layered field defence lines to cover an entire star system are pointless. The sheer volume involved would require the construction of literally trillions of mines, battlestations, missile platforms, or beamweapon satellites to cover the space between weapon sites. And in any case, it would be a relatively easy matter to blast gaps in the "field".

They don't have to cover the whole system, key hyperspace routes and a self replicating minefield would certainly slow down an enemy, especially if there were some kind of sensor/comm buoys that could at least give some kind of advance warning.

I still think Defiant class warships could run some kind of system patrol also.

[kojikun]

Ideally a system wide defense network would consist of the following:

Hundreds of missile stations, preferably in the belt so material is near by. The missiles would be long range warp capable (designed by competant engineers, ofcourse) with shields. The missiles would impact the target at warp speeds. This would prevent incursion into the system.

Each planet would have countless phaser and missile satellites, each shielded. If starfleet is bold, they could have the satellites combine their shields over the entire planet but this would require alot of satellites and plenty of shield coverage. A dedicated M/AMR or ten would aid the shield distance. This prevents planetfall.

Planetside you'd have many many long range phaser gun things and long range missile sites to destroy any ship attempting to land on the planet.

Each station, satellite, and base would have the power of atleast an entire starship, preferably 10 or more starships.

But we all know damn well they couldnt pull this off because theyre all incompetant idiots who cant figure out how to design paper airplanes that fly for more then a foot, let alone a heavilly armed battlestation or computer controlled warp missile which SHOULD be easy considering these things called shuttles seemingly have some autopiloting ability. But no, logic has ceased to exist in Trek.

[Pu-239]

Chintoka style defense with independently powered and controlled stations. Everything will be phase cloaked. Take asteroids and drag them into orbit around the sun, and build defense stations on them. Then build a satellite based system around the planets. For anti supership defense put large numbers of torpedoes in orbit (don't need a launcher). Each missile will hold 500kg of antimatter/matter, not including fuel, and are capable of .5c, and are phasecloaked (screw the treaty) and the sized of an ICBM. Self replicating mines around all planets.

[Howedar]

Defense platforms ala DS9 (independatly powered and shielded), about two dozen DS9-armed stations (without the excess baggage though), jury-rig a planetary shield if possible. Construct one of those "tachyon nets" or whatever the fuck they called them that they used in TNG to detect Warbirds. Add some stations that are essentially a bunch of attitude thrusters, a warp core, big friggin shield generators, and the largest damn beam weapon that can be built. Add Defiant-style PPCs in turrets to the larger defensive stations. Add planetary shields if such things exist. Have a rapid-response fleet made up of a 1-2 dozen Defiants with no warp drive and extra weapons.

Do the same for Mars if necessary.

[RedImperator]

The key to your defense is going to be the home defense fleet itself. Static defenses are only useful in places they can't be bypassed, and in this scenario, that means they'll only be good for planetary point defense.

First line of defense is your early warning net. This should consist of subspace scanners and listening posts scattered throughout the system to provide a sphere of coverage throughout the system. We know that Trek sensors are reasonably good at detecting warp signatures at long range, so this shouldn't be too difficult. Since Federation STL sensors are known to be pisspoor, however, we're going to need something better if we want to know more than the general area a ship or fleet has arrived.

The second line of defense would be warp scouts based in the outer Solar System. These could be warp-capable shuttlecraft or Type IX probes. When the subspace net detects a ship coming out of warp in-system, these will be dispatched to get a good fix on its location. You'll have hundreds, maybe thousands of these. You use probes and drones instead of combat ships because what if your enemy decides to warp in obsolete freighters on autopilot to draw your defense forces away from their real entry point? Dispatch probes and hold your defenses in until you know what you're dealing with.

Once your probes have a fix on the enemy, it's time to dispatch warp missiles. These are basically warp engines with the biggest warhead you can possibly fit on board. Since they're FTL, they can be fired from deep in-system. Ideally, the entire time the enemy is in system, they'll have to deal with warp missile attacks.

Now, if it's a small force, dispatch the Defiants and layeth the smacketh down. If it's a large force, however, you might need time to gather your strength. Defiants and Tac-Fighters, based in the outer solar system, should harass the fleet but avoid taking heavy casualties. There should always be a few system monitors (heavily armed, armored, and shielded non-warp battleships) and warp-capable battlewagons in system, but they shouldn't be committed right away against a superior force.

At this point, any and all warp-capable warships within range should be called home to assist the homeworld, unless the enemy is pressing attacks on multiple systems at once, in which case Sol has to deal with things on its own. Defiants, and, at this point, the heavier Akiras and Mirandas should be conducting hit-and-run attacks on the inbound fleet, with a barrage of warp missiles coming between attacks. Warp missiles are especially useful for breaking up enemy formations, allowing Defiants and Akiras to pick off isolated stragglers. So the enemy has the unpalatable choice of staying packed tightly together and taking heavy losses from warp missiles, or breaking up and taking heavy losses from raiders and harassers. Vulnerabilities must be exploited as they develop. If, say, a troop transport finds itself temporarily without escort, it must be smashed immediately. Keep probing, scanning, and harassing them as they're inbound.

If at any point, the home fleet gains superiority in numbers/firepower, it should engage and smash the enemy before it approaches the home worlds. Assuming, however the defenders are outnumbered, allow the attackers to approach the planets, where fixed defenses can come into play and even out the odds. Fixed defenses would mostly consist of phaser stations with overlapping fields of fire and heavier torpedo-equipped battlestations. Critical positions, (like the L-points), would be mined. The closer to the planet, the denser the defenses, as the volume of the sphere that needs to be defended shrinks. The moon would be an excellent location for truly humongous phaser cannons, with no atmosphere to worry about, but there would always be a blind spot directly behind Earth. Keep in mind the fixed defenses are not in place to stop the enemy. They're in place to slow him down, sap his strength, and buy time for the defenders. Once the attackers are committed to taking the planets and have entered the gravity well, any and all ships available, down to workbees with phaser rifles strapped on if necessary, should be thrown into the battle to stop the invaders.

If they DO manage to land troops on the surface, a well-trained and well-equipped ground army and a well-armed militia should be waiting for them. Bombers, missiles, and artillery should be moved into position to bombard landing points and hopefully trap the enemy in his transports. So much as possible, every square inch of ground should be contested, because no matter how many troops the enemy brings, they're outnumbered. You should be prepared for guerilla and partisan action behind the lines. All this is to buy time for your space forces to regain orbital superiority and scour the invaders off the face of the Earth (or Mars, as the case may be).

If all this doesn't work, well, then, you were kinda fucked to begin with. Better luck next time.

[paladin]

Earth's defenses are perfectly fine. A giant sign that says "No Tresspassing."

[Sea Skimmer]

I'd deploy thousands of small battlestations, each with a fusion reactor, a shuttle craft shielding system if any and a 6-10 torpedoes linked to a simple sensor system. A small engine might be fitted to allow for varying orbits.

Each would lock on and fire; six torpedoes are going to put a world of hurt on most Trek vessels. The small pod size would make them cheep and also difficult targets. A simple data link would prevent the stations from over engaging targets. Conventional starships would stand by to hit cripples and damaged ships to finish them off.

I'd avoid anything manned or with phaser's to cut costs so I can build plenty of normal ships as well. Having a crew requires massively bigger size, and phaser's require more power and fuel and would likely be wiped out before they're superior over time firepower could come into play.