Planetary Turbolasers?

Techno_Union · Post by **Techno_Union** » 2004-06-18 10:18pm

Have the planetary TLs ever been calculated for weapon's strength? Also, does anyone know how many shots it would take to destroy an ISD?

FTeik · Post by **FTeik** » 2004-06-19 03:20am

Well, there is the planetary defense-turbolaser KDY-165, which is said to be able to destroy a star destroyer with a single shot.

Since according to the ISB 25% of the power-output of a vessel go into shields, the firepower of this cannon should be above 25% percent of a SD´s reactor-output, but not much.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-06-19 03:24am

I think that it would have to be somewhat well above 25% of the reactor output, considering that it doesn't need to just knock out the shields, but destroy the ISD as well.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2004-06-19 03:25am

FTeik wrote:Well, there is the planetary defense-turbolaser KDY-165, which is said to be able to destroy a star destroyer with a single shot.

Since according to the ISB 25% of the power-output of a vessel go into shields, the firepower of this cannon should be above 25% percent of a SD´s reactor-output, but not much.

Why not by much? If something can overwhelm a starship's shields with a single shot, its max output should be vastly greater than the amount of energy pumped into the shielding by the defending starship. Episode II ICS confirms the logic that it requires less energy to shield a ship than to overwhelm the same shields, since Padme's yacht has a peak shielding output GREATER than its reactor output.

However, where is it said that the 165 can destroy an ISD in a single shot? I've heard it can duel an ISD on even ground, but not that it can utterly annihilate one like that.

FTeik · Post by **FTeik** » 2004-06-19 06:15am

I was working with an energy-estimate for the ISD-reactor of 10^26 Watt (based on the small star-comparison).

One quater of that would be 2.5*10^25 Watt, what would come close to six million gigatons of firepower (i know, that the total energy for shields is probabely split up between different sections of the shield, but i took it as an upper limit - it would also probabely equal out the larger energy-requirement in comparison to the shields to overcome them, see Padme´s yacht).

"Not much" is a relative meaning, since even ten percent more firepower than the 2.5*10^25 watt for the shields would still be a half million gigaton worth of TNT and that should be enough to deal with an unshielded ISD.

Aside from that, an ISD wouldn´t be of much use, if it can be easily taken out by a planetary defense-cannon, so my line of thought was, that the cannon has to be barely able to take it out.

You´re free to correct me there, if i´m wrong.

Vohu Manah · Post by **Vohu Manah** » 2004-06-19 07:16am

Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology, entry for KDY w-165 Planetary Turbolaser (page 100 - 101) wrote:...

With a power output nearly four times that of the v-150 Planet Defender ion cannon, the w-165 is one of the most powerful turbolasers ever built. It's sustained volleys can destroy even an Imperial Star Destroyer, ripping through armor plating to pierce the ship's vulnerable main reactor and cause a titanic explosion that can literally rip apart one of those massive battle cruisers.

...

Luzifer's right hand · Post by **Luzifer's right hand** » 2004-06-19 07:47am

FTeik wrote: Aside from that, an ISD wouldn´t be of much use, if it can be easily taken out by a planetary defense-cannon, so my line of thought was, that the cannon has to be barely able to take it out.

Planetary defense weapons should not be able to hit ships of an attacking fleet.
They could just stay a few light minutes away with full ECM and random location changes and bombard the planet.
The planetary defense-cannons could only hit a ship with luck,
the planet on the other hand can not change it's location and ECM is useless because it's easy to predict the orbit of a planet around the sun.

FTeik · Post by **FTeik** » 2004-06-19 11:17am

Luzifer's right hand wrote:
FTeik wrote: Aside from that, an ISD wouldn´t be of much use, if it can be easily taken out by a planetary defense-cannon, so my line of thought was, that the cannon has to be barely able to take it out.
Planetary defense weapons should not be able to hit ships of an attacking fleet.
They could just stay a few light minutes away with full ECM and random location changes and bombard the planet.
The planetary defense-cannons could only hit a ship with luck,
the planet on the other hand can not change it's location and ECM is useless because it's easy to predict the orbit of a planet around the sun.

If that were true, what is the use of planetary defense-cannons at all?

You´d be better of to put your money into a fleet of your own.

Haze Gray · Post by **Haze Gray** » 2004-06-19 01:29pm

Planetary defense weapons don't seem to be used much in Star Wars anyway. If I had to guess they are probably relatively antiquated technologies that were made obsolete by the Empire's new ships. That's just what I think, anyway.

Techno_Union · Post by **Techno_Union** » 2004-06-19 01:58pm

Haze Gray wrote:Planetary defense weapons don't seem to be used much in Star Wars anyway. If I had to guess they are probably relatively antiquated technologies that were made obsolete by the Empire's new ships. That's just what I think, anyway.

Not really, many Imperial worlds still had them, and going off of the quote from the Essential Guide, it can pose a threat to even an ISD. But in order for the defense of a planet to work properly, you need ion cannons, turbolasers, and shields.

Luzifer's right hand · Post by **Luzifer's right hand** » 2004-06-19 03:26pm

FTeik wrote:
Luzifer's right hand wrote:
FTeik wrote: Aside from that, an ISD wouldn´t be of much use, if it can be easily taken out by a planetary defense-cannon, so my line of thought was, that the cannon has to be barely able to take it out.
Planetary defense weapons should not be able to hit ships of an attacking fleet.
They could just stay a few light minutes away with full ECM and random location changes and bombard the planet.
The planetary defense-cannons could only hit a ship with luck,
the planet on the other hand can not change it's location and ECM is useless because it's easy to predict the orbit of a planet around the sun.
If that were true, what is the use of planetary defense-cannons at all?

You´d be better of to put your money into a fleet of your own.

They could be useful if someone wants to invade a planet and needs to land troops.

Tribun · Post by **Tribun** » 2004-06-19 04:07pm

Hm...could be another reason why Vader was mad at Ozzel.
Because they were so near to the planet, they would be hit by the planetary defanse weapons, while if they were far away, they could have planned to take them out in the first strike.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2004-06-26 10:17pm

Just a guess-
perhaps planetary weapons cannot fire through the planetary shields?

Therefore, the fleet of ships will pound at your shields for weeks, and when the shields finally fail you can take a few potshots at them while they invade and wipe out some of their ships

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2004-06-26 10:21pm

Praxis wrote:Just a guess-
perhaps planetary weapons cannot fire through the planetary shields?

Right. You can open localized holes in planetary shields for the weapons to fire through, but the timing must be very precise.

A solid defensive setup in Star Wars would be the combined use of planetary weapons batteries, planetary shielding, orbital battle platforms, and a system fleet.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-06-27 12:54am

I wouldn't be surprised if they had their own dedicated shield generators in case the planetary ones went down to keep them going even longer. And, heck, those batteries might just be the straw that breaks the camel's back -- after an attacking fleet has battered their way through the mobile defenders, space stations and taken down the shield they might not have enough to deal with the remaining surface batteries.

Striderteen · Post by **Striderteen** » 2004-06-27 11:50pm

Vohu Manah wrote:
Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology, entry for KDY w-165 Planetary Turbolaser (page 100 - 101) wrote:...

With a power output nearly four times that of the v-150 Planet Defender ion cannon, the w-165 is one of the most powerful turbolasers ever built. It's sustained volleys can destroy even an Imperial Star Destroyer, ripping through armor plating to pierce the ship's vulnerable main reactor and cause a titanic explosion that can literally rip apart one of those massive battle cruisers.

...

This indicates that the w-165 can destroy an ISD with sustained fire, not that it can one-shot-kill an ISD.

Techno_Union · Post by **Techno_Union** » 2004-06-27 11:50pm

phongn wrote:I wouldn't be surprised if they had their own dedicated shield generators in case the planetary ones went down to keep them going even longer. And, heck, those batteries might just be the straw that breaks the camel's back -- after an attacking fleet has battered their way through the mobile defenders, space stations and taken down the shield they might not have enough to deal with the remaining surface batteries.

Sure enough the planetary turbolasers do have their own shields.

Not sure how strong they are but they do have them according to the EGTW&T. True though, any planet with these turbolasers would have an advantage, seeing as though they can take down ISDs with a volley.