Torpedo Sphere torpedo calcs

mr. big · Post by **mr. big** » 2003-05-12 03:31pm

Torpedo Sphere torpedo calcs:

The Torpedo Sphere was designed to defeat planetary sheilding using torpedo's.
I thought this would make for quite some interesting calcs, since the shields on
Alderaan blocked about 2/3 of the Deathstars superlaser, which is rated at 1E38 J.

Here goes:

First, I'm going to calculate Alderaans shielding in joules per second.
I'm going to use http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Hat ... und1a.html as a
resource to Alderaans shielding.

First, a description of the frames:

Frame 0 : superlaser has not yet made contact with the shield.

Frame 1/3 : superlaser strikes, but shields hold.

Frame 4 : superlaser breaches the shield.

Frame 5 : superlaser smashes planet.

Frame 6 : no more visible superlaser.

-Framerate is 24fps

So, the shields held for 3 frames, or 1/8th of a second, and the remaining part of
the superlaser beam impacted in two frames, or 1/12th of a second.

That means, that 1E38 J where imparted in 1/12th of a second.
In three frames, 1,5E38 J where blocked by the shield.

So, Alderaans shields would be able to block 1,5E38 x 8 = 1,2E39 J per second.

Peak dissipation rate would then be 1,2E39 W (I think, correct me if I'm wrong)

On to the Torpedo Sphere:
Reference: http://www.galacticempiredatabank.com/TorpSphere.html

In the description, it mentions that the Torp Sphere focuses on powerdrops in the shields,
and that these powerdrops never exceeds 20%.

20% of 1,2E39 W = 2,4E38W, 1,2E39 W minus 2,4E38 W = 9,6EW38 W
I'm going to round it up to an easier number: 1E39 W

Now we need to know how many torpedo's are needed to down the shield.

In the description it mentions that "The target area rarely exceeds 6 metre square".
However, it also mentions "the Sphere will launch a volley of torpedoes at the target
area". That means 500 torpedo's will hit a 6 metre square. I doubt its possible, but, to
be conservative I'm going to use the 500 torpedo's number.

So, 500 torpedo's are needed to take down a 1E39 W shield.
However, torpedo's deliver their energy in a timespan much shorter than a second, if they
behave the same as nukes.

Excerpt from http://nuketesting.enviroweb.org/hew/Nwfaq/Nfaq2.html
(near the bottom of the page):

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A large part of the fusion fuel can be burned before expansion quenches the reaction by
reducing the density, which takes some 20-40 nanoseconds. The power output of a fusion
capsule is noteworthy. The largest bomb ever exploded had a yield of 50 Mt, almost all
produced by its final fusion stage. Since 50 Mt is 2.1x10^17 joules, the power produced
during the burn was around 5.3x10^24 watts. This is more than one percent of the entire
power output of the Sun (4.3x10^26 watts)!! The peak output was possibly even greater.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also, nukes are not directed, but Star Wars torpedo's are. I will assume that the torpedo's
detonate 1meter from the shields, and that 90 % percent of the energy released will hit
the target.

I'll simply say that 1E39 W is enough to defeat the shields, seeing as it was rounded up
in the first place.

W = 1E39 / 500 (dissipation rate divided by # of torpedo's) = 2E36
W = 2E36

((1 m/3e8 m/s) + 5e-8 s)) = (5.34e-8 s) = the amount of time needed to release the energy

W = 2E36 * (5.34E-8 s) = 1.068E28
W = 1.068E28
W = 0.9 (amount of energy directed at the shields) / 1.068E28 = 1.187E28

So, if I've done this correctly (if I haven't, feel free to correct me),
one torpedo releases 1.187E28 J of energy.

Converted to tonnes, that is: 2.832 exatons (again, per torpedo)

Again, if I made a mistake, feel free to correct me.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2003-05-12 03:35pm

The torpedo vollies seem to just poke a hole in some shield irregularity--it isn't battering down with raw power.

mr. big · Post by **mr. big** » 2003-05-12 05:02pm

Crap. I thought that the 20% power surge in the shields was the shield irregularity.

Stupid me.

Sr.mal · Post by **Sr.mal** » 2003-05-12 07:36pm

The torpedo sphere knocks a small hole in the sheild with LOS to the generator. Once the hole is opened the sphere fires its turbolaser and destroys the sheild generator.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-05-12 08:32pm

Sr.mal wrote:The torpedo sphere knocks a small hole in the sheild with LOS to the generator. Once the hole is opened the sphere fires its turbolaser and destroys the sheild generator.

The gap is so short lived it seems they have to have the turbolaser shots in flight before the torpedoes even impact.

nightmare · Post by **nightmare** » 2003-05-12 10:35pm

There is also the fact that the torpedoes of the TS are optimized for planetary shieldbusting and gives much less damage in regular ship to ship combat.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2003-05-12 10:45pm

Also, they target a weak spot in the shield. Death Star doesn't do that.

Andras · Post by **Andras** » 2003-05-21 12:23pm

what would the ratio of 6sq m to the surface area of a planetary shield be? and the resulting ratio of that vs the total power of the shield?