Drones as probes

[scvn2812 (OP)]

So I'm designing the latest generation of my exploration ship and I'd like it to be able to carry very long range drones for buzzing potential sites where alien bases might be concealed. The question I had is how do I launch such a thing? Do I need a fire control that can reach that far or is there another way to get a drone out that way?

[Theeht]

You can set a waypoint and launch missiles or drones at it

[GeaXle]

I think you also still need a fire control for that, but a very small one is enough. It just needs to be link to the launcher in order to work.

[Girlinhat]

You need a fire control, for sure, as my own attempts revealed that they do need a FC of some type.  I don't think it needs to be of appropriate range, I was able to shoot missiles outside of my range, but I haven't looked much into it so don't quote me on that.

I'd also point out that you definately want an active sensor on the drone, or else you're not going to see anything, and the weapon will strike towards whatever it finds, so it won't be a standing sensor buoy.  I'm not sure... you -may- be able to load a buoy as a secondary ordinance, set to deploy at 0km so that it'll deploy a buoy when it reaches the target location.  I somewhat doubt that this would work, however it's worth a try.

[Steve Walmsley]

You need a fire control, for sure, as my own attempts revealed that they do need a FC of some type.  I don't think it needs to be of appropriate range, I was able to shoot missiles outside of my range, but I haven't looked much into it so don't quote me on that.

I'd also point out that you definately want an active sensor on the drone, or else you're not going to see anything, and the weapon will strike towards whatever it finds, so it won't be a standing sensor buoy.  I'm not sure... you -may- be able to load a buoy as a secondary ordinance, set to deploy at 0km so that it'll deploy a buoy when it reaches the target location.  I somewhat doubt that this would work, however it's worth a try.

Yes, you can have a buoy as a second stage. You could even have a buoy with its own second stage, which is a way of remotely deploying a minefield.

Steve

[HaliRyan]

Or making a really expensive Matryoshka doll.

[Girlinhat]

That's fantastic!  I think that blind drones carrying buoys have real potential.  If fired at a waypoint and set to release payload at 0km, will that cause the drone to fly to the waypoint and release the buoy on the waypoint, or will it do some "no target, better sit and wait" stuff?

[Steve Walmsley]

That's fantastic!  I think that blind drones carrying buoys have real potential.  If fired at a waypoint and set to release payload at 0km, will that cause the drone to fly to the waypoint and release the buoy on the waypoint, or will it do some "no target, better sit and wait" stuff?

If you fire a missile or drone at a waypoint, it will automatically release any second stage when it arrives. A mine, which is a buoy with sensors and some sub-munitions, will wait until detecting a target before releasing the sub-munitions.

Steve

[Girlinhat]

So, it works exactly how you'd expect a remote-deployed sensor buoy to work.  Fantastic~

[blue emu]

The main drawback that I've found to minefield buoys is the limited reactor lifetime. It would be nice if mines deployed sufficiently close to a star... say, within the Hyperlimit... could be solar-powered by dedicating some of the MSP to solar panels.

[Girlinhat]

Not used buoys much, but seconded.  Be very fun to have decades old minefields suddenly giving someone trouble!  Maybe giving yourself trouble if they went a little haywire after a while...

[Steve Walmsley]

The main drawback that I've found to minefield buoys is the limited reactor lifetime. It would be nice if mines deployed sufficiently close to a star... say, within the Hyperlimit... could be solar-powered by dedicating some of the MSP to solar panels.

This will probably happen in Newtonian Aurora at some point. Missiles, buoys and drones are all combined into one design process that covers all three. Sensors require power (on missiles and ships) and that power source can be either a reactor or solar panels. Reactor lives will be in the timeframe of decades, if I even bother with a time limit.

Steve