Thiosks comment had me think about this, so I thought I would throw in some uses and designs for multi-warhead missile design.
MIRV or multi-stage/multi-warhead missiles dont get used very often because they are big. No getting around that. Big launchers reload slower, and there are ZERO inherent advantages to using big missiles over the average size 3 to size 6 that tend to be the standards.
BUT, big missiles are exactly whats needed for multi-warhead attacks. So, why use them when a good old size 4 does the trick?
The single biggest reason for using them? Saturation!
2nd biggest reason? Range.
MIRV or multi-stage/multi-warhead missiles dont get used very often because they are big. No getting around that. Big launchers reload slower, and there are ZERO inherent advantages to using big missiles over the average size 3 to size 6 that tend to be the standards.
BUT, big missiles are exactly whats needed for multi-warhead attacks.
Multi-stage missiles let you do both of those things, and they are both significant advantages. Lets start with #1, Saturation.
SaturationNothing is more annoying that to watch your big (expensive) missiles got knocked out of space by a wall of cheap anti-missile missiles. So, that generally means that most folks either add more launchers, and generally pursue launcher reduction tech to get to box launchers. Ultimately, the goal is to put more missiles in space then the enemy can effectively shoot down. So, its a numbers game.
Numbers win in Aurora, most of the time. But, there are some issues with how saturation of a target is achieved, and if its sustainable. For most situations, a lot of size 3 to size 6 box launchers with your standard naval missiles are going to do the trick. The down side is that once those box launchers are empty, your ship isnt doing much except soaking up enemy fire in return. And NOT getting shot in return leads us to point #2 Range...
RangeSo, the best kinds off offensive missiles are where you can shoot your missiles off before the bad guys can fire back. Best kind of fight is an unfair one!
So, the problem generally is how to do this when your similar tech, or lower tech than the bad guys. This can be especially true early in the game when your bumping into unfriendly robotic ships with HORDES of anti-missiles and missile tech thats just all around better than what your navy can field.
And those two point combine are where MIRV/multi-stage/multi-warhead missiles can shine.
Example:
A traditional naval force encounters some unfriendly robotic ships. Said bad guys have better AMM, and slightly better range on their basic missiles. A slugging match ensues, with the naval force getting nothing through the AMM's fired by the bad guys. The bad guys inflict damage on the player.
Now, the player is stuck. If they push into close range, they get to see what sandblasting means. If they allow the hostiles to run and rearm, they get to repeat the same drill. Lots of missiles spent for no return, but his ships get shot up.
The traditional solution would be to ignore the system, research box launchers and come back with the mass salvos those produce. Its a good system and strategy, and it works well.
Here is an alternative;
Player race has a max range of 52.5m km, bad guys 65m km. Player AMM range is 2m km, bad guys, 3m km. In this scenario, bad guys are going to have birds in the air long before the good guys.
Solution, dont play to their strengths!
Instead of using the standard naval missile, like this one;
SS-N-4-C Gato III
Missile Size: 4 MSP (0.2 HS) Warhead: 4 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 15
Speed: 30000 km/s Endurance: 29 minutes Range: 52.5m km
Active Sensor Strength: 0.28 Sensitivity Modifier: 110%
Resolution: 50 Maximum Range vs 2500 ton object (or larger): 210,000 km
Cost Per Missile: 3.405
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 450% 3k km/s 150% 5k km/s 90% 10k km/s 45%
You could be using something like this;
SS-N-12-C Haifisch III
Missile Size: 12 MSP (0.6 HS) Warhead: 8 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 15
Speed: 30000 km/s Endurance: 43 minutes Range: 77.5m km
Active Sensor Strength: 0.42 Sensitivity Modifier: 110%
Resolution: 50 Maximum Range vs 2500 ton object (or larger): 320,000 km
Cost Per Missile: 8.545
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 450% 3k km/s 150% 5k km/s 90% 10k km/s 45%
Range is better and the to hit chances are the same, and it packs a MUCH bigger warhead. The problem is, from an anti-missile perspective, this is just as easy to shoot down as standard size 4 missile. This is why big missiles are not used often, it just doesn't pay off.
But taking that same size 12 missile, you can turn it into something like this;
SS-N-12-Km Kingfisher III ASM
Missile Size: 12 MSP (0.6 HS) Warhead: 0 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 10
Speed: 12500 km/s Endurance: 117 minutes Range: 87.5m km
Cost Per Missile: 9.04
Second Stage: SS-N-1b Krait Submunition x4
Second Stage Separation Range: 4,000,000 km
Overall Endurance: 2 hours Overall Range: 91.4m km
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 125% 3k km/s 40% 5k km/s 25% 10k km/s 12.5%
Same size 12, only a third the speed, but great range. More importantly, its packing 4 submunitions. The big difference is that the missile only costs .495 MORE than the standard size 12 above it. Even more importantly, its packing 4 smaller missiles on board, these;
SS-N-1b Krait Submunition
Missile Size: 1.5 MSP (0.075 HS) Warhead: 3 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 17
Speed: 28400 km/s Endurance: 2 minutes Range: 4.0m km
Cost Per Missile: 1.635
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 482.8% 3k km/s 153% 5k km/s 96.6% 10k km/s 48.3%
Individually, these little guys are moderately fast, have a better chance to hit than the either standard size 4 or size 12, and add 4m km to the effective range of the multi-stage package. So the total range of the whole package is 95.4m KM!!! And this is ION tech!
Now, from a total damage perspective, the standard size 12 hits much harder, and digs much deeper into the bad guys armor. But its probably not going to make it since the salvo density is going to be low, unless its being mass fired from box launchers. The little submuntions do the same damage, but in smaller size 4 chunks. AND if one of them gets intercepted, there are still three more warheads that need to be countered.
Now, take something like this missile and load it up on a ship like this;
Wolverine class Cruiser 15,950 tons 964 Crew 2952 BP TCS 319 TH 567 EM 1200
5078 km/s Armour 9-56 Shields 40-300 Sensors 44/33/0/0 Damage Control Rating 15 PPV 72
Maint Life 2.3 Years MSP 578 AFR 407% IFR 5.7% 1YR 148 5YR 2221 Max Repair 224 MSP
Magazine 480
Applied Dynamics E850 Ion Engine (27) Power 60 Fuel Use 60% Signature 21 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 400,000 Litres Range 75.2 billion km (171 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (20) Total Fuel Cost 280 Litres per day
Krupp SM-12 Box Launcher (40) Missile Size 12 Hangar Reload 90 minutes MF Reload 15 hours
Intek Harpoon A Missile Fire Control (1) Range 184.8m km Resolution 100
SS-N-12-Km Kingfisher III ASM (20) Speed: 12,500 km/s End: 116.7m Range: 91.5m km WH: 0 Size: 12 TH: 41 / 25 / 12
SS-N-12-C Haifisch III ASM (20) Speed: 30,000 km/s End: 43m Range: 77.5m km WH: 8 Size: 12 TH: 150 / 90 / 45
Teksystems Skyband 126/50 Search Sensor (1) GPS 11200 Range 126.7m km Resolution 50
Thermal Sensor TH4-44 (1) Sensitivity 44 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 44m km
EM Detection Sensor EM3-33 (1) Sensitivity 33 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 33m km
Note: The fire control above is overbuilt deliberately to counteract enemy ECMYou can salvo 10 of these missiles at a time, for 4x40 warhead salvos. Or you can alpha strike a target for one big 160 warhead salvo. That is a lot of hurt in one place!!
Now, the downside is that most ships dont need that many hits to kill them (full salvo is 480pts of damage). Even assuming 50% get knocked down or miss (which is VERY generous) thats still 240points of damage. On most ships, there will be wasted missile damage.
So, if you want to maximize your potential to inflict the most damage across a fleet and not just one ship, you can replace the 4x unguided submuntions with three of these;
SS-N-2-P Pugio-B Submunition
Missile Size: 2 MSP (0.1 HS) Warhead: 3 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 15
Speed: 30000 km/s Endurance: 2 minutes Range: 4.1m km
Active Sensor Strength: 0.2912 Sensitivity Modifier: 110%
Resolution: 50 Maximum Range vs 2500 ton object (or larger): 220,000 km
Cost Per Missile: 2.1662
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 450% 3k km/s 150% 5k km/s 90% 10k km/s 45%
Now, and residual missiles will seek out other targets.
So, if you have two of the cruisers listed above, and the both fire all launchers at separate targets, that's 120 warheads per target. Assuming the targets are destroyed before all missiles finish impacting, there could be a fair number of loose missiles looking for targets.