Approved Tech Dancer Missile Mk. II

[John Locke]

• Intent: To submit an updated version of the Dancer ECM Missile
• Image Source:
  
  • Top Image: Star Citizen | Stalker V Missile
  • Banners and Photoshop work: By me
• Canon Link: N/a
• Permissions: N/a
• Primary Source:
  
  • Dancer Missile

• Manufacturer: Locke and Key Mechanics
• Affiliation: Locke and Key Mechanics
• Market Status: Closed
• Model: Dancer Missile Mk. II
• Modularity: No
• Production: Mass-Produced
• Materials:
  
  • Durasteel
  • Electronics

• Classification: Capital Missile
• Size: Very Large
• Weight: Extremely Heavy
• Explosive Type: None
• Delivery Method: Self-Propelled/Launched
• Effective Range: Battlefield
• Area Of Effect: Average
• Damage Output: None

• Propulsion and Maneuvering:
  
  • Launch: The Dancer is designed to be launched from an assisted launch system, using a railgun or gravimetric launchers to provide it an initial burst of speed. Note: While designed to be launched from an assisted launch system, it can be fired from a normal capital missile weapon, however this will slow it down decreasing it’s overall survivability.
  • Mid-course: During the main element of its journey towards its target the Dancer utilizes the gravity-powered propulsion of the Huabing drive to carry it forward towards its target.
  • Terminal: During its final attack run on its target, the Dancer fires off an Ion Engine, giving it a last minute burst of speed. At this point the Huabing will switch to a purely maneuvering system, juking the missiles from left to right in order to allow it to avoid oncoming point defense fire.
• Guidance and Tracking
  
  • Launch: During its launch phase the Dancer downloads a data package from its launch ship which contains the data on it’s target and the route it’s been sent on as well as data on the defenses of its target and any friendly IFF signatures in the area.
  • Mid-course: Datalinks provide constant updates to the data package on the missile, providing updates on the evolving nature of the battlefield the missile will have to fight in.
  • Terminal: When the missile gets close enough to its target to trigger the terminal flight sequence the data package is locked in and will not accept further commands to shut down, and further command updates are to be given via a encrypted laser link, though these commands only deal with when to trigger the terminal boost and pathing instructions. This is, in particular, to prevent the effects of the Missile Deactivation Transmitters.
    
    • The Dancer is unique amongst Locke and Key’s latest missile classes in that it is not a combat missile but is instead a support missile. It’s terminal phase is not designed to destroy an enemy ship, but rather to increase the likelihood of other missiles accomplishing that goal.
• ECM/Control Missile
  
  • The Dancer is not a missile built with an offensive focus, but instead is designed to increase the survivability and combat efficiency of other missiles. This is done via 3 separate functions.
    
    • Decoys
      
      • Under the nose cone of the are a set of drones that can be deployed at the optimal time. The drones are able to reproduce the sensor emissions of a missile, effectively making their target’s sensors believe that they are now facing significantly more missiles which would degrade their point defense’s effective capability.
    • ECM:
      
      • In addition to the drones, the Dancer contains a powerful ECM system. The Dancer’s ECM is not designed to provide a long-term distraction from an enemies targeting systems but rather is designed to provide a very powerful explosion of ECM to fuzz up the target’s sensor systems for a short moment. When triggered at the correct time it can blind the enemies sensors just before point defenses engaged the oncoming missiles significantly degrading their capabilities.
    • Command and Control:
      
      • Dancer contains a variety of methods by which it can improve the likelihood of other missiles hitting their targets the used of these capabilities is reliant on specific timing, finding the perfect times to disrupt the enemy’s point defences to allow the maximum damage to occur.
      • The Dancer contains a powerful onboard droid brain running the BARCA tactical AI. By combining the sensor inputs provided by multiple missiles with pre-programmed attack patterns the BARCa is able to determine the best time for the missile to activate it’s various defensive measures.
        
        • The BARCA is also able to adapt the programmed attack patterns, providing updates to the missiles assigned to it via shortwave encrypted lasers.
        • The Barca can be loaded with a single attack pattern, or a variety, allowing either the AI or the controller to select the best plan of attack for a situation.
• Extended Range
  
  • The Ranthar’s grav drive allows it to travel through space without using up it’s fuel, as long as the missile remains powered
• High survivability
  
  • Shields:
    • The Dancer is equipped with a set of Duban Magnetic Shields which are able to provide it significant protection from kinetic and energy based point defense fire.
  • Manoeuvrability:
    • The Huabing gravimetric drive allows the missile to dance across space, performing feats of maneuverability that would be seen as impossible for a normal missile. It doesn’t need to change it’s heading or speed in order to shift in any direction making it very hard to get a solid lock onto.
  • Ultrachrome Tip:
    • The Ultrachrome head of the missile is able to reflect some of the incoming fire giving it even more of a chance of survival in the modern battlefield.

• Now you see me, now you don’t:
  
  • The Dancer has just one purpose, to allow other missiles to get from launcher to target safely, a job it does very well. Through a variety of ECM trickery the Dancer is able to distract and degrade point defences in that critical moment before they engage the oncoming missiles.
• Smarter than your average missile:
  
  • The Dancer contains a powerful Tactical AI, and the programming to use it. The Dancer can connect with the missiles around it, providing them with a localized fire c control that is able to adapt to the changing circumstances around it.
• You can't hit me:
  
  • The Dancer is designed to travel across a battlefield, carrying it’s deadly payload to the enemy, while the launching ship can sit safely out of the range of its opponents. Utilising the gravitational propulsion technology of the Huabing Drive the Danceris able to maintain it’s manoeuvrability even while operating at significant speeds.
• Survivable:
  
  • The Dancer is designed to deliver the payload to the enemy, with multiple systems working together to enable this. The warhead is coated in Pyronium, allowing it to absorb incoming energy fire. The missile is also protected by energy shielding allowing it to shrug off a surprising amount of enemy fire before it’s destroyed. Combined with the missile’s gravity drive it can be a tough nut to crack.

• Not an offensive missile:
  
  • The Dancer is a purely ECM and Control Missile. It has zero offensive capability, and isn’t really much use even as a physical missile since it jettisons it’s nose cone to release the decoys.
• No Sensors:
  
  • The Dancer contains no sensors of its own, instead relying on the data provided by laser link to the missiles around it to examine the battlespace around it.

Missiles have always been more of a starfighter or bomber weapon than a weapon utilized by capital ships. Their raw destructive power is best delivered from a short range in a concentrated barrage. While capital missiles do exist, their impact on the battlefield is low, treated as another direct damage weapon like a turbolaser. The truth was that missiles have always been vulnerable in the arena of combat between capital ships; if it wasn’t because of the preponderance of ECM which blanketed the battlefield it was because of the capable point defences of modern ships. While an individual missile is more powerful than a turbolaser, and a few capital missiles are capable of taking down a ship, that’s only the case if they can actually hit their target.​

​

It is this survivability that Locke and Key Mechanic’s engineers decided to address with the creation of the Dancer Missile and its successor the Dancer Missile Mk. II. ​

​

The engineers at Locke and Key took their new build of capital missiles and removed the warhead, replacing it with a powerful ECM system and a series of deployable decoys. The design concept of the Dancer is simple. A launch of normal capital missiles can be seeded with Dancers when engaging with another ship. Thanks to the built-in comm unit the data in the Dancers can be constantly updated by the tactical department on a ship taking advantage of the ships more powerful sensors and tactical computers. The comms device also allows the Dancers to update the course and transmit activation commands to the rest of the missiles around them. It is almost inevitable that eventually, the missiles will enter the area under the ECM effect of their target and lose contact with the ship that launched them. It is at this point that the Tactical AI onboard the Dancer will take command, using its sensors and the updated data which in had been fed to direct the missiles and optimize their attack run. ​

​

The Dancer missile doesn’t just provide a local tactical hub, it also contains powerful ECM capabilities which it uses during hte attack phase to penetrate enemy missile defence. The Dancer is capable of generating a large burst of jamming, a similar effect to a flash bang for ship sensors or generating a constant distortion similar to a mist. You know something is there but you can’t quite see it. It will also release the decoys it contains, making the number of missiles which appear to be attacking increase. The decoys are most effective when mixed with the flashbang effect since the dancer will blind your sensors and when they come back you are faced with a much larger barrage of missiles raining down on you, the original missiles having been lost in the mix. ​

​

It is through this two pronged system that the Dancer aims to provide safe passage for missiles, bringing them past the Point Defense Envelope to impact with an enemy ship, helping provide a greater chance to bring it down.​

[/JUSTIFY]

 

[MANIAC]

John Locke

It is so cool, I love it!

Approved.