Ashin Varanin
Professional Enabler
Intent: To note how ablative armour works, so far as I understand it, and to use it to make ships. Mainly just to flesh out a real-life thing that exists on Wookieepedia as a stub, because I want to use it without referring to a stub that explains nothing.
Development Thread: None
Manufacturer: Clan Rekali, Inc.
Model: Kyor'gam 'Decaying Armour' Ablative Plating
Affiliation: Clan Rekali, select customers
Modularity: No
Production: Mass-Produced.
Material: Ablative material with a complex and proprietary chemical formula.
Description: Ablative armour is a secondary armour coating, applied overtop of a starship's hull. When facing extreme heat (such as unshielded reentry or turbolaser bombardment), the armour ablates (burns/vaporizes bit by bit). The energy requirements of vaporization bleed off a portion of the incoming heat. The expanding, cooling layer of vaporized plating creates a temporary barrier which further counters the energy of the strike or successive strikes.
(+) Significantly improved protection against energy weapons, moderately increased protection against other weapons.
(+/-) Short-term gain, long-term disadvantage. Ablative armour, by definition, goes poof bit by bit. It radically increases survivability, especially against energy weapons, but this benefit fades the longer the battle goes on. Prolonged engagements increase the likelihood that any given impact will strike a point that has taken several previous impact, which would pit the strike against conventional armour.
(-) Compounding the above point, ship designers and modifiers face tough choices about armour load. For a vessel to have a full load of armour covered in a full load of Kyor'gam, sacrifices of speed and maneuverability would need to be made (+2 for both). This drawback would decrease (to +1) during sustained engagements where vessels had taken enough hits to erode large portions of their armour. (This means that vessels submitted with both full armour and Kyor'gam would be expected to have both speeds noted: the baseline-plus-two speed for undamaged use, and the baseline-plus-one speed for damaged use. If Kyor'gam is applied aftermarket to a military ship, its speed can be assumed to suffer commensurately.)
(-) When struck by hypervelocity gun fire or starship collision, among other things, the ablative armour can crack and chip.
(-) After every serious battle, the Kyor'gam must be patched and partially or wholly replaced.
Note that putting ablative armour underneath, between, or within other layers is a really bad idea for hull integrity, for two reasons. One, confined space gives the heat fewer escape options, leading to faster decay. Two, the resulting quasi-empty space(s) are just not a good idea. Always apply Kyor'gam as the outermost layer of your hull.
Note also that Kyor'gam is designed and intended for use by starships, facilities, and heavy vehicles. If applied to personal armour, it could probably increase resistance against a few blaster shots, but wouldn't confer serious anti-lightsabre benefits or anything like that. It would also be pretty heavy.
Primary Source: Not influenced by any Chaos submissions. RL sources:
Development Thread: None
Manufacturer: Clan Rekali, Inc.
Model: Kyor'gam 'Decaying Armour' Ablative Plating
Affiliation: Clan Rekali, select customers
Modularity: No
Production: Mass-Produced.
Material: Ablative material with a complex and proprietary chemical formula.
Description: Ablative armour is a secondary armour coating, applied overtop of a starship's hull. When facing extreme heat (such as unshielded reentry or turbolaser bombardment), the armour ablates (burns/vaporizes bit by bit). The energy requirements of vaporization bleed off a portion of the incoming heat. The expanding, cooling layer of vaporized plating creates a temporary barrier which further counters the energy of the strike or successive strikes.
(+) Significantly improved protection against energy weapons, moderately increased protection against other weapons.
(+/-) Short-term gain, long-term disadvantage. Ablative armour, by definition, goes poof bit by bit. It radically increases survivability, especially against energy weapons, but this benefit fades the longer the battle goes on. Prolonged engagements increase the likelihood that any given impact will strike a point that has taken several previous impact, which would pit the strike against conventional armour.
(-) Compounding the above point, ship designers and modifiers face tough choices about armour load. For a vessel to have a full load of armour covered in a full load of Kyor'gam, sacrifices of speed and maneuverability would need to be made (+2 for both). This drawback would decrease (to +1) during sustained engagements where vessels had taken enough hits to erode large portions of their armour. (This means that vessels submitted with both full armour and Kyor'gam would be expected to have both speeds noted: the baseline-plus-two speed for undamaged use, and the baseline-plus-one speed for damaged use. If Kyor'gam is applied aftermarket to a military ship, its speed can be assumed to suffer commensurately.)
(-) When struck by hypervelocity gun fire or starship collision, among other things, the ablative armour can crack and chip.
(-) After every serious battle, the Kyor'gam must be patched and partially or wholly replaced.
Note that putting ablative armour underneath, between, or within other layers is a really bad idea for hull integrity, for two reasons. One, confined space gives the heat fewer escape options, leading to faster decay. Two, the resulting quasi-empty space(s) are just not a good idea. Always apply Kyor'gam as the outermost layer of your hull.
Note also that Kyor'gam is designed and intended for use by starships, facilities, and heavy vehicles. If applied to personal armour, it could probably increase resistance against a few blaster shots, but wouldn't confer serious anti-lightsabre benefits or anything like that. It would also be pretty heavy.
Primary Source: Not influenced by any Chaos submissions. RL sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ablation#Spaceflight
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_entry#Ablative
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ablative_armor
