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Title Posted
Operation Ark's mission plan Apr 2009
A comparative look at the BC(P) vs BC(L) Apr 2009
Where is the RMMC boot camp located? Apr 2009
Do you plan ahead for which characters die? Apr 2009
Elizabeth III is <em>not </em>an irrational nut-job Apr 2009
Order of Battle: Third Clash - The Great Visit Reserve Apr 2009
Wealth and opportunities in the Solarian League Apr 2009
More on the Keyhole platforms Mar 2009
How much has the Maya Sector's military capability improved? Mar 2009
The Mesan Spider Drive Mar 2009

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Pearls of Weber

A collection of posts by David Weber containing background information for his stories, collected and generously made available Joe Buckley.

The Mesan Spider Drive

  • Series: Honorverse
  • Date: March 17, 2009

…To the nameless Fly who sent me the e-mail pointing out (a) that the Mesan spider-drive ships mounting the attack on Manticore couldn't possibly tank enough reaction mass for the mission and (b) that the flare of their fusion drives would completely negate any stealth advantages of the spider drive itself, I will simply say that the spider drive ships do not use reaction drives. The scout ships do use reaction thrusters to propel themselves out of the freighter bays in which they were transported to Manticore, but we've seen Honorverse impeller drive ships using reaction thrusters to maneuver lots of times before. In short, this is not going to be a case of Honor's tactics at Cerberus, although some of the same "blind spots" which afflicted General Chernock's units at Cerberus do have parallels in Manticore's preparedness. (And, no, one of those blind spots is not a failure to look for visual cues from little things like massed fusion thrusters.)