X-wing Books: Proton Torpedos

I'm almost certain that one pin is enough to pop a balloon, .

 

The effectivness of a 1.5 kiloton proton torpedo is proportional to what squadron is fireing them, or what hero characters use them.

X-Wing lasers are between 1-2 kilotons. Based on laser ratings for Jedi Starfighters and Slave 1.

Proton Torpedo yields are in the tens of megatons to multi-hundred-gigaton.

Example: Slave 1 AOTC missile: 191 megatons

Acclamator main-guns: 200 gigatons.

Those Acclamator guns are heavy weapons aboard a Clone Wars-era troopship.

To knock out shields of something like an Interdictor, we're talking gigaton or even teraton torpedoes.

However, proton torpedoes probably refers to a whole family of missiles, where as you have heavy, high-yield, anti-fighter, ground-assault types. There is canon support for this, as Arca's vessel chronicalled in the Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology is equipped with "high-yield proton torpedoes."

For example, in the EG: Weapons and Tech they say that Proton Torpedos carry nuclear warheads...now this would be enough to shred any non-sheilded craft (Like Ties) within at least a 8 KM radius.

You are wrong. They are actually correct. Except the nuclear weapons are directional-blasts.

Stop deriving nuke knowledge from media.

TIEs are made (like all SW stuff) from hyperdurable materials (superconducting hulls imbedded with hyperdense neutronium--stuff from neutron stars) that nuclear missiles can't scratch.

SW2 ICS identifies that each of the missiles on the gunships carried warheads unleashing directional blasts (think like anti-tank shaped charges--they direct blast force) comparable to modern-day high-yield strategic nuclear weapons. Much of the energy is in kinetics or radiation, not heat...so they don't create the massive fireballs and blast clouds. They just drill through superexotic armor capable of taking nukes, like the Acclamator hull.

Nukes don't work like that in space--the area affect of nukes is caused by displaced air by the extreme injection of heat into the atmosphere. If you transform energy..its different. Hurricanes unleash megatons of energy a second, for example.

For comparisons:

Average strategic nuke warhead onboard ICBMs: 300 kilotons

Largest nuke ever (Russian "Tsar Bomba"): 50 megatons.

 

you dont get it. have you ever seen the bed of nails trick? where i fat guy lays on a bed of nails and dosent get a scratch? its the same idea.

when you distribute out the pressure it becomes weaker, hence more nails, guy doesent get hurt. but when you have that same guy step on one nail, all that force is concentrated in one area so it goes right up his foot.

 

sorry didn't read your post correctly SirLancelot. Ya, I know what your saying, it is a good analogy.

As for the 1.5(kiloton or gigaton, can't remember exactly) number, bob, that was just me going by memory, as I recall one of the sourcebooks gave that number for them, IIRC.

 

its cool, i just think its funny that no one pointed that out before

 

It ok Val, I'm not going to call you up by specifics...I'm relying on my Episode II ICS (by Saxton, naturally), and raw memory.

I still would believe that not all torpedoes have the same yield, or the same make. Akyards could be different from Incom torps, for example.

That's probably the yield for anti-fighter light torps like the ones used by Luke at Yavin, since those are the archetypical movie torpedoes.

Keep in mind those also were smaller then a man's head and pulled some very high-G manuvers pulling into that trench. I'd think that anti-ship torpedoes are somewhat different. No contradiction, just interpretation.

 

I agree on your points, like I was saying in earlier posts in this thread, the rpg did confirm that different companies made different torpedos, IIRC. I honestly couldn't tell you which one was supposed to have the 1.5 (whatever) yield, and most of that post was in jest anyways for humor sake.

 

ya, i always thought that the lasers in the asteriod fields where odd looking

 

I still would believe that not all torpedoes have the same yield, or the same make. Akyards could be different from Incom torps, for example.

Well, there are different kinds of concussion missles. There are anti starfighter types, and thent here are the assault concussion missles used for taking out cap ships according to Cracken's Threat Dossier. So why not different types of torps?

 

SirLancelot:

I have no argument with your thinking, but then the question arrises, "If twelve starfighters can carry enough torpedos to take out an ImpStar (1 or Deuce), then whats the point in spending billions of credits to build the darn things?

Why build any capital ships for that matter?

 

No, because few fighter squads are elite squads. If you sent 12 fighters against a Star Destroer, chances are none of them would survive.

 

Well if my amateur squadron manages to get all its torpedos out of the launchers by hypering in from say 20 clicks out, then it doesn't really matter...

Unless you contend that Elite squads can fire their missles in such a way that they can't be shot down...

 

in the later X-Wing games starships could shoot down torperdos that where targeted. but in the books there is none of that.

thats really why the Rebellion uses ships that have torpedos. so they could be a threat to capships without capships of their own

 

Well if my amateur squadron manages to get all its torpedos out of the launchers by hypering in from say 20 clicks out, then it doesn't really matter...

The miminimum range is five. You have to get in the starships face in order to launch torps at it. You'll only survive the Star Destroyer's guns if you're really good. It's TIEs as well. Also, there's a chance that your torps will be shot down.

 

But if the NR can kill an SD a week with the Rogues...then they're still TOO vulnerable...

 

but thats just one eliet squadron. most of the time they cant even destroy it totally, they just get it to withdrawl or disable

 

There are few instances in which Rogue Squad managed to take out an entire Star Destroyer...

 

Matt...more than a few...

 

I actually can't remember any... except for Corrupter and maybe two others.

 

The Star Destroyers do seme to be veriably effective. If they can jam torpedos as Zahn states then it doens't matter how experienced the crew is, it's a technical ability and not one based on experienced.
Unless the crews don't know they have that ability, which is rather ... odd.

In any case, it doesn't just have to be one squadron, you could probably buy lots of squadrons for less then half the cost of an SD. They'd be ineffective at some of the other tasks an SD takes care of, but they could certainly destroy an SD with 'acceptable losses'.

 

Dumb fire the torpedoes. Not as effective, but a star destroyer is a pretty big target...

 

But matt, why can't every squad dumb fire torps...?

Anyway...it just makes SD's too vulnerable...