Quote:
Originally Posted by grevierr
Erm, actually the front part of the Diver pod IS a kinetic weapon system. Its meant to reduce the amount of BETA on the ground when the TSF component arrives.
Also, I read somewhere the Diver idea was for deep Hive infiltration through the core of the Stab, but because of the tens of thousands of laser class inside the sides of the hole, out of 100 pods, only 5 made it through, or something.
They changed the design to use on near hive infiltration of the tunnel system instead after that. Survival rates are still less than 20%.
You can check out the english translation of Chicken Divers. It has the current exchange rates of pilots.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLml-ANIRjo |
That's kind of what I meant. The re-entry shell being already a kinetic strike system, that proves they are already capable of pulling off orbital kinetic strikes despite the lasers. Well, Isumi did mention that they had to thin out the lasers with artillery and ground assault first, generally expecting 70% of lasers on the surface to be removed before the drop. Arguably nothing really stopping them from, well, scaling it up a bit to make bigger holes or use it to deliver some megaton-class munitions instead of a TSF. Might cost fewer lives that way, make it easier to get a foothold on entry points to the Hive and thin the BETA numbers, since setting off very high-yield explosives in an underground complex tends to be quite powerful, with the tunnels focusing the shockwave along.
Already watched Chicken Divers, the downloadable version with the timed subtitle file as opposed to the Youtube captioned one. It's mentioned that nine out of a hundred Divers don't make it to the ground (which is where I got my previous 91% figure from), sounds more or less good enough.