If the point is to be far away from anything that might be damaged by your experiments, then sure. If you also want to keep your place secret, there's exactly zero chance someone will bump into it by accident if it's in some orbit far away from any planet. Of course, they could still tail ships headed there, scan its radio signals, or find it with an infrared telescope.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Research with heavily sensitive equipment is basically the only exception i can think of. And maybe a dyson swarm, though i would argue that's really in the sun's gravity well since it needs to be so close (basically within even Mercury's orbit).
Economically, militarily, infrastructure-wise, habitat-wise... there's basically nothing. Even with asteroid mining you're often better off just digging up the most valuable stuff and transporting it somewhere high-energy. And even then, a dwarf planet like Ceres would make for a better base than something randomly scattered among the rest of the belt.
It's just hard to beat the supply of goods you can gather from a nearby rock.
The other major exception that I can think of are solar powered lasers—for the purpose of driving laser sail spacecraft. Given a need to move between the inner and outer planets, spacing them evenly around the Sun makes a lot of sense (and yes, there is a way to power spacecraft toward the Sun. It involves mirrors).
I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.Well, its an AA platform that means use it like one. It would be used more along the lines of gun-based AA to a point. One of best methods is mobile platforms or protected emplacements. How it is used partly depends on efficacy. Lasers are also impacted by weather and are limited to line of sight. The pro is an instant impact and potentially very accurate.
Edited by TuefelHundenIV on Jun 27th 2020 at 12:39:56 PM
Who watches the watchmen?If we assume that the power supply is similarly portable (maybe "single shot" high-discharge power cells that can be reloaded after each shot?), I'd say it sounds perfect to mount on a vehicle like a truck or an Anti-Air tank. Especially since an autoloader system could quickly exchange power cells.
OR! OR! Or we could load up the laser unit into shells fired from an Anti-Air gun or build it on a missile.
Wait...
Okay for a bit of softer sci-fi fun, Real Robot Genre time. Mech weapons.
If you were to design a set of standardized heavy weaponry for mecha, what would you design. There are no wrong answers here people, I just wanna see how you'd make the mass production guns for your mass produced armored walkers.
Me? I'd probably do something like modern rifles and such, but as autocannons.
@Echoing Silence: Didn't we have this conversation
already, five years ago?
To quote my former self: " First off, I like a magazine fed anti-armor weapon like a discarding sabot round. These would make nice "Anti-Mecha" weapons, and double as an anti-tank round should one come within range (Armour-piercing_discarding_sabot weapons tend to be short ranged
).
Next, anti-infantry. A single or twin-barrel .30 or .50 cal minigun ought to do it. A 20mm semi-autocannon is another option. The 20mm doubles as an anti-building weapon.
An anti-tank missile is a prudent choice. I wouldnt rely on them as a standard weapon, because I see Mecha getting into point-blank range with one another and that's too close for most missiles, but they are the best choice against Main Battle Tanks.
Next, anti-aircraft. I personally like pulse-lasers, if those have been developed by the time the story takes place. Say a one-inch beam that focuses from 100-500 meters. That should take down most flying objects.
Then you need some indirect-fire artillery. Say an 8 inch mortar, one Mecha to carry the mortar, another to carry the ammo.
Of course, no single Mecha is going to carry all these weapons, but that's why you deploy them in squads."
Edited by DeMarquis on Jul 2nd 2020 at 5:23:51 AM
I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.Should we assume Mech Warrior rules, and that long-range precision-guided missiles capable of Roboteching is right off the table?
For each arm (assume two due to limitations of the pilot's ability to control more than that), I'd equip both a heavy weapon (some kind of auto-loading cannon) and a lighter coax weapon for dealing with softer targets. Depending on how yuge these mechs are, the heavy weapon could be something like a magazine-fed 120mm cannon or something smaller like a Bushmaster 25mm gun, with the lighter weapon being something in the anti-aircraft range like a 20mm Vulcan or a heavy machine gun. Shoulders or hips can be used to mount heavier weapons like cannons or racks of missiles, or mission-support equipment like cargo bins, additional fuel/power supplies, or electronics suites.
If the mech has a head, add some chin-mounted guns for light defense, either light machine guns for fending off infantry, or if the head is big enough for a cockpit, some heavy machine guns or light antiaircraft guns. Pilot aims by turning his head.
Edited by AFP on Jul 2nd 2020 at 5:15:07 AM
I'd probably go for a little of everything.
For anti-infantry, small caliber rotary guns and micro missiles should do just fine. Don't need too much more if the infantry is as squishy as humans are today.
Anti-tank would probably be a mix. Rapid-fire coil or railguns would likely be my choice in the matter, with some missile tubes for use against buildings and armoured bunkers.
For anti-air and CIWS work I'd probably go for shoulder mounted pulse lasers. Should be able to make quick of anything in the air if given an effective range of 1-2 kilometres.
Edited by ericshaofangwang on Jul 4th 2020 at 12:01:13 AM
This is the internet. Jokes fly over in private jets, and sarcasm has bullshit stealth technology.Hmm fun with Mecha.
A gun in auto-cannon caliber no greater than 30mm with MP ammo and an armored magazine for each arm under a primary weapon on each side for anti-infantry. One side is a large high power dialable output laser with the ability to adjust the size of the laser spot from tiny mm focal points to expanded projections the size of a bus for short-range work. The other side is a multi-purpose guided rocket system with some limited anti-air capability but primarily used on agile ground targets and some bunkers. it doesn't have arms it has the weapons mounted on rotating bases for up down motion and side to side mobility from their mounts.
Or say fuck it and make it giant walking flame fougasse firing sci-fi super napalm and makes the biggest gallery flame projectors look like quaint lawn sprinklers.
Who watches the watchmen?Is it even remotely plausible that any interplanetary government would tolerate a corporation selling fighters to space pirates?
Or I suppose you could have pirate factions having smaller ships that can be modified for fighter operations?
I literally want an excuse for asymmetric fighter combat without escalating it to war with a faction turning it in into symmetric fighter combat.
Directly and openly? Probably not. With a few greased palms in the right places? Sure.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"The same way the UN lets the Russians and Chinese sell arms to terrorists, insurgents, and other disruptive groups. Also, ISIS sure had quite a few nice new trucks before they got splattered across the desert.
Space is so vast it would be impossible to hunt down every hidden operation and illicit factory or manufacturing facility. The options for smuggling especially on the edges of a given territory are literally astronomical. Once you can freely travel between systems halting any sort of illicit trade in the big picture becomes impossible.
Edited by TuefelHundenIV on Jul 8th 2020 at 5:06:41 AM
Who watches the watchmen?The UN isn't a government. It doesn't have any authority over it's members and with China and Russia being countries in their own right the comparison breaks down.
Essentially, the Company needs to be the Government in order for this system to work.
Edited by Belisaurius on Jul 8th 2020 at 6:10:52 AM

I would also argue that there's not much point in placing a station in deep space. Pretty much anything worth fighting over or worth orbiting has a gravity well.