Another project... Which for my own good I've not started in earnest. One of my favorite campaigns, "Cardinal Spear," has one of the coolest bombers around, but the bomber itself was little more than a table hack. This of course is the GTB Gorgon. As part of the developmental work on this bird, I started writing about it, starting with the weapon system. Here's the write-up I started a long time ago... I just felt I'd like to share:
The Gorgon bomber was the first Terran combat craft to accurately be described as an assualt bomber. Though referred to as a "strategic" or "heavy" bomber during its 25-year service, the Gorgon would lay the groundwork for the design of the GTA's, and later the GTVA's, advanced heavy bomber force during the First and Second Shivan Incursions. The key to this success was in the bomber's weapon system, which was revolutionary for its time...
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The GTB Gorgon's weapon system was part of a sophisticated suite of electronics, machinery, and raw carrying capacity. These characteristic traits of the Gorgon made it the premier heavy weapon system in the GTA's arsenal from 2312 up until the end of the Great War in 2335. Only the Vasudan PVB Amun could compare similarly in combat to the Gorgon.
The Gorgon had three distinct weapon systems incorporated into its design: (a.) An advanced, high-capacity internal stores and delivery system, (b.) a heavy, albeit limited, primary weapon system designed for use against capital-sized targets, and (c.) an automatic defensive turret system designed to protect the bomber from fighter attack. The following sections will analyze each of the distinct weapons systems in order and detail:
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The GTB Gorgon was one of the first Terran bombers to make use of a triple-partitioned internal weapons system. Though service modifications would effectively reduce the number of secondary banks to two main banks and a "ballistic primary" bank, the arrangement would be a significant influence on later craft to enter Terran service; this was especailly true for the GTB Medusa, which began entering service about three years into the Great War at an evaluation level. The weapons capability of the Gorgon was also a key consideration in the design of the GTB Ursa, the craft which would truly replace the older Gorgon in Terran service.
A first secondary bank would be conventionally mounted upon the outboard engine pylons, which also housed the Gorgon's primary weapon system. An integral loading system would load torpedoes, heavy rockets, and other ordnance types into launch tubes from an internal magazine which stemmed from the bomber's fuselage. This secondary bank system was designed primarily to handle heavy ordnance, though certain lighter weapons could also be employed from this assembly.
A second secondary bank was also was fitted for the type of ordnance perscribed above, though its functionality was far more specialized. The battery was mounted on the ventral surface of the bomber's hull, directly beneath the main seconary magazine. The positioning of this firing port, the MDLS (Multi-Driectional Launch System), allowed the GTB Gorgon to undertake missions ranging from mine drops to "dive bombing" planets with kinetic kill systems - commonly referred to as "God's Rods."
A third, dedicated weapons bank would house the venerated Vulcan cannon. The Vulcan itself was a peculiar weapon. Designed to be mounted with minimal modifications into a fighter or bomber's internal weapons bay, the Vulcan would effectively engulf the given volume with both the projectile accelerator assembly as well as the feed drums which contained the weapon system's caseless ammuntion supplies. Lastly, the power supply was an independent unit within the assembly, allowing the weapon to function without drawing any energy from the host ship's reactor.
It should be noted that the third secondary bank was originally intended to house fighter-grade weapon systems to use in defense of the bomber. Though the mounting of this bank beneath the nose of the bomber was found to be particularly good for this role, the combination of jamming systems and all-too-easily spoofed guidance controllers on board early Terran fighter weapons proved to be a lethal combination to a bomber without a viable multi-role primary weapon system. Thus, Han-Ronald engineers determined to fit a specialized Vulcan mount onto the Gorgon to rectify the issue - the weapon was a perfect fit for the bomber.
Despite its modularity, the Vulcan was still limited to use in only a few types, including the Apollo, Athena, the new Medusa bombers, as well as the Gorgon. This was mainly due to the size of the weapon system. The launcher itself was much too large to be installed as a primary weapon system, and the ammuntion for the weapon was much too large to fit a reasonable quantity into a standardized primary ammunition tank or capacitor battery.
The launcher or "cannon" was a simple linear accelerator operation acting on the Gauss principle - a coil gun. This in itself was not terribly large, but the full assembly of the weapon was a four-barrel monstrosity which would fire in an alternate pattern; the pattern itself deserves a more complete descrption:
The four barrels were separated as pairs in the weapon assembly - the Vulcan thus operated as a "two-barrel" weapon. The gun's feed system would rotate each dual barrel assembly about for loading the projectile and then again for firing the weapon. The weapon was designed in such a manner that its operation would help recharge the integral capacitor upon firing, thus keeping the loading on the generator low.
The Vulcan's ammunition consisted of caseless, 76mm, rocket-propelled projectiles. The self-oxidizing fuel was ignited upon the firing of the weapon (this is another reason for the rotating barrel assembly) and helped account for the Vulcan's legendary projectile speed. Indeed, the combination of linear acceleration from the coil gun and the high thrust of the rocket resulted in a wicked round which delivered both long reach, high power, and impressive volume. Though equipped with an explosive round, the Vulcan shell was primarily a kinetic kill weapon. It should be noted that these properties gave the weapon system an impressive edge against subsystems, and until the development of dedicated anti-subsystem devices, a specialized Vulcan round was the weapon of choice for the GTA in terms of disabling hostile vessels.
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The GTB Gorgon's primary weapon system was a cruiser-grade, dual-linked plasma cannon. The system assembly was massive, and even with an extremely powerful capacitor bank, it was necessary for the the weapons to be tied directly into the ship's main engine reactors to function with any degree of proficiency. This level of integration in the primary weapon system prevented any other weapon type from being emloyed. This would be one of the factors which would aid in the retirement of the Gorgon...
In the field the plasma cannon was a nightmare for service technicians. The plasma was prone to corroding the guns or genarally burning them out, meaning that the weapons were only viable for a few shots each sorite before needing an overhaul. Though the barrels were fairly easy to repair or replace (depending on the level of use and wear upon them), the interior assembly also needed to be continually monitored. Although this portion of the weapon was fairly resistant to damage, any problem present and not accounted for could rapidly foul the entire assembly, ruining the weapon. In the worst case scenario, the explosive plasma discharge could burst inside the weapon, destroying the bomber instantly while also putting surrounding craft in severe danger.
The crews operating the weapon system were equally challenged. Although the pilot of the Gorgon was responsible for firing the weapon, the WSO was given the task of managing the weapon and arming the next shot. Depending on the range to the target as well as the desired explosive blast to impart required the weapon system operator "dial in" the necessary plasma load into the fire control system. The process was not completely autonomous on the grounds that an autonomous plasma loading system had resulted in several Gorgon losses due to miscalculations which an observant crewman would not have made. The WSO was thus also responsible for keeping an eye on the status of the weapons while in combat. Again, overloading the cannons could result in the loss of the bomber and the death of the crew...
The pilot was equally responsible for the crew's safety when using the weapon. Even with a low-power blast, detonation of the plasma bolt near the bomber could result is severe damage to the craft or even its destruction. The release of energy from impact could spew charged particles at tremendous velocities from both the plasma itself as well as whatever material the bolt had effectively vaporized. Obviously, anything near impact would face a dense wall of high-speed particles which very well might destroy the given ship.
Despite its flaws, the GTB Gorgon's plasma cannon assembly has the distinction of being the most powerful cannon system EVER to be employed by a GTA/GTVA fighter or bomber. Though the Gorgon was not suited to fight the Shivans, it was cited to have performed admirably when available for deployment.
