User:Supercavitation/FGM-264 MDAAVES



FGM-264 MDAAVES

The FGM-264 Modular Dense Atmosphere Anti Vehicle Engagement System was a prototype weapon system designed for use on planets with high-density atmospheres. It could be launched from any 102mm rocket launchers, and could mount a variety of warheads, which made it an extremely versatile system. It was eventually introduced to the UNSC military in 2572.

Propulsion
The FGM-264 used a high impulse ramjet engine, taking advantage of the abundance of air on planets it was likely to be used on. However, if the atmosphere contained too little oxygen for use of the ramjet, the engine could be replaced with a rocket, but this reduces range.

The ramjet was originally intended to use a laser ignition system, which would use pulses of laser energy supplied by a Free Electron Laser to ignite the fuel, this being a far more efficient system than conventional systems. This proposal was eventually dropped, as the increase in performance was judged not to be sufficient to justify the additional cost of putting several lasers onboard each rocket. Finally, a higher performance rocket engine could be mounted, giving much higher velocity, at the expense of maneuverability.

Guidance
The FGM-264 uses a modular triple mode guidance system. Standard configuration was an Imaging Infrared and LADAR Seekers, with GPS guidance as a backup. When GPS guidance was used, the target was lased by an independent laser designator, and an algorithm using the current GPS coordinates, the direction the laser was being aimed, and the distance to the target was used to determine the GPS coordinates of the target. This had the advantage of allowing for a minimum use of lasers, making it less likely that the user would be detected. The system could also be adjusted to use lead angle cues. Other sensor modules that could be used included RADAR guidance, SACLOS Wire Guidance, Electro Optical Targeting and even MCLOS, though this was rarely used, as computers could aim much better than humans, even Spartans.

DAPS
The Dense Atmosphere Penetration System was a supercavitation system that consisted of a series of micro thrusters positioned at angles, so that the rocket spun at extremely high velocities, creating a “bubble” of less dense gases, allowing the rocket to move more easily through the atmosphere. This increased the rocket’s performance over a rocket without the supercavitation system by 25% in 14.7psi atmosphere, however it performed best in atmospheres above 20psi, where the increases in performance over a rocket without the supercavitation system could be as high as 95%. However, overall range remained the same.

Warhead
The warhead was modular, allowing for several types of warheads to be mounted including Tandem Shaped Charge warheads for anti tank missions, Flechette warheads for missions against personnel behind cover, and HE-FRAG for standard anti personnel missions. It could also mount exotic warhead, such as HPM warhead, which used ONC to crush highly charged coils of wire, creating a “jet” of HPMs that would shut down all electronics within it’s area of interference. However, these warheads were rarely used for economic reasons. It could also mount Thermobaric, or Novel Explosive, warheads for anti structure missions, or Napalm warheads for missions against unarmored or lightly infantry. Finally, certain more exotic warheads, such as enhanced range warheads, in which half of the warhead is replace with a fuel tank, increasing range by 33%. However, this decreased the selection of warheads available, as the smaller warheads were only available in Tandem Shaped Charge, Flechette, and HE-FRAG. Another warhead it could mount was a modified APFSDS projectile, which ejected the penetrator, which could destroy main battle tanks.

Uses
The FGM-264 could be used for many missions, from anti armor, to anti infantry, and even anti walker. For example, the rocket had several mission packages, which included an anti walker mission package that would guide the rocket to the core of Remnant Scarabs, where the Tandem Shaped Charge warhead, would destroy the core. It could also be programmed to fly in terrain following mode to a certain waypoint, then find a target and destroy it.