Questions tagged [military-defense]

For questions about strategies and structures for defending from a particular type of attack

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3 answers
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Supersoldiers enabling man-powered vehicles

Just as an exercise in worldbuilding, imagine a world where genetic engineering (on subjects that already reached maturity, so no need to modify embryos and raise them to adulthood) creates ...
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4 votes
2 answers
866 views

How successful could rapidly spreading new predator be in world with today's type of development

I was rewatching Secret war from Love, Death & Robots and started wondering, would the monsters from that episode pose any actual threat in today's world? Let's assume the monsters have similar ...
12 votes
16 answers
5k views

What defensive invention would have made the biggest difference in the late 1400s?

One world I've been tinkering on for months is an alternate history where Europe did not colonise the rest of the world, different global cultures remained (more) independent, until in the age of the ...
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3 votes
9 answers
2k views

What is the least far-fetched way to defend against nuclear submarines? [closed]

Since the Cold War, nuclear powers have said "don't mess with me" using the Nuclear triad, nuclear warheads on bomber planers, missile silos, and in submarines. Of these, the most important ...
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0 votes
1 answer
101 views

Could Tesla coils be used for missile defense?

Some facts about the real world, Terra 2023: tensions between Russia, NATO, China, DPRK, India etc. are high. These powers keep trying to get the edge over each other to establish missile supremacy. ...
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2 votes
3 answers
215 views

Would my particle cloud shield be effective in limiting the use of combined arms/maneuver warfare operations? [closed]

Since I have particle shields in my setting for my armored vehicles, my military forces have also decided to try and extend that technology to the larger battlefield. One of the issues plaguing my ...
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8 votes
4 answers
1k views

What properties should my fictional HEAT rounds have to punch through heavy armor and ERA?

I have some forcefield shielding in my setting whereby particles act essentially as solid mass armor for all intents and purposes. Warheads grind themselves down against armor just like modern ...
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1 vote
2 answers
144 views

How would pronogrades build embattlements?

While there have been a lot of designs for embattlements across times and cultures, there is onee constant I have noticed: They all share similar proportions. This appears to be related to the erect ...
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2 votes
3 answers
195 views

Would the articulations/joints/bearings of a bulletproof full-body suit be easily pierceable?

Context: This armour was designed to be a full-body "bulletproof" suit, only capable of stopping bullets from military assault rifles that have the same capabilities of today's ones. Of ...
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7 votes
2 answers
174 views

Ideal materials for the outer layer of a whipple shield

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whipple_shield What I'm looking for is the best possible materials for the outer layer of a whipple shield. From what I understand, the outer layer turns a hypervelocity ...
4 votes
1 answer
230 views

Castle defenses against dragons

In my world, there are dragons that the people have to fight against. In many forms of fantasy, despite having the giant creatures, their castles still look like the traditional medieval castle. In ...
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3 votes
3 answers
207 views

A potential way to use "space mines" to guard a moon or small planet

Space mines have a glaring problem which is the fact that space is really big, But I have devised a space mine which could be used to defend a moon or small planet. My space mine would be Casaba-...
4 votes
2 answers
297 views

What are Effects of shielding on length of modern warfare?

In my setting there are particle shields that can be extended from a central source given enough power and particles to fuel the shield. This is a world where armor has outpaced weapons (nuclear ...
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16 votes
8 answers
7k views

Muggle military tactics against mind-controlling wizards

Spoiler: Wall of text incoming, TL;DR provided. Once upon a time there were two worlds, separated by some kind of dimensional veil. One world is populated by WW2 level industrial civilization, the ...
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4 votes
5 answers
303 views

How would defense tactics change if 10% of people could fly? [closed]

If one in ten people possess the magical ability to fly, would this change the development of defensive measures and tactics in a society reminiscent of Britain in the medieval era? No other magic ...
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4 votes
3 answers
397 views

How would warfare change if everyone were concentrated into giant cities?

Due to environmental concerns (very cold winters) humans are concentrated into a few large cities all around the world; smaller isolated settlements die out quickly. These cities would form the basis ...
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24 votes
12 answers
5k views

How do I defend a walled citadel from a lizard army?

The setting is post apocalyptic wastelands. The use of nuclear weapons has resulted in the creation of mutations, the most deadly of which are the lizards. The antagonist devises a technology that ...
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4 votes
6 answers
1k views

What would be US Military procedure for investigating a portal to another world? [closed]

Here's the scenario I'm working with: a portal opens up within 30 minutes' drive of one of the better equipped military installations in the continental United States. It is stable, shows no signs of ...
8 votes
5 answers
3k views

Why does a hypersonic missile need to cruise Earth at low altitude before hitting its mark?

Imagine a certain nation tested a hypersonic nuclear-capable missile and it was designed to make a few trips around the Earth at low altitude before striking the surface. Don't they need to worry ...
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8 votes
13 answers
2k views

Why can't the military stop my hidden pirate haven from illegal gambling and smuggling?

My pirate safe haven runs gambling rings, horse races, and trades contraband but no one can find it or penetrate it. Why? I've got a story revolving around pirates and a rescue. The pirates have a ...
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0 votes
0 answers
105 views

What defences did Camp David have circa 2017

The aliens whose kids sent Jormungandr, the Snakebot of Doom, have shown up at Earth, and have announced that they will be taking over administration of Earth for the foreseeable future. As part of ...
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7 votes
4 answers
298 views

Feasibility of active defense systems against kinetic weapons

Spurred on from an earlier post over here. The general consensus was that if a depleted uranium round is coming your way, don't be in its way. And if you do get hit, disperse the damage as much as ...
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27 votes
22 answers
5k views

What would cause city walls to return?

Essentially, what would, in a modern (21st century) society, cause city walls to return? I don't necessarily mean stone walls; steel, titanium, and aluminum walls are perfectly acceptable. This ...
6 votes
6 answers
558 views

What military exploitation is possible of an isolated, barren island by a pre-industrial world?

I've got a world with a long oceanic navigation tradition, but no reliable steam engines. Imagine it's the 1600s in our timeline. There's two superpowers (think two Chinas), and between them an ocean ...
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15 votes
9 answers
3k views

What is the safest and most extravagant place for an interstellar emperor to make his palace?

Every evil galactic empire has an emperor’s palace. From the Goa’uld to the Sith Empire to House Harkonnen, every emperor has one extremely lavish but heavily defended structure they call home. My ...
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2 votes
4 answers
304 views

How do you have Mutual Assured Destruction in space politics

Space is VAST, and many country occupied only a part of it. They do trade and make war just like we do on Earth. On Earth, we have our "peacemaker" between powerful nations in the form of ...
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2 votes
2 answers
241 views

Could a coalition of powerful corporations protect itself from a hostile neighbour?

This is an alternative Earth-like world, which has just entered the rough equivalent of Cold War. The primary contenders are the large quasi-socialist country with a strong command economy, opposed by ...
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1 vote
1 answer
170 views

Could möbius ring shaped devices deflect or possibly redirect bullets?

As a rule, my sci-fi has no force fields. This is interesting, because every type of shielding that would normally have no mass are restricted to be physical devices. The most notable I'm working on ...
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5 votes
7 answers
2k views

How to justify small Hominids not being conquered by (anatomically modern) Humans?

So in my setting there's a group of Hominids distantly related to humans. They live in a forested continent on the coast of which humans have created colonies. They have patchy light brown skin for ...
1 vote
2 answers
124 views

Joint Nuclear Weapons Control?

As stated in a previous question, the main political entity of my world, the United Commonwealth, is protected by a combined Army and Navy, made up of personnel from all nations, and funded by all ...
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6 votes
6 answers
863 views

How could an ancient army go about defeating a giant army of monsters? [closed]

I've been trying to study military victories against the odds but a lot of the stuff doesn't apply it seems. The armies in those battles are usually not outnumbered as severely and when they are, they'...
7 votes
4 answers
2k views

What shape most efficiently disperses an overpressure wave from a nuclear weapon?

One rule of architectural design in one of my settings is the prime number rule: a building that abides by this rule can survive a 2-kiloton nuclear surface burst 300 meters away 5 times in a row ...
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1 vote
2 answers
243 views

How do I design a main battle tank to fight a tactical nuclear war?

Exactly what it says on the tin: how do I design a tank to fight a nuclear war? Nukes in this setting are limited to one kiloton yield or below by treaty, with the smallest ones having a yield of ten ...
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7 votes
2 answers
619 views

What would armor designed to withstand a grenade blast in an enclosed space look like?

Let's say that someone throws an M67 hand grenade into a completely enclosed room - i.e. the door is the only entrance/exit. How would someone build a suit of armor to functionally negate the ...
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3 votes
3 answers
826 views

How do you defend against a nuclear torpedo?

For reference: the nuclear torpedo. It is a torpedo with a nuclear munition for a warhead - exactly what it says on the tin. Range is 100 kilometers at 75 knots; guidance is sonar, with gyroscope ...
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-1 votes
4 answers
197 views

How does a projectile get past a rapid-firing, hyper-accurate point defense system?

Let's say that there's a point-defense system that's very good at hitting targets - as a matter of fact, it hits everything it shoots at. Moreover, it fires incredibly quickly and has, for the scope ...
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2 votes
5 answers
802 views

How does one defend a military depot against Nazi-ish Sasquatch-vampires in a continent-sized post-apocalyptic wasteland?

There is a lengthy background to this, which I feel is relevant. Yes, the title is supposed to be somewhat B-movie-esque. For some reason, there are Sasquatch-vampires (more on their biology later) on ...
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9 votes
9 answers
2k views

How can nations control large plains and deserts?

How can organized nations in a fantasy setting control large land masses (20-30,000 km²) made of deserts, rocky deserts, and drymuds? By control, I mean enforcing laws, defending it during conflicts, ...
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16 votes
7 answers
6k views

How to defend a kingdom without killing anyone [duplicate]

What resources, schemes, and strategies does a medieval king need to protect their power without killing or torturing?
user avatar
6 votes
5 answers
577 views

Most effective castle fortifications against fantasy/medieval airborne attack?

Edit: This question has been reopened! Medieval castles are mostly designed towards delaying or obstructing ground attackers. The only real threat a castle faces from above, at least from humans, ...
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4 votes
3 answers
213 views

Would it be viable to use air to deflect projectiles?

The initial problem is energy and the air. How would a mechanism like this work? Pressurised air inside a cylinder that is released when a projectile is detected? Instead of pressurised air inside a ...
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28 votes
17 answers
6k views

How could medieval ships protect themselves from giant mermaids?

Long ago when apes and hominids split off a third group began to live in the seas and became mermaids/seafolk. Among several species of mermaids, there is a species of "giant mermaids" who ...
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4 votes
2 answers
220 views

In a 12-Pointed Star Wall, Which Shape Would the Inner Wall Be for Maximum Defense?

In this generic scenario, there is a settlement protected by both an inner and outer walls. The inner wall protects an area of 72 hectares. Both walls are 40 feet tall and thick and made of brick. ...
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9 votes
4 answers
1k views

What are things to consider and keep in mind when making a heavily fortified and militarized border?

Here are some maps for reference For some context, in my world, from 2030-2040, an event known as the Great Collapse saw the human race pushed towards the brink of extinction due to Unidentified ...
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8 votes
3 answers
712 views

In what way could a small, non-magical force hold a castle against a larger, magically-abled force?

Say that through some subterfuge and the element of surprise, a small, well equipped force of soldiers managed to wrest control of a castle from a government. The government wants that castle back, ...
3 votes
4 answers
2k views

How to protect a secure compound breached by a small modern military?

I am trying to work out some of the final details of a modern urban compound, surrounded by perimeter walls and a gate. A battle (modern urban warfare with firearms and grenades mainly) takes place ...
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4 votes
3 answers
420 views

How effective would the White House serve as a fortress or makeshift Forward Operating Base/FOB?

So in my world, the entire White House area has been turned into a small fortress/FOB. Due to the post-apocalyptic dystopian state of my world what with zombies, breakaway secessionist states, hostile ...
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2 votes
1 answer
175 views

How can the dragon NORAD keep everyone safe and in its sights with minimal resources?

POV: Dragons live in an island group, referred to as Io's Blood. While there's still some tension between its resident clans, they managed to come together under The Council of Wyrms, which acts as ...
6 votes
5 answers
620 views

How can a WW-II style bunker be hidden?

Besides the obvious steel entry doors, I am most concerned about air-inlets and exhausts. Electricity for essential things like lighting, ventilation or pumping water is generated by diesel generators....
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2 votes
5 answers
348 views

Realistic protection from rayguns?

Ok, this is kind of two questions in one In a scifi setting where laser or plasma are the main weapons, what sort of system would be used to protect from the heat and radiation? My idea was a heat ...
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