26
votes
Necessity of army and navy in a space warfare setting
Space ships are like aircraft. They are very good at projecting power, but they are less good at things like gathering intelligence or holding indoor positions. A spaceship or aircraft can knock ...
- 55.4k
16
votes
Necessity of army and navy in a space warfare setting
You can bombard as much as you want, but until you are not able to set your boots on the ground and hold them there, you will not be controlling a piece of land.
Look at the most recent wars, like ...
- 275k
10
votes
Accepted
Moving Arrows to Supersonic Speeds
Mach 1.5 at STP is roughly 500 m/s. That's not particularly exciting... consider that a Barrett M82 has a muzzle velocity of nearly 900 m/s, and a General Dynamics KEW-A1 (a real-world APFSDS antitank ...
- 72.2k
10
votes
Necessity of army and navy in a space warfare setting
I don't know if this should be a comment rather than an answer, because what I really wanted to say is "your question needs more details or clarity". Why is that? Because I see you start for ...
- 8,554
4
votes
Necessity of army and navy in a space warfare setting
Why do we have armies and navies now?
Even without a space force, there are at least 2 powers on Earth that could strike any army or navy deployed anywhere on the globe and several others that could ...
- 724
4
votes
Necessity of army and navy in a space warfare setting
The navy is redundant/obsolete
In your scenario, there's no need for a navy. The point of boots on the ground is to handle the interpersonal stuff (which will definitely include skirmish-level ...
- 20.3k
4
votes
Necessity of army and navy in a space warfare setting
This always bothered me in star trek and star wars. You have ships attacking planets. Planets that effectively have unlimited power, unlimited shield, and virtually unlimited weapons.
If you had a ...
- 6,474
3
votes
Necessity of army and navy in a space warfare setting
Submarines are hard to find and hard to destroy
In addition to the need for infantry mentioned above. Do not underestimate the ability of water to keep things from being seen and absorb and dissipate ...
- 249
3
votes
Necessity of army and navy in a space warfare setting
When writing fiction I often try to look at reality, and it is a bonus if it is related to something actively happening now.
There is a weapon that can completely obliterate the enemy. There are also ...
- 291
2
votes
Necessity of army and navy in a space warfare setting
What are your war aims?
Do you just want to kill the entire population of a planet? Then you don't need ground forces. Also, you're a monster. (Hypothetical you. If you're writing a story with ...
- 1,935
2
votes
Necessity of army and navy in a space warfare setting
Join the Spacy! See the World!
Welcome the United Spacey! We look back on a long history of shipping, transport, and warfare, going back almost as far as the Army! We were the big stick of Roosevelt! ...
- 15.9k
1
vote
Necessity of army and navy in a space warfare setting
You need more space assets to do what you want than you think
Planets are big on a scale we don't really grasp. And orbital shells are mathematically required to be even bigger.
Sure, if you only ...
- 249
1
vote
Necessity of army and navy in a space warfare setting
The question fails to consider that the enemy also has a vote.
Assuming a "Star Wars" type setting, a planetary system has the energy and resources to build a comparable fleet of spacecraft -...
- 97.6k
1
vote
How could war be replaced by sports?
It won't
At its root, "war" is when two countries are unable to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement on a dispute, and the dispute is of such importance that one or both can't let the ...
- 9,614
1
vote
How could war be replaced by sports?
It can't
If someone lost at sport, they're just as likely to resort to war instead with a surprise attack.
The only way it could work is some overarching power enforcing the rules to prevent bad ...
- 45.8k
1
vote
How could war be replaced by sports?
The population has to be so invested in the game that the practical disputes they're fighting for take second place. The disappointment of the game being cancelled has to be greater than the pain felt ...
- 11
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