Bay 12 Games Forum

Quote from: Remarks made before the UN War Crimes Council

"I believe that this case rests entirely on the definition of 'fixed-wing aircraft' presented in Protocol V. Fixed-wing aircraft are defined as 'air-borne vehicles which use stationary wing planes as their primary method of generating lift for offensive military purposes'. It is clear that this does definition does not apply to our rockets, and thus they are not controlled under the letter of the treaty. Furthermore, the use of fin stabilization increases the precision of these weapons, and is therefore positively in line with the spirit of Protocol V.

"First, the rockets take off under their own power, and only then do the fins extend. Clearly then the fins are not then necessary for flight, but rather for control - no different, might I add, than the rudders on any buoyant airship or naval vessel. Second, the fin placement is symmetrical and the projectiles spin rapidly in flight. Therefore, over the course of a single revolution, any "lift" theoretically provided by the an individual fin will average out to zero - thus if aerodynamic lift were the primary means of suspension, the rockets would not fly as they would not generate any.

Third, the physical behavior of the rockets in flight demonstrates plainly that they are not fixed-wing aircraft - that is, without constant upward thrust from the motor, the rockets cannot remain in the air. This can be tested by firing one horizontally and seeing that it drops towards the ground on a powered ballistic trajectory rather than being "lifted" by the fins; by removing the fins from a rocket and observing that they the device still potentially flies as far given a set launch angle, simply with a less regular course; or by launching one and observing its behavior after losing power, when it will will behave like any artillery shell rather than gliding like a form which generates lift would.

"For these reasons, and the others advanced by my colleagues, it is patently obvious that our fin-stabilized rockets are not fixed-wing aircraft under the definition outlined in Protocol V or any other reasonable definition."

I think this incorporates the best points others brought up, as well as some others, but I'm open to improvements/suggestions.

I'm not comfortable voting for the Xi-53b as presented because of the bit on non-engine improvements to the walker. Seems like those being so different from the other priorities of the design will increase the difficulty. The Nogranians just did the same thing in its own design proposal. Given the dicepool we really don't need that.