Manticoran missile technology

The missile technology of the Star Kingdom and later Star Empire of Manticore and its partners in the Manticoran Alliance was more advanced than that of other spacefaring powers because of its twenty years of near continuous warfare with the Republic of Haven.

Single drive missiles

Mark 13

The Mark 13 was the first heavy cruiser/battlecruiser weight laser head-armed, impeller drive missile of the Royal Manticoran Navy. Development began on the 12 meter long, 78 ton missile in 1879 PD and created a weapon that could reach a maximum acceleration of 88,000 gravities and carry a 15 megaton Mark 86 General Purpose hydrogen fusion warhead with six Mark 73 three-meter independently targetable laser submunition vehicles. (HHA5.4: AItMSAD)

Mark 14

The Mark 14 extended time missile was developed in the midst of the cease fire between the First and Second Havenite-Manticoran Wars in an attempt to increase the range of missiles used by combatants beneath the wall of battle after the advent of the multi-drive missile and before the introduction of the Mark 16 two-stage DDM. The Edward Saganami-B-class heavy cruisers were optimized to use the Mark 14. (CS2)

Mark 16

The Mark 16 was a capital missile used before the introduction of multi-drive missiles.

Mark 19

The Mark 19 was the first laser head-armed, impeller drive missile of the Royal Manticoran Navy, introduced in 1870 PD. (HHA5.4: AItMSAD)

Multi-drive missiles

Mark 16 DDM (Dual Drive Missile)

The standard two-stage multi-drive missile for combatants beneath the wall of battle, the Mark 16 was used by light units of the RMN to take advantage of the increased range allowed by MDMs by warships that were too small to use the larger three-stage MDMs used in the wall of battle.

Mark 23 MDM

The Mark 23 was the standard three-stage multi-drive missile for combatants in the wall of battle.

Specifications

• Mass: 94 tons
• Maximum Acceleration: 96,000 G
  • Maximum powered missile envelope: 15 million km
• Half Acceleration: 48,000 G
  • Maximum powered missile envelope: 63 million km
  • Terminal velocity: 0.83c

Mark 25 MDM

The Mark 25 was a four-stage system-defense multi-drive missile.

Electronic warfare missiles

Dragon's Teeth

Dragon's Teeth were Manticoran-designed missiles developed as part of Ghost Rider, designed to act as decoys for anti-missile systems targeting standard MDMs. They pretended to be an entire volley of missiles, attracting countermissile fire that would otherwise be targeted on actual missiles. Most often if not always used in conjunction with Dazzlers missiles that overwhelms the enemy' ship' sensors in order to shake target locks and prevent tactical officers aboard the defending ships from reassigning targets and updating the trajectory of their counter-missiles.(HH9)

Dazzlers

Dazzlers were a Manticoran-designed missile developed as part of Ghostrider, designed to confuse defending ships' anti-missile systems by strobing jamming. They were fired alongside regular MDMs, jamming enemy fire control. Because of the micro-fusion plant on board, they had an immense amount of power to throw at enemy sensors. (HH9, SI2)

Fire control missiles

Apollo

Another advance over standard missiles was the Apollo missile system, deployed initially only in very limited numbers. In this system, the salvo from a single pod contained two types of missiles; eight were standard Mark 23 three-stage MDMs with a variety of warheads and ECM. The other was a single larger Mark 23-E missile fitted with an FTL telemetry link instead of a warhead; it acted as a control node for the other missiles in the pod and allowed a starship to provide effectively real-time control. If the Apollo missile was destroyed, the rest of the cluster could continue on with whatever their last telemetry had given them.

A system-defense Apollo variant, the Mark 23-F, was developed for the new four-stage Mark 25. (HH11, SI2)

Countermissiles

Mark 31

See also: Viper

Special attack munitions

Mistletoe

Mistletoe was an offensive drone designed for the RMN by Admiral Sonja Hemphill. Mounting a 500 megaton or standard laser warhead, Mistletoe was designed as a "hunter-killer" weapon to stealthily seek and then destroy critical defense system infrastructure such as the Republic of Haven's Moriarty platforms. Mistletoe was first used in Operation Sanskrit. (HH11)

LAC missiles

Vipers

The Viper was a Grayson-designed anti-LAC missile, based on the Mark 31 countermissile. It was developed for use with the newer Katana-class space superiority LACs, and was two-thirds the size of a normal LAC-launched missile. Because it was designed to target LACs, the Viper adopted a much smaller warhead, but added much better seekers and an enhanced AI, allowing it to become a "fire and forget" weapon. It incorporated the Mark 31's drive system, which allowed it both to have high acceleration and maneuverability, and to also, if needed, be used in the role of countermissile. The Viper could also be fired from standard countermissile tubes on larger warships as part of anti-LAC defenses. (HH11)

• Acceleration: 130,000 G
• Powered envelope (from rest): 3.6 million km
• Endurance: 75 second flight time
• Additional roles: countermissile

Missile Warheads

Laser Heads

• Mark 16 - The Mark 16 G cruiser weight laser warhead of the Royal Manticoran Navy, deployed in 1921 PD, was as powerful as a 1917 PD Mark 16 capital warhead. The warhead went through three variants before that time:
  • the Mod E with 15 megaton warhead
  • the Mod E-1 (with gravity generator replaced) with 15 megaton warhead and improved gravity lensing
  • the Mod G with 40 megaton warhead and improved gravity lensing
• Mark 23
  • Capital weight with 6x 500cm x 40cm lasing rods

Contact Nuclear Warheads

When the laser head was developed, the contact nuclear warhead became a secondary weapon, relegated to demolition duties, "warning shots", and action against ships with no intact defenses.