The sonic accelerator

$tormin

Vice Admiral
i was looking through the ships database and I noticed this weapon, https://www.wcnews.com/ships/armadasonic.shtml , and was wondering what it was and how it might work. Does the sonic mean it causes damage by vibrating the other ships hull somehow?
(wish i had armada so i could atleast see it in action)
 
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That's a tpugh one. I could make a guess if I knew where it comes from. Without that, all Ican say that it does use vibrations for some reaso. maybe it's a ground-based weapon used in planetary raids and such, in which it uses sound like the Sonic Tank in Dune.
 
I believe the 'sonic accelerator' was the Armada designerses eloquent response to idiots who rant about how lasers can't exist in space because the 1979 Federal Laser Act prevents them from creating spin particles or something.
 
In Armada the Kilrathi had their own unique barrage of weapons systems.... including the electron gun, flux cannon etc... the sonic accelerator was one of these kilrathi weapons. As for HOW it actually works, I haven't read Voices of War in quite a while but I would think it is safe to assume that it functions on some sort of vibration basis...:)
 
that's strange, i HAVE armada but no inkling of no sonic accel...

It was integrated into the Shoklar Stealth Fighter, but for some reason only on paper....... in actuality the Shoklar is equipt with 2 Neutron Guns and 2 Laser Cannons (instead of 2 sonic accelerators and 2 matter disruptors)

Using Positron's armedit would allow you to fix this (there are errors all through the kilrathi gun armament, similar to how the Victory Streak says the Hellcat has Lasers instead of neutrons)
 
You're sure the Shok'lar weapon's display doesn't show "Sonic Accelerator" ? I agree that it has two (Terran) Lasers instead of those matter disruptors but I think they includeed the Sonic Accelerator.
Since the Sonic Accelerator in Armada is basically the Kilrathi equivalent of the Terran Neutron gun statswise, it doesn't really matter anyway.
 
Hey, to you Dune experts... isn't it a similar technology to the Sonic Tank of the Atreides (seen in Dune 2 and Dune 2000 games :) )?
 
Well, yes... but the *joke* is that there's no sound in space -- thus, the 'sonic accelerator' makes no sense.
 
It doesn't sound the same. From the description given here, the sonic accelerator is functionally identical to the neutron gun - i.e. it fires small bursts of sound(?) at the target that damage the target when they hit.
The sonic tanks (which also appear in C&C: Tiberian Sun) fire a solid beam of sound which damages everything between the tank and the target, and continues for a second or two.
 
Originally posted by junior
The sonic tanks (which also appear in C&C: Tiberian Sun) fire a solid beam of sound which damages everything between the tank and the target, and continues for a second or two.

They are actually called Disrupters in Tiberian Sun, same principal though.

Sound may not travel in space but what about sonic resonance waves. I dont know.
 
Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
Well, yes... but the *joke* is that there's no sound in space -- thus, the 'sonic accelerator' makes no sense.
Oh ok... saw your previous post. So it's a "Lasers can't exist? Well guess what? They do, and so does sound" kind of response... <g>
 
Originally posted by $tormin
i was looking through the ships database and I noticed this weapon, https://www.wcnews.com/ships/armadasonic.shtml , and was wondering what it was and how it might work. Does the sonic mean it causes damage by vibrating the other ships hull somehow?

Prolly so. Sound in space is problematic, but the concept works well in-planet:

In the medical bidness, we have a device called "ESWL" (Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotriptor=Outside of body shockwave stone crusher). Basically, a patient w/ a kidney stone is placed in a big tub 'o water, and the device emits high frequency sound waves that travel thru the water to the body and crush the kidney stone by ultrasonic vibration. Also, in the OR, there's a device called the "harmonic scalpel" that uses a similar technique (but more advanced) to cut thru tissue by liqefying it thru use of the same basic principle. Cool, huh?... (Unfortunately, it's kinda slow--I dread scrubbing on cases where this thing is used 'cuz it's so much s l o w e r than a standard scalpel or other techniques).
 
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hmm. those devices sound interesting. i knew vibrations could be used for medical purposes but I didn't know how. What are the advantages of the harmonic scalpel over a regular one?
 
Originally posted by mpanty

Oh ok... saw your previous post. So it's a "Lasers can't exist? Well guess what? They do, and so does sound" kind of response... <g>

More of a 'f-ck you and the scientific horse you rode in on' sort of a thing. :)

FYE, here's the description from VS:

Sonic Accelerator (Kilrath). Still in the prototype stage, the long-range sonic accelerator gun uses a sonar tracking system. Damage potential is low, but will probably improve with time.

No description about how it works... <G>
 
Originally posted by mpanty
Hey, to you Dune experts... isn't it a similar technology to the Sonic Tank of the Atreides (seen in Dune 2 and Dune 2000 games :) )?


The Sonic Tank in Dune 2 was bugged, the range of fire was improved with the difficult level.
 
Originally posted by $tormin
hmm. those devices sound interesting. i knew vibrations could be used for medical purposes but I didn't know how. What are the advantages of the harmonic scalpel over a regular one?

Less damage to the surrounding tissues than with electrocautery, and a cleaner, more bloodless operating field than with a standard scalpel.

In short, it has the advantages of EACH method while avoiding the pitfalls thereof. Still, it's bloody expensive to use (compared to the other methods), and, as I said, far s-l-o-w-e-r than either. Personally, me no like....
 
what is the reason for it being slower than the other methods? and can smaller and cheaper versions be made? I thought those things only existed in sci-fi
 
Alright, so here-in lies a problem... "sonic accelerator" implying that it functions with sonic vibrations (sound)... and sound DOES NOT TRAVEL IN SPACE... but sound does travel in substances that can exist in space, so to put any further arguments at rest about this topic (I've seen some brutal ones on other sites), it is safe to assume that the weapon fires some sort of high-velocity material in which the sonic vibrations are contained...

...but then again assumption is the mother of all f-ck ups.

;)
 
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