Skies Above Earth: Updating the Battleship Orion Contest

[Ace009]

So, yes. I am making a contest to have the user base here create a design to use for an updated Battleship Orion for prolonged Solar System missions and combat operations against the Gdarje, as per the discussion thread, which I recommend reading every post there.

Now, here are the rules:

1. It has to be a plausible design.
2. You cannot and I repeat CANNOT copy-paste designs of others, whether here on the site or outside it, unless you plan to do major updates to the design (aka: if it does not have any significant changes from the original, do not bother posting it here).
3. It has to remain adherent to both hard science fiction settings and to in-universe (both 1970s human and extraterrestrial) technology.
4. Handwavium and unobtainium are NOT permitted (the only handwavium in the setting is those wormhole gates as mentioned in the past and even those have limitations).
5. At the end of the contest, I will add a poll for the community to vote for the best viable design and the winner will be allowed to make a character for the official Skies Above Earth novel. Contributors and other contestants will be referenced in some form or another. How that will be is currently TBD.
6. Have fun!

Oh and before you go out designing your updated nuclear bomb propelled death fortresses, I have some requirements for each design:

1. It has to be capable of conducting prolonged missions as far as Pluto.
2. It must be capable of launching from the surface on its own (since the use of conventional boosters are likely to make the craft easy prey during atmospheric flight).
3. It must be capable of spacecraft to spacecraft combat and tactical (read: not strategic) orbital bombardment.
4. It has to be a manned design.

Good luck, gentlemen! Welcome to UNERU.

 

[Michel Van]

Ahh sweet memory, the Michael from Footfall... (illustration only )
During take off it's Nuking it way true fleet of Fithp shuttle like wrath of God

it simple concept, Nuclear Puls Engine (NPE): explode a nuke every second behind steel plate ( it not need Handwavium and unobtainium )
Extrem high payload for 4000 metric tons, you have 1500 metric tons as Payload for Ground take-off.

with 1500 tons of Payload you can access the entire Solarsystem with Orion NPE
On weapons of USAF Orion battleships had to carry:

three 5-inch Naval cannon turrets
500 twenty-megaton city-killer warheads
six Casaba-Howitzer firing nuclear shaped charges (weaponzised version of NPE) or are the Casaba-Howitzer more X-ray laser ? still Classified files.

in your case drop 500 city-killer warheads and replace them with more Casaba-Howitzers

if you need more Info about War in space and Battleship in Space
take look into "Holly Rocket webpage" of Atomic Rocket

 

[Ace009]

Ahh sweet memory, the Michael from Footfall... (illustration only )
During take off it's Nuking it way true fleet of Fithp shuttle like wrath of God

it simple concept, Nuclear Puls Engine (NPE): explode a nuke every second behind steel plate ( it not need Handwavium and unobtainium )
Extrem high payload for 4000 metric tons, you have 1500 metric tons as Payload for Ground take-off.

with 1500 tons of Payload you can access the entire Solarsystem with Orion NPE
On weapons of USAF Orion battleships had to carry:

three 5-inch Naval cannon turrets
500 twenty-megaton city-killer warheads
six Casaba-Howitzer firing nuclear shaped charges (weaponzised version of NPE) or are the Casaba-Howitzer more X-ray laser ? still Classified files.

in your case drop 500 city-killer warheads and replace them with more Casaba-Howitzers

if you need more Info about War in space and Battleship in Space
take look into "Holly Rocket webpage" of Atomic Rocket

Everyone recommending Atomic Rockets, yet I read that site many times over.

Fun fact: I had a similar contest on Spacebattles.com and look how that ended.