Orbital Weaponry (Superpowers)

Orbital Weaponry or space weapons, are weapons that fire from outside the atmosphere, to a target either in space as well or on Earth. These devices have been one of the most significant developments in modern warfare, shaping the political landscape for over half-a-century. After a referendum was passed by the Grand Council in 1966, only the Roman Empire and the Alliance itself are allowed to possess any type of weaponry in space, and this right has been exercised to its fullest extent by both parties.

The first class of orbital weapons were the Cherubim Missile-Attack satellites, launching having begun February of 1949. They would quickly prove their worth in the immediate Swahilium Civil War, continuing to do so even after the addition of Potestas Kinetic-Artillery satellites in 1965.

There was however a change in the referendum in 1968 outlawing the placement of nuclear weapons in space, except by the FT. The Roman Empire has however circumvented this law by storing particle bombs on the Moon since 1974.

Cherubim Missile Satellites
Named after the fierce guardians of Heaven, the Cherubim satellites are generally considered the weapons that ushered in the Space Age of warfare. Each containing 100 AM-2 Orbital Missiles and 420 MRL-2 Anti-tank missiles, a single Cherubim could easily bring any of the smaller world nations to their knees, and wipe out nearly any other nations army.

Unlike most missiles, the ones on the Cherubim had a much higher yield/fuel ratio due to less need for propellant, the rockets only being needed for redirection of their trajectory. This made these weapons particularly devastating for their size. The AM-2 provides the only needed example for this design change. Guidance systems and detonator are contained within the nose, whilst the rocket and its meager fuel supply are all below the second ring from the bottom. This leaves a substantial amount of room for the 40-ton yield thermobaric explosive device contained within.

The MRL-2's use a special type of shaped-charge designed to penetrate armor with a high-velocity jet of plasma (OTL Munroe Effect). These particular missiles are one of the strongest of this type and have proven capable of penetrating nearly all types of armored vehicles. Only electric reactive armor is capable of shrugging off blasts of this magnitude and form. The only way to reload the weapons platform was with the special Cherubim Paracletus space ships. In this way, their was never a situation involving an ammo shortage for the entire operational history of the system.

During the late-1970's, a restructuring program was initiated to modernize the now-decaying Cherubim satellites. Although significantly more advanced satellite weapons had been put into orbit by this time, the Romans had a policy of avoided as much space-junk as possible, and found that the satellites could be refitted and reused. Upgrades to the electrical and mechanical systems were made, as well as new missiles having been added. The AM-2 were replaced with AM-28s and the MRL-2s were switched with CI-122 bunker busters. Though numbers for both missile types remained the same, there was an additional 800 MRL-30 Anti-Tank missiles added, requiring a considerable infrastructure remodeling of the satellite itself.

All 40 Cherubims remained in orbit after their construction, not a single one having been shot-down or rendered inoperable by either human or natural intervention. Thanks to the upgrades made during the 70's, the Cherubim system is still in operation, their decommissioning is planned to be reassessed in 2015.