Space warfare in fiction
Encyclopedia
Space warfare
in science fiction
has served as a central theme within the genre
, tracing its roots back to the "future war" novels of the 19th century. (Space warfare can be found in even older works of fiction. Lucian of Samosata's True History
contains a space battle.) An interplanetary, but more usually an interstellar or intergalactic war
is one of the staple plot devices of a space opera
. Despite its predominant role in science fiction writing, some conclude that the human race will never be involved in an actual interstellar war, because of the distances involved and logistical impracticalities.
published in 1871 in Blackwood's Magazine
. Many such "future war" stories were written, prior to the outbreak of World War I
, such as George Griffith
's The Angel of the Revolution published in 1892 where "terrorists" were armed with at the time non-existent arms and armour, including airships, submarines, and high explosives. The inclusion of non-existent technology became a standard part of the "future war" genre. By the time of Griffith's last "future war" story, The Lord of Labour written in 1906 and published in 1911, such technology included disintegrator rays and missiles.
H. G. Wells
' story The War of the Worlds
inspired many other writers to write stories of alien incursions
and wars between Earth and other planets, encouraging the writers of "future war" fiction to employ wider settings than had theretofore been the case for "naturalistic" fiction. Wells wrote several other "future war" stories, such as an atomic war story "The World Set Free" in 1914, and "The Land Ironclads
", featuring an almost prophetic description of the tank, albeit of an unfeasibly large scale.
. One story inspired by Wells was Garrett P. Serviss' 1898 newspaper serial "Edison's Conquest of Mars
", intended to be a sequel to "Fighters from Mars", an un-authorized and heavily altered version of "The War of the Worlds" where the human race, under the leadership of Thomas Edison, takes the war between the Martians and humans back to Mars. Stories of this type, which glorify the careers of hero-inventors, are called "Edisonades"
. Pringle considers Serviss' story to be the very first space opera. However, the work that is most widely regarded as the first space opera is E. E. "Doc" Smith's The Skylark of Space
, an almost canonical "Edisonade" for half of the story. It, and its three successor novels, exemplify the still current form of space warfare in science fiction, with giant "mile long" spaceships employing great ray guns to send "coruscating" bolts of energy across space to shatter planets in a war between humans and alien species.
Smith's Lensman series continued with similar depictions of space warfare. In Triplanetary (1934) the Triplanetary fleet engages the enemy with the Cone of Battle, for example. (For a list of many of the superweapons employed in the various space battles in the series, see Lensman's Weapons.)
's The Forever War
(partly a response to, although not in everyone's view a rebuttal of, Robert A. Heinlein
's Starship Troopers
), wherein space warfare involved the effects of time dilation
, resulting in the alienation of the protagonists from the human civilisation on whose behalf they were fighting.
David Weber
's Honorverse
novels present a view of space warfare that simply transplants the naval warfare of Horatio Nelson
(and of Horatio Hornblower
) into space. The space navy
battle tactics in the Honorverse are much like those of Nelson, with the simple addition of a third dimension.
With the "age of maturity" came wider treatment in science fiction of the morality and consequences of space warfare. From the end of World War II
onwards, science fiction writers have engaged in what amounts to a long-running dialogue on the subject of space warfare. With Heinlein's Starship Troopers are A. E. van Vogt
's "War against the Rull" (1959) and Fredric Brown
's "Arena" (1944). Opposing them are Murray Leinster
's "First Contact" (1945), Barry Longyear's "Enemy Mine", Kim Stanley Robinson
's "The Lucky Strike", Connie Willis
' "Schwarzchild Radius", and John Kessel
's "Invaders".
Between Haldeman's and Heinlein's works (both of which in the past have been required reading at the United States Military Academy
) comes Orson Scott Card
's Ender's Game
, wherein the protagonist wages war remotely, without even realizing that he is doing so. Jerry Pournelle
"triumphantly" agrees (according to Landon) with Heinlein with his There Will Be War collection, also portraying an alien invasion of Earth in Footfall
. Landon notes that Pournelle's There Will Be War spawned "a series of sequel collections, strongly reminiscent in tone and apparent propagandistic purpose of the 'future war' books". Opposed to Pournelle is Harry Harrison
's and Bruce McAllister
's There Won't Be War, Harrison having already satirized space warfare jingoism in his 1964 novel Bill, the Galactic Hero
.
Commentators and historians have accused several writers of, in the 1980s, writing science fiction about space warfare that was part of a propaganda campaign in favour of the Strategic Defense Initiative
. Landon and Franklin accuse Jerry Pournelle, Ben Bova
, and Robert A. Heinlein of "glorifying" the SDI with works such as Bova's 1985 novel Privateers.
s technology, with effect sequences typically difficult to set up. This, combined with the fact that these early shows were often live productions, meant that space action sequences were usually short and simple.
Steady progress was made in production techniques throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and a change of the most common kind of programming to pre-recorded productions allowed more complex effects to be used, greatly increasing the ability of producers to show action sequences, including space warfare. The prime example of this period, perhaps, is Star Trek
. While the future presented in the original Star Trek series was not one of open warfare, the machinery of war was ever present, and was used in many episodes. The show's principal weapon was the phaser, an energy-based weapon; the phaser was a flexible weapon, able to be used at a variety of energy levels including a less-lethal
"stun" setting, and which could be set to fire in "wide beam" mode, to defeat multiple targets at once. Another weapon commonly seen was the photon torpedo, a missile weapon armed with an antimatter
warhead. In the face of such powerful offensive weapons, defense was necessary, so spacecraft carried deflector shields
to make survival possible. While battles were shown on screen, the expense and difficulty of advanced special effects still meant, however, that most battles were short and involved few craft. Although special effects cost dropped dramatically over the years, it remained expensive enough that larger battles involving many ships only showed relatively few of the ships firing and/or being hit. By 1995, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
portrayed space battles using computer graphics developed in part by Industrial Light & Magic, showing numerous classes of ships engaging in combat using tactics developed by military strategists.
George Lucas
' 1977 film Star Wars
broke new ground in showing space warfare on the big screen. Advances in technology, combined with the film's comparatively high budget, allowed Lucas to create complex, long space action sequences. Modeled after World War II
-era dogfight
ing from films like The Dam Busters
, the battle sequences were a major milestone in fictional space combat.
Soon, a number of more ambitious films and television series appeared, including ABC's Battlestar Galactica
(1978). Using expensive effects influenced by those of Lucas' film, and following his lead in concentrating on battles between starfighter
s, Battlestar Galactica (along with contemporary shows, like Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
) set new standards in television space battles. It was perhaps the excitement of these scenes that drove their popularity. The series primarily used energy weapons ("lasers") in defense and offence on battleships, however analogies to ballistic weaponry are made in several episodes, ground based or otherwise. In contrast, the 2003 "re-imagining" of Battlestar Galactica
makes use of more conventional weaponry, such as guns and missiles which are mounted on the primary capital ships (Battlestars, Cylon Basestar
s) and starfighter
s, as well as having a more realistic depiction of warfare in space, accommodating the pure Newtonian physics
encountered in such an environment.
In 1986, James Cameron
and Gale Anne Hurd created the sequel to the 1979 film Alien, and used Robert A. Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers as a basis for the futuristic military. The movie features a small rapid response unit of the United States Colonial Marine Corps in 2179 using the USASF USS SULACO to response to a downed colonial transmitter on LV-426, the Hadley's Hope colony. The film showed many modern military vehicles and gear with a future twist an dropship, APC, an automated armed FTL transport vessel, 10x25mm caseless "Pulse" M41A1 rifles, flamethrowers, and machine guns, along with realistic body armor and tactical equipment. In 1996, Aliens: Colonial Marines Technical Manual by Lee Brimmicombe-Wood was published by HarperPrism that give a deeper look into the USCM and that was coupled with real science.
Starting in 1993, the TV series Babylon 5
chronicled a turbulent time in galactic politics, involving several inter-species wars. Political and humanitarian aspects were explored, such as the atrocity of using mass driver
s from orbit against a civilian population, and technologies such the use of telepathy
as a weapon.
The American TV series Space: Above and Beyond
aired between 1995 and 1996 on the FOX Network, running for 24 episodes. The show was created by Glen Morgan and James Wong. This was set in the years 2063–2064, and show was centered around the "Wildcards", a group of United States Marines, members of the United States Marine Corps Space Aviator Cavalry, 58th Squadron. They are based on the space carrier USS Saratoga, and act as infantry and pilots of SA-43 Endo/Exo-Atmospheric Attack Jet ("Hammerhead") He3 fueled fighters. Most of the action of the series was based on the USS Saratoga a John F. Kennedy Class space carrier and centered around the Chig War. The series had the 58th squadron in both ground and space operations, and attempted to show technology that was near-future, but based on research. The show attempted to show the alienation of deep space warfare, the horrors of loss and survival on the battefield, and fighting an enemy that they knew little about. Unlike many other military science fiction works, Space: Above and Beyond shows the soldiers using weapons that fire bullets, fighting in space suits in alien environments, and the bonds that form in combat. The show was ended on an open-ended note just as the Chig War seeming about to end.
(from Star Wars
). The energy required to destroy a planet or star is without a doubt well beyond our current scientific means; it has been calculated that overcoming the gravity holding together an Earth-sized planet takes on the order of 1032 joule
s of energy, or roughly the total output of the sun
in a week. More detailed estimates place the violent destruction of Alderaan (appearing in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
) as requiring 1.0 × 1038 joule
s of energy, or on the order of millions of times more than necessary to permanently break the planet apart at a slower rate. This is the equivalent of a mass between 1.1 × 1018 to 1.3 × 1019 tonne
s of resting matter converted directly into energy (by Albert Einstein
's formula, E = mc²) with no losses. For reference, the mass of the moon is estimated to be 7.36 × 1022 kilograms (or roughly 7.36 × 1019 tonnes, only somewhat greater than the upper estimate of the mass needed to achieve the estimated energy).
Star Trek had several weapons capable of destroying planets, such as the Planet Killer, which fired a beam that ripped planets to shreds. The Planet Killer would then proceed to ingest the debris for fuel. Another could be the Romulan ship, Narada. The Narada had the ability to drill into a planet, and drop a fictional substance called red matter into the core, which would then implode, and form a Black Hole, destroying the entire planet, and anything near enough to get caught in its gravitational well.
On the TV series Stargate SG-1
a star was completely destroyed by removing chunks of the mass of the star via a wormhole portal connected to a black hole, thus starting a supernova
, as a means of destroying the opponent's fleet and preventing the resources of that solar system from falling into enemy hands. Stargate Atlantis
featured the destruction of several planets: Doranda by a failed experiment at harnessing zero-point energy
overloading and annihilating the entire solar system as well as Asuras by amassing large amounts of neutronium on the surface; the superdense material became so heavy that it sank into the planet's core and imploded due to the pressure.
In the Halo game series'
universe, the antagonists known as the Covenant
would orbitally bombard with plasma
vitrifying a planet's surface - resulting in a layer of lechatelierite
or silica glass, a process known in-universe as "glassing." This effectively cauterizes the surface of the planet without outrightly destroying it. This is believed to be done as a ritualistic cleansing tactical maneuver.
s. David Weber
's Honorverse
series of novels, in particular, portrays several "space navies
" such as the Royal Manticoran Navy; these imitate many themes from Napoleonic-era naval warfare. The Federation Starfleet
(Star Trek
), Imperial Navy (Star Wars
) and Earthforce ("Babylon 5
") also use a naval-style rank structure and hierarchy; the former is based on the United States Navy
and the Royal Navy
. The United Nations Space Command (Halo
) fully retains all ranks of the United States armed forces
, even the pay grade system. Many stories even use current naval ship classes (such as frigate
or destroyer
) as a marker to show how their craft are assembled and the purpose they are designed for. Some video games series also use similar fleets structures, as in Mass Effect
, where the primary ships are frigates, but cruisers and dreadnoughts are also present. In Mass Effect
, the player is put in charge of a frigate, the SSV Normandy. In some cases, spaceships in some fictions have their parallel role in naval warfare. For instance, most spaceships in Infinite Space
are classified in different role, up to using prefix "DD", "CG", "CV" and "BB" (US Navy hull classification symbol for destroyer, cruiser, carrier and battleship respectively).
On the other hand, some fictional universes have different interpretations. The Colonial Fleet (Battlestar Galactica
) uses a mixture of army and navy ranks, and the Stargate
universe has military spacecraft under the control of modern air force
s (particularly the United States Air Force
) and hence air force ranks. In the Andromeda
universe officers of Systems Commonwealth ships follow Navy ranking, but there are also soldiers analogous to Marines called Lancers who use Army ranks.
Space warfare
Space warfare is combat that takes place in outer space, i.e. outside the atmosphere. Space warfare therefore includes ground-to-space warfare, such as attacking satellites from the Earth, as well as space-to-space warfare, such as satellites attacking satellites.It does not include the use of...
in science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
has served as a central theme within the genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
, tracing its roots back to the "future war" novels of the 19th century. (Space warfare can be found in even older works of fiction. Lucian of Samosata's True History
True History
True History or True Story is a travel tale by the Greek-speaking Syrian author Lucian of Samosata, the earliest known fiction about travelling to outer space, alien life-forms and interplanetary warfare. Written in the 2nd century, the novel has been referred to as "the first known text that...
contains a space battle.) An interplanetary, but more usually an interstellar or intergalactic war
Interstellar war
In fiction, an interstellar war is a war between combatants whose respective headquarters lie in different planetary systems. It is a popular plot device in science fiction, especially in the space opera subgenre. An intergalactic war refers to war between combatants of different galaxies...
is one of the staple plot devices of a space opera
Space opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
. Despite its predominant role in science fiction writing, some conclude that the human race will never be involved in an actual interstellar war, because of the distances involved and logistical impracticalities.
Future war: the precursor to space warfare
The first "future war" story was "The Battle of Dorking", a story about a British defeat after a German invasion of Britain, by George T. ChesneyGeorge Tomkyns Chesney
Sir George Tomkyns Chesney, KCB, CSI, CIE , British Army general, brother of Colonel Charles Cornwallis Chesney.-Biography:...
published in 1871 in Blackwood's Magazine
Blackwood's Magazine
Blackwood's Magazine was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the Edinburgh Monthly Magazine. The first number appeared in April 1817 under the editorship of Thomas Pringle and James Cleghorn...
. Many such "future war" stories were written, prior to the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, such as George Griffith
George Griffith
George Griffith , full name George Chetwyn Griffith-Jones, was a prolific British science fiction writer and noted explorer who wrote during the late Victorian and Edwardian age. Many of his visionary tales appeared in magazines such as Pearson's Magazine and Pearson's Weekly before being published...
's The Angel of the Revolution published in 1892 where "terrorists" were armed with at the time non-existent arms and armour, including airships, submarines, and high explosives. The inclusion of non-existent technology became a standard part of the "future war" genre. By the time of Griffith's last "future war" story, The Lord of Labour written in 1906 and published in 1911, such technology included disintegrator rays and missiles.
H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
' story The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds is an 1898 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells.The War of the Worlds may also refer to:- Radio broadcasts :* The War of the Worlds , the 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles...
inspired many other writers to write stories of alien incursions
Alien invasion
The alien invasion is a common theme in science fiction stories and film, in which extraterrestrial life invades Earth either to exterminate and supplant human life, enslave it under a colonial system, harvest humans for food, steal the planet's resources, or destroy the planet altogether.The...
and wars between Earth and other planets, encouraging the writers of "future war" fiction to employ wider settings than had theretofore been the case for "naturalistic" fiction. Wells wrote several other "future war" stories, such as an atomic war story "The World Set Free" in 1914, and "The Land Ironclads
The Land Ironclads
Written by H. G. Wells, "The Land Ironclads" is a short story that originally appeared in the December 1903 issue of the Strand Magazine and set in a war similar to the First World War...
", featuring an almost prophetic description of the tank, albeit of an unfeasibly large scale.
Space opera
Space warfare in science fiction took its modern form, with mobile spaceships battling both planets and one another with destructive superweapons, with the advent of space operaSpace opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
. One story inspired by Wells was Garrett P. Serviss' 1898 newspaper serial "Edison's Conquest of Mars
Edison's Conquest of Mars
Edison's Conquest of Mars, by Garrett P. Serviss, is one of the many science fiction novels published in the 19th century. Although science fiction was not at the time thought of as a distinct literary genre, it was a very popular literary form, with almost every fiction magazine regularly...
", intended to be a sequel to "Fighters from Mars", an un-authorized and heavily altered version of "The War of the Worlds" where the human race, under the leadership of Thomas Edison, takes the war between the Martians and humans back to Mars. Stories of this type, which glorify the careers of hero-inventors, are called "Edisonades"
Edisonade
"Edisonade" is a modern term, coined in 1993 by John Clute in his and Peter Nicholls' The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, for stories based around a brilliant young inventor and his inventions, many of which would now be classified as science fiction...
. Pringle considers Serviss' story to be the very first space opera. However, the work that is most widely regarded as the first space opera is E. E. "Doc" Smith's The Skylark of Space
The Skylark of Space
The Skylark of Space by Edward E. "Doc" Smith was written between 1915 and 1921 while Smith was working on his doctorate. Though the original idea for the novel was Smith's, he co-wrote the first part of the novel with Lee Hawkins Garby, the wife of his college classmate and later neighbor Carl Garby...
, an almost canonical "Edisonade" for half of the story. It, and its three successor novels, exemplify the still current form of space warfare in science fiction, with giant "mile long" spaceships employing great ray guns to send "coruscating" bolts of energy across space to shatter planets in a war between humans and alien species.
Smith's Lensman series continued with similar depictions of space warfare. In Triplanetary (1934) the Triplanetary fleet engages the enemy with the Cone of Battle, for example. (For a list of many of the superweapons employed in the various space battles in the series, see Lensman's Weapons.)
Late 20th century depictions
In the so-called "age of maturity" of science fiction, other depictions of space warfare arose, departing from the jingoism of the pulp science fiction of the 1930s and 1940s, such as Joe HaldemanJoe Haldeman
Joe William Haldeman is an American science fiction author.-Life :Haldeman was born June 9, 1943 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His family traveled and he lived in Puerto Rico, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Bethesda, Maryland and Anchorage, Alaska as a child. Haldeman married Mary Gay Potter, known...
's The Forever War
The Forever War
The Forever War is a science fiction novel by American author Joe Haldeman, telling the contemplative story of soldiers fighting an interstellar war between humanity and the enigmatic Tauran species...
(partly a response to, although not in everyone's view a rebuttal of, Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
's Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers is a military science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, first published as a serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and published hardcover in December, 1959.The first-person narrative is about a young soldier from the Philippines named Juan "Johnnie" Rico and his...
), wherein space warfare involved the effects of time dilation
Time dilation
In the theory of relativity, time dilation is an observed difference of elapsed time between two events as measured by observers either moving relative to each other or differently situated from gravitational masses. An accurate clock at rest with respect to one observer may be measured to tick at...
, resulting in the alienation of the protagonists from the human civilisation on whose behalf they were fighting.
David Weber
David Weber
David Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Weber and his wife Sharon live in Greenville, South Carolina with their three children and "a passel of dogs"....
's Honorverse
Honorverse
The Honorverse refers to the military science fiction book series and sub-series created by David Weber and published by Baen Books. The series is set primarily after Honor Harrington's October 1, 3961, birth; although she is the protagonist in most of the stories, more recent entries make only...
novels present a view of space warfare that simply transplants the naval warfare of Horatio Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
(and of Horatio Hornblower
Horatio Hornblower
Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Royal Navy officer who is the protagonist of a series of novels by C. S. Forester. He was later the subject of films and television programs.The original Hornblower tales began with the 1937 novel The Happy Return Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Royal Navy...
) into space. The space navy
Space navy
A space navy is a fictional military service arm tasked with waging battle in or exploring space.* Lensman - Galactic Patrol* Star Trek - Starfleet* Star Trek: The Next Generation - Imperial Klingon Navy...
battle tactics in the Honorverse are much like those of Nelson, with the simple addition of a third dimension.
With the "age of maturity" came wider treatment in science fiction of the morality and consequences of space warfare. From the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
onwards, science fiction writers have engaged in what amounts to a long-running dialogue on the subject of space warfare. With Heinlein's Starship Troopers are A. E. van Vogt
A. E. van Vogt
Alfred Elton van Vogt was a Canadian-born science fiction author regarded by some as one of the most popular and complex science fiction writers of the mid-twentieth century: the "Golden Age" of the genre....
's "War against the Rull" (1959) and Fredric Brown
Fredric Brown
Fredric Brown was an American science fiction and mystery writer. He was born in Cincinnati.He had two sons: James Ross Brown and Linn Lewis Brown ....
's "Arena" (1944). Opposing them are Murray Leinster
Murray Leinster
Murray Leinster was a nom de plume of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an award-winning American writer of science fiction and alternate history...
's "First Contact" (1945), Barry Longyear's "Enemy Mine", Kim Stanley Robinson
Kim Stanley Robinson
Kim Stanley Robinson is an American science fiction writer known for his award-winning Mars trilogy. His work delves into ecological and sociological themes regularly, and many of his novels appear to be the direct result of his own scientific fascinations, such as the fifteen years of research...
's "The Lucky Strike", Connie Willis
Connie Willis
Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis is an American science fiction writer. She has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards. Willis most recently won a Hugo Award for Blackout/All Clear...
' "Schwarzchild Radius", and John Kessel
John Kessel
John Kessel is an American author of science fiction and fantasy. He is a prolific short story writer and the author of two solo novels, Good News From Outer Space and Corrupting Dr...
's "Invaders".
Between Haldeman's and Heinlein's works (both of which in the past have been required reading at the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
) comes Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...
's Ender's Game
Ender's Game
Ender's Game is a science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. The book originated as the short story "Ender's Game", published in the August 1977 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact. Elaborating on characters and plot lines depicted in the novel, Card later wrote additional...
, wherein the protagonist wages war remotely, without even realizing that he is doing so. Jerry Pournelle
Jerry Pournelle
Jerry Eugene Pournelle is an American science fiction writer, essayist and journalist who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte and has since 1998 been maintaining his own website/blog....
"triumphantly" agrees (according to Landon) with Heinlein with his There Will Be War collection, also portraying an alien invasion of Earth in Footfall
Footfall
Footfall is a 1985 science fiction novel written by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It was nominated for the both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1986, and was a No...
. Landon notes that Pournelle's There Will Be War spawned "a series of sequel collections, strongly reminiscent in tone and apparent propagandistic purpose of the 'future war' books". Opposed to Pournelle is Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! , the basis for the film Soylent Green...
's and Bruce McAllister
Bruce McAllister
Bruce McAllister is an American author of fiction, poetry and non-fiction.- Novels :Humanity Prime Dream Baby Bruce McAllister (born 1946) is an American author of fiction, poetry and non-fiction.- Novels :Humanity Prime (Ace Books, l971; Wildside Press, 2008)Dream Baby Bruce McAllister (born...
's There Won't Be War, Harrison having already satirized space warfare jingoism in his 1964 novel Bill, the Galactic Hero
Bill, the Galactic Hero
Bill, the Galactic Hero is a satirical science fiction novel by Harry Harrison, first published in 1965.Harrison reports having been approached by a Vietnam veteran who described Bill as "the only book that's true about the military."...
.
Commentators and historians have accused several writers of, in the 1980s, writing science fiction about space warfare that was part of a propaganda campaign in favour of the Strategic Defense Initiative
Strategic Defense Initiative
The Strategic Defense Initiative was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983 to use ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. The initiative focused on strategic defense rather than the prior strategic...
. Landon and Franklin accuse Jerry Pournelle, Ben Bova
Ben Bova
Benjamin William Bova is an American science-fiction author and editor. He is the recipient of six Hugo Awards for Best Professional Editor for his work at Analog Science Fiction in the 1970's.-Personal life:...
, and Robert A. Heinlein of "glorifying" the SDI with works such as Bova's 1985 novel Privateers.
Television and movies
Early television shows, like Captain Video and His Video Rangers (1949), were severely constrained by the available special effectSpecial effect
The illusions used in the film, television, theatre, or entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects ....
s technology, with effect sequences typically difficult to set up. This, combined with the fact that these early shows were often live productions, meant that space action sequences were usually short and simple.
Steady progress was made in production techniques throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and a change of the most common kind of programming to pre-recorded productions allowed more complex effects to be used, greatly increasing the ability of producers to show action sequences, including space warfare. The prime example of this period, perhaps, is Star Trek
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
. While the future presented in the original Star Trek series was not one of open warfare, the machinery of war was ever present, and was used in many episodes. The show's principal weapon was the phaser, an energy-based weapon; the phaser was a flexible weapon, able to be used at a variety of energy levels including a less-lethal
Less-lethal weapon
Non-lethal weapons, also called less-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, or pain-inducing weapons are weapons intended to be less likely to kill a living target than are conventional weapons...
"stun" setting, and which could be set to fire in "wide beam" mode, to defeat multiple targets at once. Another weapon commonly seen was the photon torpedo, a missile weapon armed with an antimatter
Antimatter
In particle physics, antimatter is the extension of the concept of the antiparticle to matter, where antimatter is composed of antiparticles in the same way that normal matter is composed of particles...
warhead. In the face of such powerful offensive weapons, defense was necessary, so spacecraft carried deflector shields
Force field
A force field, sometimes known as an energy shield, force shield, or deflector shield is a concept of a field tightly bounded and of significant magnitude so that objects affected by the particular force relating to the field are unable to pass through the central axis of the field and reach the...
to make survival possible. While battles were shown on screen, the expense and difficulty of advanced special effects still meant, however, that most battles were short and involved few craft. Although special effects cost dropped dramatically over the years, it remained expensive enough that larger battles involving many ships only showed relatively few of the ships firing and/or being hit. By 1995, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
portrayed space battles using computer graphics developed in part by Industrial Light & Magic, showing numerous classes of ships engaging in combat using tactics developed by military strategists.
George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
' 1977 film Star Wars
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
broke new ground in showing space warfare on the big screen. Advances in technology, combined with the film's comparatively high budget, allowed Lucas to create complex, long space action sequences. Modeled after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
-era dogfight
Dogfight
A dogfight, or dog fight, is a form of aerial combat between fighter aircraft; in particular, combat of maneuver at short range, where each side is aware of the other's presence. Dogfighting first appeared during World War I, shortly after the invention of the airplane...
ing from films like The Dam Busters
The Dam Busters (film)
The Dam Busters is a 1955 British Second World War war film starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd and directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany with Wallis's...
, the battle sequences were a major milestone in fictional space combat.
Soon, a number of more ambitious films and television series appeared, including ABC's Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction television series, created by Glen A. Larson. It starred Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict and ran for one season in 1978–79. After cancellation, its story was continued in 1980 as Galactica 1980 with Adama, Lieutenant Boomer and...
(1978). Using expensive effects influenced by those of Lucas' film, and following his lead in concentrating on battles between starfighter
Starfighter
"Starfighter" is a science fiction term used to describe small, fast, usually one-manned craft designed for armed combat .The appearance and use of fictional starfighters is often modeled on fighter aircraft, with little regard for the actual physics of spaceflight...
s, Battlestar Galactica (along with contemporary shows, like Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV series)
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is an American science fiction adventure television series produced by Universal Studios. The series ran for two seasons between 1979–1981, and the feature-length pilot episode for the series was released as a theatrical film several months before the series aired....
) set new standards in television space battles. It was perhaps the excitement of these scenes that drove their popularity. The series primarily used energy weapons ("lasers") in defense and offence on battleships, however analogies to ballistic weaponry are made in several episodes, ground based or otherwise. In contrast, the 2003 "re-imagining" of Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
makes use of more conventional weaponry, such as guns and missiles which are mounted on the primary capital ships (Battlestars, Cylon Basestar
Cylon Basestar
The Basestar is the capital ship of the Cylons in the 1978 science fiction television series and movie Battlestar Galactica along with its re-imagining in the 2003 miniseries and 2004 television series.- Battlestar Galactica :...
s) and starfighter
Starfighter
"Starfighter" is a science fiction term used to describe small, fast, usually one-manned craft designed for armed combat .The appearance and use of fictional starfighters is often modeled on fighter aircraft, with little regard for the actual physics of spaceflight...
s, as well as having a more realistic depiction of warfare in space, accommodating the pure Newtonian physics
Classical mechanics
In physics, classical mechanics is one of the two major sub-fields of mechanics, which is concerned with the set of physical laws describing the motion of bodies under the action of a system of forces...
encountered in such an environment.
In 1986, James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
and Gale Anne Hurd created the sequel to the 1979 film Alien, and used Robert A. Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers as a basis for the futuristic military. The movie features a small rapid response unit of the United States Colonial Marine Corps in 2179 using the USASF USS SULACO to response to a downed colonial transmitter on LV-426, the Hadley's Hope colony. The film showed many modern military vehicles and gear with a future twist an dropship, APC, an automated armed FTL transport vessel, 10x25mm caseless "Pulse" M41A1 rifles, flamethrowers, and machine guns, along with realistic body armor and tactical equipment. In 1996, Aliens: Colonial Marines Technical Manual by Lee Brimmicombe-Wood was published by HarperPrism that give a deeper look into the USCM and that was coupled with real science.
Starting in 1993, the TV series Babylon 5
Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
chronicled a turbulent time in galactic politics, involving several inter-species wars. Political and humanitarian aspects were explored, such as the atrocity of using mass driver
Mass driver
A mass driver or electromagnetic catapult is a proposed method of non-rocket spacelaunch which would use a linear motor to accelerate and catapult payloads up to high speeds. All existing and contemplated mass drivers use coils of wire energized by electricity to make electromagnets. Sequential...
s from orbit against a civilian population, and technologies such the use of telepathy
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
as a weapon.
The American TV series Space: Above and Beyond
Space: Above and Beyond
Space: Above and Beyond was a short-lived mid-90s American science fiction television show on the FOX Network, created and written by Glen Morgan and James Wong. Originally planned for five seasons, it ran only for the single 1995–1996 season. It was nominated for two Emmy Awards and one Saturn...
aired between 1995 and 1996 on the FOX Network, running for 24 episodes. The show was created by Glen Morgan and James Wong. This was set in the years 2063–2064, and show was centered around the "Wildcards", a group of United States Marines, members of the United States Marine Corps Space Aviator Cavalry, 58th Squadron. They are based on the space carrier USS Saratoga, and act as infantry and pilots of SA-43 Endo/Exo-Atmospheric Attack Jet ("Hammerhead") He3 fueled fighters. Most of the action of the series was based on the USS Saratoga a John F. Kennedy Class space carrier and centered around the Chig War. The series had the 58th squadron in both ground and space operations, and attempted to show technology that was near-future, but based on research. The show attempted to show the alienation of deep space warfare, the horrors of loss and survival on the battefield, and fighting an enemy that they knew little about. Unlike many other military science fiction works, Space: Above and Beyond shows the soldiers using weapons that fire bullets, fighting in space suits in alien environments, and the bonds that form in combat. The show was ended on an open-ended note just as the Chig War seeming about to end.
Technology
Blackmore characterizes science fiction warfare as being a place "where all weapons work as promised in their promotional brochures", but points out that one thing that science fiction war romances have encouraged people to forget "in holding any piece of sufficiently advanced technology [...] is the apparently endless hose dragging behind it".In Blackmore's words, "[m]y [smart] gun is tied not only to an arms manufacturer and munitions supplier, to the Army supply and logistics apparatus that keeps it operating in case I drop it or it malfunctions, but also to people who make information systems, portable sighting devices, and infrared and thermal vision technology, to those who write software for the chips in the bullets and scopes, and to all the factories that produce those items".Destruction of planets and stars
Destruction of planets and stars is another aspect of interstellar warfare that has been explored exhaustively in fiction, from the Lensman series to the Death StarDeath Star
The Death Star is a fictional moon-sized space station and superweapon appearing in the Star Wars movies and expanded universe. It is capable of destroying a planet with a single destructive super charged energy beam.-Origin and design:...
(from Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
). The energy required to destroy a planet or star is without a doubt well beyond our current scientific means; it has been calculated that overcoming the gravity holding together an Earth-sized planet takes on the order of 1032 joule
Joule
The joule ; symbol J) is a derived unit of energy or work in the International System of Units. It is equal to the energy expended in applying a force of one newton through a distance of one metre , or in passing an electric current of one ampere through a resistance of one ohm for one second...
s of energy, or roughly the total output of the sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
in a week. More detailed estimates place the violent destruction of Alderaan (appearing in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
) as requiring 1.0 × 1038 joule
Joule
The joule ; symbol J) is a derived unit of energy or work in the International System of Units. It is equal to the energy expended in applying a force of one newton through a distance of one metre , or in passing an electric current of one ampere through a resistance of one ohm for one second...
s of energy, or on the order of millions of times more than necessary to permanently break the planet apart at a slower rate. This is the equivalent of a mass between 1.1 × 1018 to 1.3 × 1019 tonne
Tonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
s of resting matter converted directly into energy (by Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
's formula, E = mc²) with no losses. For reference, the mass of the moon is estimated to be 7.36 × 1022 kilograms (or roughly 7.36 × 1019 tonnes, only somewhat greater than the upper estimate of the mass needed to achieve the estimated energy).
Star Trek had several weapons capable of destroying planets, such as the Planet Killer, which fired a beam that ripped planets to shreds. The Planet Killer would then proceed to ingest the debris for fuel. Another could be the Romulan ship, Narada. The Narada had the ability to drill into a planet, and drop a fictional substance called red matter into the core, which would then implode, and form a Black Hole, destroying the entire planet, and anything near enough to get caught in its gravitational well.
On the TV series Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1 is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is based on the 1994 feature film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich...
a star was completely destroyed by removing chunks of the mass of the star via a wormhole portal connected to a black hole, thus starting a supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
, as a means of destroying the opponent's fleet and preventing the resources of that solar system from falling into enemy hands. Stargate Atlantis
Stargate Atlantis
Stargate Atlantis is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper as a spin-off series of Stargate SG-1, which was created by Wright and Jonathan Glassner and was itself...
featured the destruction of several planets: Doranda by a failed experiment at harnessing zero-point energy
Zero-point energy
Zero-point energy is the lowest possible energy that a quantum mechanical physical system may have; it is the energy of its ground state. All quantum mechanical systems undergo fluctuations even in their ground state and have an associated zero-point energy, a consequence of their wave-like nature...
overloading and annihilating the entire solar system as well as Asuras by amassing large amounts of neutronium on the surface; the superdense material became so heavy that it sank into the planet's core and imploded due to the pressure.
In the Halo game series'
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
universe, the antagonists known as the Covenant
The Covenant (Halo)
The Covenant are a fictional theocratic military alliance of alien races who serve as the main antagonists in the Halo video game series. They are composed of a variety of diverse species, united under the religious worship of the enigmatic Forerunners and their belief that Forerunner ringworlds...
would orbitally bombard with plasma
Plasma (physics)
In physics and chemistry, plasma is a state of matter similar to gas in which a certain portion of the particles are ionized. Heating a gas may ionize its molecules or atoms , thus turning it into a plasma, which contains charged particles: positive ions and negative electrons or ions...
vitrifying a planet's surface - resulting in a layer of lechatelierite
Lechatelierite
Lechatelierite is silica glass, amorphous SiO2. One common way in which lechatelierite forms naturally is by very high temperature melting of quartz sand during a lightning strike...
or silica glass, a process known in-universe as "glassing." This effectively cauterizes the surface of the planet without outrightly destroying it. This is believed to be done as a ritualistic cleansing tactical maneuver.
Naval influences
In general, fictional space warfare borrows a lot of elements from naval warfare, in addition to traditional dogfightDogfight
A dogfight, or dog fight, is a form of aerial combat between fighter aircraft; in particular, combat of maneuver at short range, where each side is aware of the other's presence. Dogfighting first appeared during World War I, shortly after the invention of the airplane...
s. David Weber
David Weber
David Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Weber and his wife Sharon live in Greenville, South Carolina with their three children and "a passel of dogs"....
's Honorverse
Honorverse
The Honorverse refers to the military science fiction book series and sub-series created by David Weber and published by Baen Books. The series is set primarily after Honor Harrington's October 1, 3961, birth; although she is the protagonist in most of the stories, more recent entries make only...
series of novels, in particular, portrays several "space navies
Space navy
A space navy is a fictional military service arm tasked with waging battle in or exploring space.* Lensman - Galactic Patrol* Star Trek - Starfleet* Star Trek: The Next Generation - Imperial Klingon Navy...
" such as the Royal Manticoran Navy; these imitate many themes from Napoleonic-era naval warfare. The Federation Starfleet
Starfleet
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet or the Federation Starfleet is the deep-space exploratory, peacekeeping and military service maintained by the United Federation of Planets . It is the principal means by which the Federation conducts its exploration, defense, diplomacy and research...
(Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
), Imperial Navy (Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
) and Earthforce ("Babylon 5
Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
") also use a naval-style rank structure and hierarchy; the former is based on the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
and the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. The United Nations Space Command (Halo
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
) fully retains all ranks of the United States armed forces
United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
, even the pay grade system. Many stories even use current naval ship classes (such as frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
or destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
) as a marker to show how their craft are assembled and the purpose they are designed for. Some video games series also use similar fleets structures, as in Mass Effect
Mass Effect (series)
Mass Effect is an award-winning, bestselling series of science fiction RPG third-person shooter video games developed by the Canadian company BioWare and released for the Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and, from the second installment, for the PlayStation 3...
, where the primary ships are frigates, but cruisers and dreadnoughts are also present. In Mass Effect
Mass Effect
Mass Effect is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows by Demiurge Studios. The Xbox 360 version was released worldwide in November 2007 published by Microsoft Game Studios...
, the player is put in charge of a frigate, the SSV Normandy. In some cases, spaceships in some fictions have their parallel role in naval warfare. For instance, most spaceships in Infinite Space
Infinite Space
, initially announced as "Infinite Line",. is a science-fiction role-playing game developed by Nude Maker and Platinum Games for the Nintendo DS. It was the third of a four game publishing deal with Sega...
are classified in different role, up to using prefix "DD", "CG", "CV" and "BB" (US Navy hull classification symbol for destroyer, cruiser, carrier and battleship respectively).
On the other hand, some fictional universes have different interpretations. The Colonial Fleet (Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica TV series in 1978, and was followed by a brief sequel TV series in 1980, a line of book adaptations, original novels, comic books, a board game, and video games...
) uses a mixture of army and navy ranks, and the Stargate
Stargate
Stargate is a adventure military science fiction franchise, initially conceived by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Stargate. It was originally released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, and became a hit, grossing nearly...
universe has military spacecraft under the control of modern air force
Air force
An air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army, navy or...
s (particularly the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
) and hence air force ranks. In the Andromeda
Andromeda
Andromeda may refer to:* Andromeda , a damsel in distress of Greek mythology** Andromeda, also known as Andromeda chained to a rock, a c...
universe officers of Systems Commonwealth ships follow Navy ranking, but there are also soldiers analogous to Marines called Lancers who use Army ranks.
Related concepts
- Military science fictionMilitary science fictionMilitary science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction in which the principal characters are members of a military service and an armed conflict is taking place, normally in space, or on a planet other than Earth...
- Weapons in science fictionWeapons in science fictionStrange and exotic weapons are a recurring theme in science fiction. In some cases, weapons first introduced in science fiction have now been made a reality...
- Space combatSpace CombatSpace Combat is a game produced by Laminar Research to provide a simulation of space combat with accurate physics, unlike most other games of the same genre...
(videogame genre) - Directed-energy weaponDirected-energy weaponA directed-energy weapon emits energy in an aimed direction without the means of a projectile. It transfers energy to a target for a desired effect. Intended effects may be non-lethal or lethal...
- Space colonizationSpace colonizationSpace colonization is the concept of permanent human habitation outside of Earth. Although hypothetical at the present time, there are many proposals and speculations about the first space colony...
- Space NavySpace navyA space navy is a fictional military service arm tasked with waging battle in or exploring space.* Lensman - Galactic Patrol* Star Trek - Starfleet* Star Trek: The Next Generation - Imperial Klingon Navy...
- Space marineSpace marineThe space marine, an archetype of science fiction, is a soldier that operates in outer space or on alien worlds. Historical marines fulfill amphibious roles: ship defence, landing parties, and general high-mobility deployments...
s - StarfighterStarfighter"Starfighter" is a science fiction term used to describe small, fast, usually one-manned craft designed for armed combat .The appearance and use of fictional starfighters is often modeled on fighter aircraft, with little regard for the actual physics of spaceflight...
- Space battleshipSpace battleshipFictional capital military spacecraft are spacefaring warships most often found in science fiction, which play similar roles to contemporary warships, though real spacecraft are used for military purposes...
- Dropship
Fiction
- A Galaxy Unknown
- StargateStargateStargate is a adventure military science fiction franchise, initially conceived by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Stargate. It was originally released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, and became a hit, grossing nearly...
- Star WarsStar WarsStar Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
- Star TrekStar TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
- FarscapeFarscapeFarscape is an Australian-American science fiction television series filmed in Australia and produced originally for the Nine Network. The series was conceived by Rockne S. O'Bannon and produced by Jim Henson Productions and Hallmark Entertainment...
- Battlestar GalacticaBattlestar GalacticaBattlestar Galactica is an American science fiction franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica TV series in 1978, and was followed by a brief sequel TV series in 1980, a line of book adaptations, original novels, comic books, a board game, and video games...
- Babylon 5Babylon 5Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
- GundamGundamThe is a metaseries of anime created by Sunrise studios that features giant robots called "Mobile Suits" ; usually the protagonist's MS will carry the name Gundam....
- Thomas DePrima
- Philip K. DickPhilip K. DickPhilip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
- Isaac AsimovIsaac AsimovIsaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
- Charles StrossCharles StrossCharles David George "Charlie" Stross is a British writer of science fiction, Lovecraftian horror and fantasy. He was born in Leeds.Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera...
- Robert A. HeinleinRobert A. HeinleinRobert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...