Technology
This article lists the known technological pecularities of the Case Amber universe should they differ from our own. In general, technological and aesthetic progress began to diverge in the 1950s.
Nuclear Power
Nuclear power is likely one of the most common forms of power in the developed world. When possible consumer products and military equipment is electric to be recharged off of a nuclear power grid, although fossil fuels are still in use for some applications. Military vehicles and vehicles suited to extremely cold regions are often still powered by gasoline or diesel, although electric vehicles are very common for civilians in temperate areas.. Developing countries who cannot afford the infrastructure and countries with abundant fossil fuel resources (the latter of which would be considered Luddites by those who embrace nuclear power) do still make use of other forms of power. Other forms of renewable energy, such as solar, may be in use in remote places that can't afford nuclear power infrastructure but could afford a town solar farm.
Nuclear Weapons
Tactical and strategic nuclear weapons are widely proliferated, and there aren't many qualms among the major world powers about using the tactical nuclear weapons against military forces. Depending on the nation different classes of tactical nuclear weapons may be issued from the battalion- to corps-level. The exact policies surrounding the use of strategic nuclear weapons haven't been worked out yet (meta), but it can be assumed whatever deterrence model essentially treats tactical nuclear weapons similarly to the heaviest artillery. That is to say their use in isolation is generally not thought to be the trigger for a nuclear war, but any truly existential threat to a nation could still warrant a strategic nuclear response.
Power Armor and Alternatives
- Main article: Power armored infantry
Starting in the 1970s and 1980s, militaries began exploring the use of power armor to increase the survivability of infantry, reducing the size of weapons teams, and providing NBC protection during dismounted combat. However, power armor is expensive, is challenging to mechanize or motorize, has extensive power requirements that necessitate the deployment of dedicated power generation units at low-levels, and in some cases cause ground pressure issues in soft or muddy terrain.
In general power armor troops are used in a limited fashion, sometimes as support to other more numerous types of units like light or mechanized infantry. Power armor-equipped units are generally much smaller due to cost and logistics restrictions, and sometimes the need to mechanize them in vehicles specialized in carrying a limited number of suits. For example, British power armor infantry units when mechanized are carried in the Boarhound Powered Infantry Carrier (PIC) which can only carry 6 pieces of armor whereas a standard light infantry section consists of 10 personnel. Power generation and maintenance requirements also limit unit size and range of action, as a Rifle Company with 100 suits generally requires at least 200 batteries and in-house charging. For example, the British tend to attach a REME Power Section to each powered infantry Rifle Company to provide first-line recharging to the platoons and carry spare batteries. At the battalion-level, the Quartermaster Platoon has its own Power Section which contains more substantial power generation equipment and "mobile power stations" which can each link 12 stationary powered infantrymen occupying defensive positions to a lorry-mounted generator via 90-foot long cables.
Further, because of the ground pressure of an infantryman clad in power armor is greater than your average infantryman (although depending on the model not extremely more) power armor can be limited from operating in soft, muddy or snowy terrain. Additionally, models with exposed joints or electrical components can become inoperable in fine sand or water as shallow as knee deep. For this reason, some countries have written out doctrinal limitations, including:
- Restricting power armor use to urban terrain, where ground pressure is not a concern, the heavily canalized nature of cities favors increased infantry protection, and the ability to carry heavy weapons is at a premium due to the abundance of hard cover.
- Restricting power armor use to hard packed terrain in general during fair weather, or in defensive positions against superior enemy forces where little movement is required.
Alternatively, some countries have decided to not adopt power armor but have introduced equivalent solutions, including:
- One-man armored vehicles with tracks or at least 6 wheels and a mounted heavy weapon
- Tracked, wheeled, quadripedal, or bipedal robots, either controlled by a human operator or featuring limited autonomy. Models with limited autonomy are normally restricted to simple maneuvers within range a platoon HQ's short range radios and targets that can be automatically tracked and verified by their onboard software and optics. The advantage of robots over power armor is they can be minimally armored should a military choose to, allowing for weight and size to be kept to human or near-human proportions in the case of bipedal solutions.
Space
The major powers are heavily invested in space colonization, exploration, and militarization, although to different degrees and with different focuses. Luna (Earth's moon) is a known site of major civilian colonization (as featured in the Vignettes In a Faraway Land and Now Hear This. There is also human activity on Mars—although it's likely more limited in scope—and military and economic activity in the Asteroid belt and Jupiter's moons.
The powers of Earth have not discovered how to travel at or beyond the speed of light, so any sort of extrasolar exploration is likely limited to unmanned platforms.
Space Elevators
Space elevators are a relatively common technology to reduce the long-term costs of getting stuff into orbit. In Case Amber, having a space elevator is one of the key benchmarks of a great power. Even if it doesn't make the most financial sense for a given country, it is seen as a very necessary status symbol. Countries with space elevators on Earth include but are not limited to the United States (it has two, one of which named GNASE in Michigan is made available to Canada), Western Union (shared by the UK, France, and Belgium), Soviet Union, Constellation of Southern African States, India, and Japan. The United States is the only nation to have built a space elevator on Luna (the Ravern L1 Elevator named in Now Hear This, which runs from the Lunar South Pole to the L1 Lagrange point). This elevator is made available to the bordering lunar territories of the United Kingdom, France, and Australia via train lines.
Conventional rocket spacelaunch still remains, particularly for military loads and for nations that do not have unlimited access to a space elevator or some other non-rocket means of spacelaunch. Other nations (mostly middle powers) of have constructed cheaper non-rocket spacelaunch systems, like launch loops, nuclear-powered electromagnetic ski jumps, and space guns.
Types of Space Elevators
Type One:
Type One space elevators were the first and are the most simple and reliable (and thus affordable) type of space elevator. They are constructed in a thin band of latitudes on the equator and their peaks remain in a simple geostationary orbit. Their limited base station locations and equatorial congestion somewhat limit them and drove development of other types.
Type One elevators include Nelion - Kenya and Quito - Ecuador.
Type Two:
Type Two space elevators, also known as polar elevators, are built on either the north or south poles of planets. Slightly more complicated than the Type One elevators as they cannot take advantage of centrifugal forces, they are able to lift higher weights, but their peaks do require stationkeeping. They are however even more limited in their base construction location.
The Soviet Union's Kosmosgrad 2 is the sole Type Two space elevator located on Earth. The United States' Ravern L1 is a Luna Type Two elevator, though several locations for other Type Twos have been proposed including upon Titan.
Type Four:
Type Four space elevators are less strict about their base location construction than previous types, but are more complex and expensive to construct and maintain. Also known as skaters, the peaks of Type Four elevators trace a figure 8 pattern in orbit and require more significant station keeping via the use of a particle sail and more intensive active supports.
Type Four space elevators include GNASE - USA, Vimāna - India, and Ukuqala - Constellation.