/sci/ - Science & Math

There's no significant cover in space.

You can be seen across the whole solar system.

Your waste heat being even few degrees above the background temperature will cause you to shine like a beacon in infrared.

Unless you are more than several light seconds away from your target, they cannot avoid directed energy weapons. And even if they're far enough away to avoid weapon emissions, doing so will be by chance.

Any kinetic weapon with the KE to travel at a significant fraction of c is a one-hit kill no matter what the target is made of.

The acceleration and velocities necessary to avoid these weapons means that even if you by chance got close to a target you would barely have time to see it zip in and out of visual range as you tear past at immense speed.

Though at least one of you would invariably be dead because your fire control can't miss if you pass that close to one another.

You won't be circling and weaving around each other at the engagement distances involved.

There will be no dogfights in space.

There will probably be lots of missiles.