Similar to the Ausmerzer in Wolfenstein II: New Colossus or the Helicarrier in the Avengers universe.
In: Engineering
Same reason modern cars are much heavier than their 1960s-1970s counterparts: safety.
Modern cars routinely weigh 3500-4500 lbs, whereas previous generations could be 2000-2500 lbs. I drive a 2016 Dodge Charger that weighs about 4500 lbs, while its 1969 version weighed about 3285 lbs.
The difference is that we as a society became conscious of the lack of protection afforded, and technology caught up to the needs, and the net result is that you’re much more likely to survive or “walk away from” a car crash in 2019 than you were in 1969 because all that extra weight is the airbags, crumple zones, anti-lock brakes, and on and on.
If you’re unconcerned about safety of the environment (land, air, and sea in the vicinity that you want to keep non-radioactive) or the logic inside (silicon-based or meat-based also needs to survive), you can make a light powerful nuclear vehicle that can operate airborne indefinitely. This is why space-based interplanetary nuclear ships can work. However, the reality is that safety has to be taken into account, and with current nuclear technology, there’s no way to safely operate that kind of vehicle.
Note that we currently have nuclear-powered vehicles, namely aircraft carriers and submarines, that can operate for decades without refueling. The rub is that they are extremely heavy because of the multiple layers of safety surrounding a combat vehicle, and therefore only operate in the ocean, where weight is less of a problem.
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