It's been a few years since I started playing Aurora 4x, but for some reason I have never actually encountered the swarm ... until now. My regular design seemed unable to handle the specific challenge that the swarm presented, so I decided to build an entirely new fleet after researching ICF engine tech, while still allowing it to be re-equipped to handle other enemy types.
I am aware of 31x ships with 160 thermal signature, each equipped with a single meson cannon with 50.000 km range observed and a max sensor range of 300.000 km, with a speed of 10666 km/s and a single mothership (presumably) with 1440 thermal signature, max sensor range of 336m km, shield strength of 600, and a speed of 1200 km/s.
The fleet is mostly designed to handle the fighters/FAC's and then re-equip if needed to deal with the mothership. I following a hybrid design, built around independent missile cruiser squads and a carrier base with laser FAC's for hunting. I have no idea if this is overkill or underpowered, but it'll be fun to find out
Carrier baseThe core of the fleet is the carrier flagship with a jump engine and sensors that allow for the FAC operations. A single
Kingston brings the fleet command, while the core can be supplemented with any number of
Defiance classes. Only one for now.
Kingston class Carrier 30 000 tons 661 Crew 5314.3 BP TCS 600 TH 3520 EM 3750
5866 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 4-86 Shields 125-300 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 56 PPV 0
Maint Life 2.57 Years MSP 5866 AFR 427% IFR 5.9% 1YR 1244 5YR 18654 Max Repair 593 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Flight Crew Berths 77
Flag Bridge Hangar Deck Capacity 7000 tons
J30000(3-50) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 30000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
880 EP Internal Fusion Drive (4) Power 880 Fuel Use 38.07% Signature 880 Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 2 500 000 Litres Range 39.4 billion km (77 days at full power)
Delta R300/300 Shields (50) Total Fuel Cost 625 Litres per hour (15 000 per day)
Active Search Sensor MR611-R300 (1) GPS 75600 Range 611.1m km Resolution 300
Active Search Sensor MR74-R20 (1) GPS 2380 Range 74.5m km Resolution 20
ECM 20
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Defiance class Carrier 30 000 tons 534 Crew 4608.8 BP TCS 600 TH 3520 EM 0
5866 km/s Armour 4-86 Shields 0-0 Sensors 210/210/0/0 Damage Control Rating 55 PPV 0
Maint Life 2.53 Years MSP 5440 AFR 480% IFR 6.7% 1YR 1182 5YR 17730 Max Repair 440 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Flight Crew Berths 132
Hangar Deck Capacity 12000 tons
880 EP Internal Fusion Drive (4) Power 880 Fuel Use 38.07% Signature 880 Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 3 150 000 Litres Range 49.6 billion km (97 days at full power)
Thermal Sensor TH15-210 (1) Sensitivity 210 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 210m km
EM Detection Sensor EM15-210 (1) Sensitivity 210 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 210m km
ECM 20
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Hunting partyCurrently, each carrier is stacked full with
Hounds, which can work independently as long as there is a thermal/EM signature, but there is a possibility for more utility based carriers. The Hound is designed specifically to counter the enemy swarm, both in speed and range.
Hound class Fast Attack Craft 1 000 tons 9 Crew 498.5 BP TCS 20 TH 288 EM 0
14400 km/s Armour 1-8 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 6
Maint Life 1.96 Years MSP 78 AFR 32% IFR 0.4% 1YR 27 5YR 401 Max Repair 270 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months Spare Berths 1
288 EP Internal Fusion Drive (1) Power 288 Fuel Use 199.96% Signature 288 Exp 18%
Fuel Capacity 70 000 Litres Range 6.3 billion km (5 days at full power)
19cm C3 Far Ultraviolet Laser (1) Range 384 000km TS: 14400 km/s Power 9-3 RM 5 ROF 15 9 9 9 9 9 7 6 5 5 4
Fire Control S03 192-9375 (1) Max Range: 384 000 km TS: 9375 km/s 97 95 92 90 87 84 82 79 77 74
Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (4) Total Power Output 3.2 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor MR1-R10 (FAC) (1) GPS 28 Range 1.2m km Resolution 10
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Missile cruiser strike forceAs the main offensive weapon, the fleet contains three squadrons of missile cruisers. They can operate independent of each other as each squadron contains sensors, point defence, and a jump engine for squad transit. A single
Bloodhawk takes lead of the squadron, while accompanied by a single
Paladin for point defence and three
Wargs for offensive capability. Once the swarm is defeated, the missile loadout can be changed to longer ranged and more damaging warheads.
Bloodhawk class Jump Cruiser 15 000 tons 397 Crew 3132 BP TCS 300 TH 2640 EM 0
8800 km/s JR 5-500 Armour 4-54 Shields 0-0 Sensors 110/110/0/0 Damage Control Rating 28 PPV 0
Maint Life 2.67 Years MSP 3044 AFR 225% IFR 3.1% 1YR 607 5YR 9104 Max Repair 440 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 0
Cryogenic Berths 200
J15200(5-500) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 15200 tons Distance 500k km Squadron Size 5
880 EP Internal Fusion Drive (3) Power 880 Fuel Use 38.07% Signature 880 Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 950 000 Litres Range 29.9 billion km (39 days at full power)
CIWS-160 (2x4) Range 1000 km TS: 16000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
Active Search Sensor MR611-R300 (1) GPS 75600 Range 611.1m km Resolution 300
Active Search Sensor MR74-R20 (1) GPS 2380 Range 74.5m km Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor MR18-R1 (1) GPS 133 Range 18.6m km MCR 2.0m km Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH10-110 (1) Sensitivity 110 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 110m km
EM Detection Sensor EM10-110 (1) Sensitivity 110 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 110m km
ECM 20
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Paladin class Escort Cruiser 15 000 tons 381 Crew 3285 BP TCS 300 TH 2640 EM 0
8800 km/s Armour 3-54 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 28 PPV 54.98
Maint Life 2 Years MSP 2095 AFR 225% IFR 3.1% 1YR 696 5YR 10439 Max Repair 576 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 1
Magazine 920
880 EP Internal Fusion Drive (3) Power 880 Fuel Use 38.07% Signature 880 Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 650 000 Litres Range 20.5 billion km (26 days at full power)
Triple Gauss Cannon R3-50 Turret (3x9) Range 30 000km TS: 20000 km/s Power 0-0 RM 3 ROF 5 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S08 192-20000 (1) Max Range: 384 000 km TS: 20000 km/s 97 95 92 90 87 84 82 79 77 74
Size 1 Missile Launcher (20) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 10
Missile Fire Control FC41-R1 (2) Range 41.2m km Resolution 1
Size 1 AMM II (920) Speed: 40 000 km/s End: 1.9m Range: 4.7m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 613/368/184
ECM 20
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Warg class Missile Cruiser 15 000 tons 378 Crew 2639 BP TCS 300 TH 2640 EM 0
8800 km/s Armour 3-54 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 25 PPV 45
Maint Life 2.24 Years MSP 2550 AFR 360% IFR 5% 1YR 688 5YR 10315 Max Repair 440 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 2
Magazine 1140
880 EP Internal Fusion Drive (3) Power 880 Fuel Use 38.07% Signature 880 Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 750 000 Litres Range 23.6 billion km (31 days at full power)
Size 5 Missile Launcher (75% Reduction) (12) Missile Size 5 Rate of Fire 100
Missile Fire Control FC520-R160 (1) Range 520.6m km Resolution 160
Missile Fire Control FC84-R20 (1) Range 84.1m km Resolution 20
Size 5 Anti-Fighter Missile (228) Speed: 41 600 km/s End: 23.1m Range: 57.6m km WH: 9 Size: 5 TH: 332/199/99
ECCM-1 (2) ECM 20
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes