Small Warship Designs (now with more dakka)

[ddblackhawk (OP)]

Hello, while I'm not exactly new to this game the only combat I've had in it is my unarmed survey ships getting blown up by something.    As I hadn't been putting any active or passive sensors on them I don't know what destroyed them.    As such when I started a new game I decided I had better create some warships. 

First my corvette design.    I've used this one to patrol my starting system while I research and design larger ships with jump capabilities. 

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Flower Mk2 class Corvette    3,000 tons     96 Crew     611 BP      TCS 60  TH 120  EM 0
4000 km/s     Armour 3-18     Shields 0-0     Sensors 11/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 11.2
Maint Life 2.83 Years     MSP 127    AFR 72%    IFR 1%    1YR 23    5YR 346    Max Repair 72 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0    

Rolls-Royce Hades vID 60-05-30 (4)    Power 60    Fuel Use 47.5%    Signature 30    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres    Range 31.6 billion km   (91 days at full power)

BAE 150mm C3UVL (1)    Range 240,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 4    ROF 10        6 6 6 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
Single 100mm 45-3 MCT TS8 (2x1)    Range 45,000km     TS: 8000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 4.5    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ultra Electronics GFC iiiRT240-4K (1)    Max Range: 240,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     96 92 88 83 79 75 71 67 62 58
Ultra Electronics GFC iiiRT80-12K (1)    Max Range: 80,000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     88 75 62 50 38 25 12 0 0 0
Rolls-Royce iiGCFRT PO9 (1)     Total Power Output 9    Armour 0    Exp 5%

BAE ASS iSS21 RR2-1 (1)     GPS 21     Range 2.3m km    Resolution 1
BAE ASS iiSS42 RR46-100 (1)     GPS 4200     Range 46.2m km    Resolution 100
United Electronics THDS iSS11 (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

It has Ion Drives, a small laser and 2 turreted meson cannons for point defense.    I've heard that they're good for that sort of thing. 

Next is the Frigate which I'm using as a dedicated point defense platform

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Tribal class Frigate    6,000 tons     180 Crew     1144 BP      TCS 120  TH 240  EM 0
4000 km/s     Armour 3-29     Shields 0-0     Sensors 11/11/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 23.2
Maint Life 3.65 Years     MSP 298    AFR 115%    IFR 1.6%    1YR 35    5YR 519    Max Repair 84 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 1    
Magazine 156    

Rolls-Royce Hades vID 60-05-30 (8)    Power 60    Fuel Use 47.5%    Signature 30    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres    Range 31.6 billion km   (91 days at full power)

BAE 150mm C3UVL (1)    Range 240,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 4    ROF 10        6 6 6 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
Single 100mm 45-3 MCT TS8 (2x1)    Range 45,000km     TS: 8000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 4.5    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ultra Electronics GFC iiiRT240-4K (1)    Max Range: 240,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     96 92 88 83 79 75 71 67 62 58
Ultra Electronics GFC iiiRT80-12K (1)    Max Range: 80,000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     88 75 62 50 38 25 12 0 0 0
Rolls-Royce iiGCFRT PO9 (1)     Total Power Output 9    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Arlok Industries iMM RR3 (12)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
BAE MFC iRR6-1 (2)     Range 6.9m km    Resolution 1
ALKI Starburst iAMM CTH58 (156)  Speed: 16,800 km/s   End: 5.5m    Range: 5.6m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 196 / 117 / 58

BAE ASS iiSS42 RR46-100 (1)     GPS 4200     Range 46.2m km    Resolution 100
BAE ASS ivSS84 RR9-1 (1)     GPS 84     Range 9.2m km    Resolution 1
United Electronics THDS iSS11 (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km
United Electronics EMDS iSS11 (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km

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

I'm not sure whether to give it a smaller r100 sensor so I can put in a larger thermal passive though. 

Lastly I have 2 destroyer designs as I couldn't fit a large enough sensor platform as well as offensive missiles onto 1 ship. 

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Resolution class Destroyer Leader    9,000 tons     239 Crew     1519 BP      TCS 180  TH 360  EM 0
4000 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 3-38     Shields 0-0     Sensors 11/11/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 11.2
Maint Life 2.7 Years     MSP 422    AFR 162%    IFR 2.2%    1YR 83    5YR 1243    Max Repair 114 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 1    
Cryogenic Berths 200    

Rolls-Royce Vanir MJD xxxMSS9K     Max Ship Size 9000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Rolls-Royce Hades vID 60-05-30 (12)    Power 60    Fuel Use 47.5%    Signature 30    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 850,000 Litres    Range 35.8 billion km   (103 days at full power)

BAE 150mm C3UVL (1)    Range 240,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 4    ROF 10        6 6 6 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
Single 100mm 45-3 MCT TS8 (2x1)    Range 45,000km     TS: 8000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 4.5    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
ATK Phalanx CIWS-160 (2x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Ultra Electronics GFC iiiRT240-4K (1)    Max Range: 240,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     96 92 88 83 79 75 71 67 62 58
Ultra Electronics GFC iiiRT80-12K (1)    Max Range: 80,000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     88 75 62 50 38 25 12 0 0 0
Rolls-Royce iiGCFRT PO9 (1)     Total Power Output 9    Armour 0    Exp 5%

BAE ASS ivSS84 RR9-1 (1)     GPS 84     Range 9.2m km    Resolution 1
BAE ASS ivSS84 RR92-100 (1)     GPS 8400     Range 92.4m km    Resolution 100
United Electronics THDS iSS11 (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km
United Electronics EMDS iSS11 (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

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Victory class Destroyer    9,000 tons     241 Crew     1450 BP      TCS 180  TH 360  EM 0
4000 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 3-38     Shields 0-0     Sensors 11/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 20
Maint Life 2.73 Years     MSP 403    AFR 162%    IFR 2.2%    1YR 78    5YR 1166    Max Repair 114 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 1    
Magazine 160    

Rolls-Royce Vanir MJD xxxMSS9K     Max Ship Size 9000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Rolls-Royce Hades vID 60-05-30 (12)    Power 60    Fuel Use 47.5%    Signature 30    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 850,000 Litres    Range 35.8 billion km   (103 days at full power)

BAE 150mm C3UVL (1)    Range 240,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 4    ROF 10        6 6 6 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
ATK Phalanx CIWS-160 (1x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Ultra Electronics GFC iiiRT240-4K (1)    Max Range: 240,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     96 92 88 83 79 75 71 67 62 58
Rolls-Royce iiGCFRT PO9 (1)     Total Power Output 9    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Arlok Industries ivML RR4 (4)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 30
BAE MFC iRR69-100 (1)     Range 69.3m km    Resolution 100
ALKI Rampage ivASM CTH65 (40)  Speed: 10,500 km/s   End: 83m    Range: 52.3m km   WH: 9    Size: 4    TH: 108 / 65 / 32

BAE ASS iSS21 RR2-1 (1)     GPS 21     Range 2.3m km    Resolution 1
BAE ASS iiSS42 RR46-100 (1)     GPS 4200     Range 46.2m km    Resolution 100
United Electronics THDS iSS11 (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km

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

The plan is to have a task group consisting of 3 frigates, 1 destroyer leader, and 2 destroyers.    That way I should be able to take out most incoming missiles with my own long range point defense, using the meson cannons as a last resort.    Similarly I'm hoping to use my 4K Km/s speed and long range sensor on the Resolution class to keep at distance so the Victory's can shoot things with their missiles.    The 150mm UV lasers as a last resort for offense. 

So, are these designs any good, if not, what do you think I should change about them?

[Erik L]

You'll need tankers with them if you plan on coming anywhere near the intended deploy time.

[MrAnderson]

Yeah, cutting down on the deployment time will let you make them faster or maybe squeeze in another row of armor. When you refuel I find you can usually get the crew rested up by the time it's done.

[davidb86]

Not bad designs for ion tech, speed and range are good, maint life is lower that I like, but you are only shooting for 6 month deployments.   Realize this means that one half to one third of you fleet will be in overhaul at any given point, so plan to have multiple task groups.

On the corvette, I would lose the MR46-R100 sensor as this ship should never be on it's own and has a max weapon range itself of 240,000 km.   The resolution 1 sensor can work fine for this.   This also means you can leave your missile sensor (GPS 21) on without broadcasting to the entire solar system.   Use the space to add armor, increase the tracking speed of your meson turret to match it's fire control, or increase the range of you missile sensor.   The 2. 3 million km range looks impressive until you realize that a size 6 missile is only picked up at 250,000 km.   My typical size 6 ion tech missile has a speed of 28,000 kms and will cross your detection zone in 8. 9 seconds which means you have a 50-50 chance of getting a shot off depending on how the 5 sec turn increments fall.   If you are going to be in a group with your frigate, just use the frigate's active sensor.

On the frigate, the long range active sensor is useless, if you are worried about locating enemy ships, use passive sensors that do not give you away.   The missile sensor is good, for a dedicated antimissile platform I would switch out the single 15 cm laser for two 10 cm lasers that can fire every 5 seconds and still be used at close range against a ship.

On the destroyer leader, I would leave the long range sensor and lose the missile sensor.   I would also increase the armor as this ship is going to be the primary target of every missile launched against your fleet.   The CIWS is well used here.   Again, increasing the meson turret speed to match the fire control will increase it's effectiveness as a point defense weapon.

Your missile destroyers need to increase their number of launchers, either with more destroyers or more launchers per ship.   If your task group faced itself, it would have no trouble swatting 8 missiles every 30 seconds until you run out of offensive missiles.   Lose the jump drive and the active sensors to increase your broadside and give you a chance to overload the opponents antimissile defense.   You have 9 power from your power plant, yet you are using only 3 for a single laser.  Consider a smaller power plant or adding additional energy weapons to match the power plant.   

On all your warships consider increasing armor.   I recently faced an opponent who could throw salvos of 40 AMM every 10 seconds, even with my amm defenses some leakers got through, but my 5 armor factor allowed me to survive long enough to close the range and finish him off.

[ddblackhawk (OP)]

I've added a collier type ship and a hybrid tanker / jump tender, as well as made some of the changes davidb86 mentioned.

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Flower Mk3 class Corvette    3,000 tons     92 Crew     578 BP      TCS 60  TH 120  EM 0
4000 km/s     Armour 4-18     Shields 0-0     Sensors 22/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 11.44
Maint Life 2.7 Years     MSP 120    AFR 72%    IFR 1%    1YR 24    5YR 353    Max Repair 72 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   

Rolls-Royce Hades vID 60-05-30 (4)    Power 60    Fuel Use 47.5%    Signature 30    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres    Range 31.6 billion km   (91 days at full power)

BAE 150mm C3UVL (1)    Range 240,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 4    ROF 10        6 6 6 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
Single 100mm 45-3 MCT TS12 (2x1)    Range 45,000km     TS: 12000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 4.5    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ultra Electronics GFC iiiRT80-12K (1)    Max Range: 80,000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     88 75 62 50 38 25 12 0 0 0
Ultra Electronics GFC iiiRT240-4K (1)    Max Range: 240,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     96 92 88 83 79 75 71 67 62 58
Rolls-Royce iiGCFRT PO9 (1)     Total Power Output 9    Armour 0    Exp 5%

United Electronics THDS iiSS22 (1)     Sensitivity 22     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  22m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Since I first designed this I've built some of my frigates, so I can use the missile active sensor on those and put 3 of these corvettes and 1 frigate together.   I've used the space gained by removing the r100 active by giving it 1 more row? column? of armour and a larger passive, which is what it was using as a small patrol ship anyways.   I also managed to upgrade the turret.   When I first designed them I only had 4K Kp/s tracking speed per 10% HS, now I have researched 5K Kp/s TS per 10% HS.

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Tribal Mk2 class Frigate    6,000 tons     174 Crew     1118 BP      TCS 120  TH 240  EM 0
4000 km/s     Armour 4-29     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/11/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 23.2
Maint Life 3.57 Years     MSP 291    AFR 115%    IFR 1.6%    1YR 35    5YR 528    Max Repair 84 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 156   

Rolls-Royce Hades vID 60-05-30 (8)    Power 60    Fuel Use 47.5%    Signature 30    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres    Range 31.6 billion km   (91 days at full power)

BAE 150mm C3UVL (1)    Range 240,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 4    ROF 10        6 6 6 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
Single 100mm 45-3 MCT TS8 (2x1)    Range 45,000km     TS: 8000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 4.5    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ultra Electronics GFC iiiRT80-12K (1)    Max Range: 80,000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     88 75 62 50 38 25 12 0 0 0
Ultra Electronics GFC iiiRT240-4K (1)    Max Range: 240,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     96 92 88 83 79 75 71 67 62 58
Rolls-Royce iiGCFRT PO9 (1)     Total Power Output 9    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Arlok Industries iMM RR3 (12)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
BAE MFC iRR6-1 (2)     Range 6.9m km    Resolution 1
ALKI Starburst iAMM CTH58 (156)  Speed: 16,800 km/s   End: 5.5m    Range: 5.6m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 196 / 117 / 58

BAE ASS ivSS84 RR9-1 (1)     GPS 84     Range 9.2m km    Resolution 1
United Electronics EMDS iSS11 (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km

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
With the frigate I took out both the r100 active sensor and the Thermal passive.   I added a column of armour but that left me without the space necessary to put in 2 100mm lasers.   Although as I would have to also increase the size of the power plant which would have taken me even further over my 6K ton limit on frigates.   I suppose I could make a 7500 ton heavy frigate which would give me an extra 1000 tons of space (the 500 tons left over would be for the extra 2 engines needed).

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Resolution class Destroyer Leader    9,000 tons     227 Crew     1477 BP      TCS 180  TH 360  EM 0
4000 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 5-38     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 11.44
Maint Life 2.69 Years     MSP 410    AFR 162%    IFR 2.2%    1YR 81    5YR 1216    Max Repair 114 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 13   

Rolls-Royce Vanir MJD xxxMSS9K     Max Ship Size 9000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Rolls-Royce Hades vID 60-05-30 (12)    Power 60    Fuel Use 47.5%    Signature 30    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 800,000 Litres    Range 33.7 billion km   (97 days at full power)

BAE 150mm C3UVL (1)    Range 240,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 4    ROF 10        6 6 6 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
Single 100mm 45-3 MCT TS12 (2x1)    Range 45,000km     TS: 12000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 4.5    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
ATK Phalanx CIWS-160 (2x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Ultra Electronics GFC iiiRT80-12K (1)    Max Range: 80,000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     88 75 62 50 38 25 12 0 0 0
Ultra Electronics GFC iiiRT240-4K (1)    Max Range: 240,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     96 92 88 83 79 75 71 67 62 58
Rolls-Royce iiGCFRT PO9 (1)     Total Power Output 9    Armour 0    Exp 5%

BAE ASS ivSS84 RR92-100 (1)     GPS 8400     Range 92.4m km    Resolution 100

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Removing both the passive sensors and the r1 active sensor left me room for 2 extra columns of armour and like my other ships, 12K Km/s tracking speed meson turrets.

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Victory class Destroyer    9,000 tons     233 Crew     1507 BP      TCS 180  TH 360  EM 0
4000 km/s     Armour 5-38     Shields 0-0     Sensors 33/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 36
Maint Life 3.53 Years     MSP 419    AFR 162%    IFR 2.2%    1YR 52    5YR 775    Max Repair 72 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 320   

Rolls-Royce Hades vID 60-05-30 (12)    Power 60    Fuel Use 47.5%    Signature 30    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 850,000 Litres    Range 35.8 billion km   (103 days at full power)

BAE 150mm C3UVL (1)    Range 240,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 4    ROF 10        6 6 6 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
ATK Phalanx CIWS-160 (1x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Ultra Electronics GFC iiiRT240-4K (1)    Max Range: 240,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     96 92 88 83 79 75 71 67 62 58
Rolls-Royce iGCFRT PO4.5 (1)     Total Power Output 4.5    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Arlok Industries ivML RR4 (8)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 30
BAE MFC iRR69-100 (1)     Range 69.3m km    Resolution 100
ALKI Rampage ivASM CTH65 (80)  Speed: 10,500 km/s   End: 83m    Range: 52.3m km   WH: 9    Size: 4    TH: 108 / 65 / 32

United Electronics THDS iiiSS33 (1)     Sensitivity 33     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  33m km

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
Taking out the active sensors left me room for a size 3 thermal passive.   Likewise, I downsized the power plant, thanks for pointing that out =).   Is it worth risking the extra explosion chance to research increased power output?  Removing the jump engine means I need to create a jump tender but allows me to increase armour columns? or is it rows? to 5 and doubling the amount of missiles thrown.   I'm thinking however that I'll need more than 2 destroyers as even with the extra launchers I'd probably still be able to swamp incoming missiles with my frigates.   16 ASM's every 30 seconds compared to 36 AMM's every 10, maybe another 2 or 3 destroyers?

Finally the new collier and jumper tender designs

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Nobel class Collier    9,000 tons     203 Crew     1215 BP      TCS 180  TH 360  EM 0
4000 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 2-38     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.97 Years     MSP 338    AFR 162%    IFR 2.2%    1YR 57    5YR 860    Max Repair 114 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 1044   

Rolls-Royce Vanir MJD xxxMSS9K     Max Ship Size 9000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Rolls-Royce Hades vID 60-05-30 (12)    Power 60    Fuel Use 47.5%    Signature 30    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 550,000 Litres    Range 23.2 billion km   (67 days at full power)

ALKI Rampage ivASM CTH65 (144)  Speed: 10,500 km/s   End: 83m    Range: 52.3m km   WH: 9    Size: 4    TH: 108 / 65 / 32
ALKI Starburst iAMM CTH58 (468)  Speed: 16,800 km/s   End: 5.5m    Range: 5.6m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 196 / 117 / 58

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
It can give a full resupply to 3 frigates (each frigate has 13 reloads) and a part resupply of 2 destroyers (9 more reloads compared to the 10 a destroyer carries).   The jump engine is to help transport the destroyers now that they don't have their own jump engines.   Once I have upgraded the jump engine on my tender I can remove it from this ship and replace it with more fuel (to get up to the standard ~90 days fuel) and more magazines.

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Whittle class Jump Tender    9,000 tons     150 Crew     1163 BP      TCS 180  TH 360  EM 0
4000 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 4-38     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 5     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.97 Years     MSP 404    AFR 129%    IFR 1.8%    1YR 68    5YR 1027    Max Repair 114 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   

Rolls-Royce Vanir MJD xxxMSS9K     Max Ship Size 9000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Rolls-Royce Hades vID 60-05-30 (12)    Power 60    Fuel Use 47.5%    Signature 30    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 3,150,000 Litres    Range 132.6 billion km   (383 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
My jump tender can double as an extra tanker, I am however planning on designing a better jump engine that can, with the destroyer leader, transport my entire squadron.   So either a squadron size of 5 or 6.

How is the armour for my support ships? should I remove it? or do they need more.   I shouldn't think that they would be targeted by any enemies as they do not put out any em signals.

Lastly, some more questions =).   How do passive sensors work, I know they detect things within their sensor range, but do they detect everything?  For a dedicated tanker how much fuel should it carry?  And an unrelated question, but I didn't want to create a new thread; what are Hyper Space drives for?

[Jorgen_CAB]

You have two passive sensor types Thermal and EM.

The Thermal sensor detects ship engine emission and only if enemy ships actually move since stationary ships do not emit any heat you can't detect them that way.

EM sensors detect the active sensor and shield if they are active.

On each ship design you can see at what range they can detect a certain ship based on the strength of your passive scanner and at what power the enemy is emitting heat or EM. Large EM scanners would generally emit thousands of EM power and so a relatively small EM scanner will pick them up at rather great distances while lower resolution scanners emit much lower EM signals and require larger passive EM sensors to detect.
The heat a ship radiates you can see on your ship profile, so your frigate emits 240 thermal radiation and your corvette will detect a ship with a thermal radiation of 1000 at 22m km so it will detect your frigate at 5.28m km if it travels at full speed.

Hyper drives are currently not functioning at all if I'm not totally mistaken. But otherwise they are suppose to increase the speeds of ships greatly outside the gravity well of a sun. Basically so you can travel between different stars in solar systems with several stars.

In general I don't much care for thermal sensor unless they are quite large since they have to be large to detect anything at a good enough distance. EM sensors can be somewhat smaller. A general surveillance frigate of mine would use thermal sensor at size 20-30 and EM at about half that. You could go all the way up to size 50 if you like.

[ddblackhawk (OP)]

I have researched Magneto-Plasma Drives, and have replaced my old Ion Drives with a new 10HS Engine

Rolls-Royce Tartarus xMPD 160-05-80:

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Engine Power: 160     Fuel Use Per Hour: 72 Litres
Fuel Consumption per Engine Power Hour: 0.45 Litres
Engine Size: 10 HS    Engine HTK: 5
Thermal Signature: 80     Exp Chance: 10
Cost: 120    Crew: 10
Materials Required: 0x Duranium  120x Gallicite
Military Engine
This gives my ships 5333 km/s when using 33. 3% tonnage for engines.   I am using this ratio for Escorts, and Light Cruisers.   While I will use 25% engines for anything heavier, giving a speed of 4000 km/s.

I also have some better missiles, although these are still using Ion Drive engines.

ALKI Starburst iAMM

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Missile Size: 1 MSP  (0.05 HS)     Warhead: 1    Armour: 0     Manoeuvre Rating: 35
Speed: 24000 km/s    Engine Endurance: 2 minutes   Range: 2.3m km
Cost Per Missile: 1.0492
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 840%   3k km/s 280%   5k km/s 168%   10k km/s 84%ALKI Rampage ivASM

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Missile Size: 4 MSP  (0.2 HS)     Warhead: 9    Armour: 0     Manoeuvre Rating: 21
Speed: 15000 km/s    Engine Endurance: 95 minutes   Range: 85.8m km
Cost Per Missile: 3.896
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 315%   3k km/s 105%   5k km/s 63%   10k km/s 31.5%
My ASM has a lower chance to hit but a larger range than the earlier missile.

I have had my first engagements with enemy forces since I first posted, in my first skirmish I had an unarmed survey vessel encounter an alien Destroyer analogue (8650 tons).   I moved in with one of my escort squadrons (1 DL 2 DD, 3 FF, a tanker, and a collier).   However as I had no long range passive sensors I had to use my DLs active sensor.   I discovered that my speed was far too slow to catch them (they have a speed of 4855 Km/s), and their ASMs out-ranged my own, while they also had more ASMs than I did AMMs even with the collier (though this might have been because I was manually launching the AMMs) I retreated with heavy damage.   In my second and third engagements I had the new missiles, fire controls and sensors so I did better, closing to 30m Km I used 2 colliers and managed to destroy all enemy ships, and took no damage from their ASMs.

Salvaging the destroyed ships I found that they had Internal Confinement Fusion Engines, which was 2, now 1 engine tech above me.

I have designed a Frigate sized Recon vessel with a 50HS Thermal Sensor

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Upholder class Recon Frigate    6,000 tons     170 Crew     1396 BP      TCS 120  TH 240  EM 0
4000 km/s     Armour 3-29     Shields 0-0     Sensors 700/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 7     PPV 0
Maint Life 3.33 Years     MSP 1018    AFR 41%    IFR 0.6%    1YR 139    5YR 2090    Max Repair 700 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 0   

Rolls-Royce Tartarus xMPD 160-05-80 (3)    Power 160    Fuel Use 45%    Signature 80    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 750,000 Litres    Range 50.0 billion km   (144 days at full power)

United Electronics THDS lSS700 (1)     Sensitivity 700     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  700m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
As it is unarmed I plan on using it to find enemy ships and then leaving it with the baggage train (tankers and jump tenders) while my main fighting force closes to engage the enemy.   Over a 700m Km chase it falls ~100m Km behind ships using the new engines.

I also have designed a Light Cruiser, a Command Ship (to lead the CLs) a Missile Cruiser, and a Light Carrier.

My thoughts on the Light Cruiser was to design a heavy escort that could assist in large fleet battles.   As such it's an 18 000 ton design with 24 AMM launchers and either 8 ASM launchers or 2 Bombers carried in a hanger.

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zx-Broadsword mod1 class Light Cruiser    18,000 tons     512 Crew     3334 BP      TCS 360  TH 960  EM 0
5333 km/s     Armour 5-61     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 49     PPV 70.88
Maint Life 3.03 Years     MSP 1042    AFR 288%    IFR 4%    1YR 170    5YR 2556    Max Repair 120 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 704   

Rolls-Royce Tartarus xMPD 160-05-80 (12)    Power 160    Fuel Use 45%    Signature 80    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,700,000 Litres    Range 37.8 billion km   (81 days at full power)

Single 100mm 45-3 MCT TS12 (4x1)    Range 45,000km     TS: 12000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 4.5    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
ATK Phalanx CIWS-160 (1x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Ultra Electronics GFC iiiRT80-12K (1)    Max Range: 80,000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     88 75 62 50 38 25 12 0 0 0
Rolls-Royce iGCFRT PO4.5 (1)     Total Power Output 4.5    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Rolls-Royce iiGCFRT PO9 (1)     Total Power Output 9    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Arlok Industries iMM RR3 (24)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
Arlok Industries ivML RR4 (8)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 30
BAE MFC iRR11-1 (4)     Range 11.8m km    Resolution 1
BAE MFC iRR117-100 (1)     Range 117.6m km    Resolution 100
ALKI Rampage ivASM CTH63 (80)  Speed: 15,000 km/s   End: 95.3m    Range: 85.8m km   WH: 9    Size: 4    TH: 105 / 63 / 31
ALKI Starburst iAMM CTH84 (384)  Speed: 24,000 km/s   End: 1.6m    Range: 2.3m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 280 / 168 / 84

BAE ASS ivSS112 RR15-1 (1)     GPS 112     Range 15.7m km    Resolution 1

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

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zx-Broadsword mod2 class Light Cruiser    18,000 tons     445 Crew     3235 BP      TCS 360  TH 960  EM 0
5333 km/s     Armour 5-61     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 41     PPV 38.88
Maint Life 3.44 Years     MSP 1236    AFR 235%    IFR 3.3%    1YR 160    5YR 2393    Max Repair 120 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Flight Crew Berths 20   
Hangar Deck Capacity 1000 tons     Magazine 960   

Rolls-Royce Tartarus xMPD 160-05-80 (12)    Power 160    Fuel Use 45%    Signature 80    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,700,000 Litres    Range 37.8 billion km   (81 days at full power)

Single 100mm 45-3 MCT TS12 (4x1)    Range 45,000km     TS: 12000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 4.5    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
ATK Phalanx CIWS-160 (1x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Ultra Electronics GFC iiiRT80-12K (1)    Max Range: 80,000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     88 75 62 50 38 25 12 0 0 0
Rolls-Royce iiGCFRT PO9 (1)     Total Power Output 9    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Rolls-Royce iGCFRT PO4.5 (1)     Total Power Output 4.5    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Arlok Industries iMM RR3 (24)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
BAE MFC iRR11-1 (4)     Range 11.8m km    Resolution 1
ALKI Rampage ivASM CTH63 (80)  Speed: 15,000 km/s   End: 95.3m    Range: 85.8m km   WH: 9    Size: 4    TH: 105 / 63 / 31
ALKI Starburst iAMM CTH84 (640)  Speed: 24,000 km/s   End: 1.6m    Range: 2.3m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 280 / 168 / 84

BAE ASS ivSS112 RR15-1 (1)     GPS 112     Range 15.7m km    Resolution 1

Strike Group
2x SC-04 Marauder Bomber   Speed: 8000 km/s    Size: 10

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
I am leaning towards the mod2 as while it doesn't have the sustained offensive fire of the mod1 it is cheaper and carries almost double the amount of AMMs.

The Command Ship is also 18 000 tons and uses a similar concept to the Resolution DL.

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zx-Hood class Command Ship    18,000 tons     513 Crew     3269.5 BP      TCS 360  TH 960  EM 0
5333 km/s    JR 4-50     Armour 5-61     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 53     PPV 30.32
Maint Life 3.54 Years     MSP 1561    AFR 188%    IFR 2.6%    1YR 191    5YR 2867    Max Repair 286 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 0   

Rolls-Royce Aesir MJD xlvMSS18K-4     Max Ship Size 18000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 4
Rolls-Royce Tartarus xMPD 160-05-80 (12)    Power 160    Fuel Use 45%    Signature 80    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,700,000 Litres    Range 37.8 billion km   (81 days at full power)

BAE 150mm C3UVL (2)    Range 240,000km     TS: 5333 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 4    ROF 10        6 6 6 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
Single 100mm 45-3 MCT TS12 (6x1)    Range 45,000km     TS: 12000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 4.5    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
ATK Phalanx CIWS-160 (4x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Ultra Electronics GFC iiiRT80-12K (1)    Max Range: 80,000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     88 75 62 50 38 25 12 0 0 0
Ultra Electronics GFC iiiRT240-4K (1)    Max Range: 240,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     96 92 88 83 79 75 71 67 62 58
Rolls-Royce iiGCFRT PO9 (3)     Total Power Output 27    Armour 0    Exp 5%

BAE ASS ivSS112 RR156-100 (1)     GPS 11200     Range 156.8m km    Resolution 100

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
I am not sure whether to remove some of the guns and put in a res20 sensor or not however.   Currently any enemy Strike Craft would be detected at 15m Km by my res1 sensors on the CLs.

My Cruiser design has only offensive weapons, it relies on the CLs to provide point defence.

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zx-Trafalgar class Cruiser    30,000 tons     854 Crew     5037 BP      TCS 600  TH 1200  EM 0
4000 km/s     Armour 7-86     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 51     PPV 160
Maint Life 2.12 Years     MSP 1154    AFR 654%    IFR 9.1%    1YR 343    5YR 5145    Max Repair 120 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 2   
Magazine 1924    Cryogenic Berths 200   

Rolls-Royce Tartarus xMPD 160-05-80 (15)    Power 160    Fuel Use 45%    Signature 80    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 2,400,000 Litres    Range 32.0 billion km   (92 days at full power)

ATK Phalanx CIWS-160 (2x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Arlok Industries ivML RR4 (40)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 30
BAE MFC iRR117-100 (5)     Range 117.6m km    Resolution 100
ALKI Rampage ivASM CTH63 (480)  Speed: 15,000 km/s   End: 95.3m    Range: 85.8m km   WH: 9    Size: 4    TH: 105 / 63 / 31

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
Lastly the Light Carrier design.

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zx-Ark Royal class Light Carrier    35,250 tons     577 Crew     5254 BP      TCS 705  TH 1680  EM 0
4765 km/s     Armour 4-95     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 16     PPV 0
Maint Life 1.76 Years     MSP 1490    AFR 621%    IFR 8.6%    1YR 589    5YR 8838    Max Repair 120 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Flight Crew Berths 1   
Hangar Deck Capacity 12000 tons     Magazine 1260   

Rolls-Royce Tartarus xMPD 160-05-80 (21)    Power 160    Fuel Use 45%    Signature 80    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 3,100,000 Litres    Range 35.2 billion km   (85 days at full power)

ATK Phalanx CIWS-160 (4x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
ALKI Rampage ivASM CTH63 (315)  Speed: 15,000 km/s   End: 95.3m    Range: 85.8m km   WH: 9    Size: 4    TH: 105 / 63 / 31

Strike Group
20x SC-04 Marauder Bomber   Speed: 8000 km/s    Size: 10
4x SC-05 Shark Early Warning Craft   Speed: 8000 km/s    Size: 10

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
I am planning on bringing it up to 42 000 tons, including a 121HS Jump Drive Squadron Size 4 Jump Drive.   I may increase it to a SS6 JD if I manage to design a viable Assault Cruiser which would be armed with guns and 1 or 2 Marine Companies for ship boarding.   Would such a design work?  Obviously it would have to be heavily armoured and fast enough to close on an enemy before they are destroyed by missiles.   Also I have barely 2 full reloads stored on the ship, adding any more bloats the design badly.   How can I improve this?

The Light Carrier has 4 Squadrons of 5 Bombers and 1 Scout Craft.

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SC-04 Marauder class Bomber    500 tons     9 Crew     144.6 BP      TCS 10  TH 40  EM 0
8000 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 4.8
Maint Life 7.62 Years     MSP 36    AFR 10%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 1    5YR 16    Max Repair 60 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 32   

Rolls Royce Merlin Mk.II iiMPD 80-05-40 (1)    Power 80    Fuel Use 484.22%    Signature 40    Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 55,000 Litres    Range 4.1 billion km   (5 days at full power)

Arlok Industries ivBL RR4 (8)    Missile Size 4    Hangar Reload 30 minutes    MF Reload 5 hours
BAE MFC iRR117-100 (1)     Range 117.6m km    Resolution 100
ALKI Rampage ivASM CTH63 (8)  Speed: 15,000 km/s   End: 95.3m    Range: 85.8m km   WH: 9    Size: 4    TH: 105 / 63 / 31

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 Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes

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SC-05 Shark class Early Warning Craft    500 tons     16 Crew     216 BP      TCS 10  TH 40  EM 0
8000 km/s     Armour 3-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 8.04 Years     MSP 81    AFR 6%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 2    5YR 33    Max Repair 112 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 1   

Rolls Royce Merlin Mk.II iiMPD 80-05-40 (1)    Power 80    Fuel Use 484.22%    Signature 40    Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 75,000 Litres    Range 5.6 billion km   (8 days at full power)

BAE ASS ivSS112 RR156-100 (1)     GPS 11200     Range 156.8m km    Resolution 100

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
My fleets would be arranged as such:  1 or 2 Light Cruiser Squadrons consisting of 1 CLC and 3 CL, these would escort a Light Carrier Group of either 1 CVL, 3 CG, and 2 C, or 1 CVL and 3 CG.   While I would also have 2 or 3 Upholder class Recon Frigates at +/- 45 degrees.   This way I could scout and control an entire system quite easily, probably, depending on what I encounter anyways.

Thoughts?
ddblackhawk

P. S.  I am currently slowly researching Stealth Technology, would it be a good idea to decrease the size of the passive on the Recon Frigate and put in a stealth module once it is researched?