Having just arrived at Ion tech, I am designing the Stoa class Carrier Cruiser. The intent is for the 10cm 4-shot railgun fighters to provide PD as well as general tactical flexibility fighters are known for, supported in the PD role by the twin 8cm laser turrets and small bank of AMM launchers. At this tech level AMMs are pretty... unimpressive, but it helps a bit, and the AMMs can also be used against fighters/FACs before they reach my own fighters. I added cheap (5t each) single-weapon MFCs for each launcher to be able to handle swarming fighters. The Stoa also carries 4 triple 20cm laser turrets (biggest I have researched so far) for range to destroy PD ships which would otherwise be a threat to the fighters, clean out PD STO from out of range or ranged STO while tanking damage on the shields. The Tremor fighter-scouts are primarily for extending the max tracking time on missiles beyond the high-range main sensor, although I may later add fighter-scouts with a passive sensor instead for covert scouting.
Intended benefits of the design include the fact that fighters and missiles can be upgraded as new tech comes along without refitting the ship. I can also build a version with much more hanger space and fewer weapons using the same shipyard without retooling, if I decide in need more fighters in fleet engagements. The twin 8cm laser turrets provide some native PD in case I detach the fighters to chase down another target or engage up close, or want to dock the fighters and tank something on the shields. I intentionally set the 8cm turret tracking speed higher than my current BFC speed to set the stage for updating the BFC when I hit the next tech level.
Yes, I know, there's no such thing as 8cm lasers, that's a house rule I'm testing. Twin 8cm PD Laser Turret Mk2, Cost 10.6 Size 272 tons Crew 11 HTK 2, Materials Required: Duranium 7.8 Boronide 0.6 Corundium 2. I tried to make them less efficient (per cost and tonnage) than gauss or 10cm railguns, but more efficient than 10cm lasers would be. Once the missile changes come in v2.2, I will probably try the design again with 10cm lasers for PD instead to gain some range to counter standoff warheads and be more useful against fighters/FACs.
I'm looking for feedback both on optimizing the design and on the tactical and strategic utility (or lack there of) of using this as my main combatant. I will likely also build smaller (10 to 12k-ton) ships so I can disperse my fleet to protect colonies, but I'm not yet sure what those ships will look like. Ideally they'd be able to operate independently, otherwise I should just build them bigger, and ideally they'd also add synergy when operating in a fleet with the Stoas. Will probably put a small number of big lasers, heavy shields, and big engines on them to be able to tackle the lightly armored Raiders, which is the main reason to disperse your fleet anyway. Looking for thoughts on what those smaller ships should look like as well, I guess.
Without further ado:
Stoa class Carrier Cruiser (P) 42,681 tons 923 Crew 5,512 BP TCS 854 TH 2,500 EM 8,520
2928 km/s Armour 5-108 Shields 284-532 HTK 251 Sensors 16/0/0/0 DCR 26 PPV 143.76
Maint Life 1.71 Years MSP 4,791 AFR 911% IFR 12.7% 1YR 1,986 5YR 29,787 Max Repair 625 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 10,250 tons Magazine 310
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Flight Crew Berths 205 Morale Check Required
Ion Drive EP1250.00 (2) Power 2500 Fuel Use 22.14% Signature 1250 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,300,000 Litres Range 24.8 billion km (97 days at full power)
Delta S71 / R532 Shields (4) Recharge Time 532 seconds (0.5 per second)
Triple 20cm Ultraviolet Laser Turret (4x3) Range 192,000km TS: 6000 km/s Power 30-10.5 RM 40,000 km ROF 15
Twin 8cm PD Laser Turret Mk2 (10x2) Range 30,000km TS: 20000 km/s Power 2-2 RM 30,000 km ROF 5
Beam Fire Control R96-TS16000 (1) Max Range: 96,000 km TS: 16,000 km/s 90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Beam Fire Control R192-TS6000 (1) Max Range: 192,000 km TS: 6,000 km/s 95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Magnetic Mirror Fusion Reactor R62-PB30 (1) Total Power Output 62.1 Exp 15%
Size 1 Missile Launcher (10) Missile Size: 1 Rate of Fire 10
Missile Fire Control FC4-R1 (10) Range 4m km Resolution 1
AS-2.2m-24.7m (1) GPS 240 Range 24.7m km MCR 2.2m km Resolution 1
TH-8s-100t (1) Sensitivity 16 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 31.6m km
ECCM-1 (1) ECM 10
Strike Group
20x F47 Fighter Speed: 10009 km/s Size: 9.99
7x Tremor Fighter-Scout Speed: 5483 km/s Size: 0.68
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Carrier for auto-assignment purposes
F47 class Fighter (P) 500 tons 15 Crew 98.7 BP TCS 10 TH 100 EM 0
10009 km/s Armour 1-5 Shields 0-0 HTK 3 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 3
Maint Life 5.32 Years MSP 52 AFR 20% IFR 0.3% 1YR 3 5YR 46 Max Repair 50 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months Morale Check Required
Ion Drive EP100.00 (1) Power 100 Fuel Use 626.10% Signature 100 Explosion 20%
Fuel Capacity 15,000 Litres Range 0.86 billion km (23 hours at full power)
10cm Railgun V20/C3 (1x4) Range 20,000km TS: 10,009 km/s Power 3-3 RM 20,000 km ROF 5
Beam Fire Control R48-TS12000 (SW) (1) Max Range: 48,000 km TS: 12,000 km/s 79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Magnetic Mirror Fusion Reactor R3-PB30 (1) Total Power Output 3 Exp 15%
RTX Mk 1 AESA (1) GPS 2 Range 2m km MCR 181.7k km Resolution 1
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a Fighter for auto-assignment purposes
Tremor class Fighter-Scout (P) 35 tons 1 Crew 10 BP TCS 1 TH 4 EM 0
5483 km/s Armour 1-1 Shields 0-0 HTK 1 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 0
Maint Life 8.60 Years MSP 5 AFR 7% IFR 0.1% 1YR 0 5YR 2 Max Repair 5 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 8 months Morale Check Required
Ion Drive EP3.75 (1) Power 3.8 Fuel Use 404.15% Signature 3.75 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 2,000 Litres Range 2.6 billion km (5 days at full power)
Active Search Sensor AS2-R1 (1) GPS 4 Range 2.9m km MCR 256.9k km Resolution 1
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a None for auto-assignment purposes
Advocate AMM
Missile Size: 1.0000 MSP (2.5000 Tons) Warhead: 1 Radiation Damage: 1 Manoeuver Rating: 11
Speed: 31,000 km/s Fuel: 52 Flight Time: 60 seconds Range: 1.88 Mkm
Cost Per Missile: 1.04029 Development Cost: 104
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 341.0% 3k km/s 113.7% 5k km/s 68.2% 10k km/s 34.1% 20k km/s 17.1% 50k km/s 6.8% 100k km/s 3.4%
Minerals Required
Tritanium 0.25005
Gallicite 0.79024
Fuel: 52