So I captured a Swarm Queen. It didn't go down particularly cleanly, because I fought it in a level 8 nebula next to my home system. It's pretty funny when the soldiers are slower than the mothership.
I prepared a suitably large shipyard beforehand, which I intended to use to repair the captured ship, and then disassemble the components for tech. I noticed that even though the design shows up in the class design window, you can't build it, which seemed reasonable as the ship isn't really a valid ship. Then I pressed the copy design button, and suddenly I can build my own Star Swarm, I just need to get my hands on a worker and a soldier.
Of course I can't add more components of tech I don't have, but I can see that I could potentially build more of these components for risk free tech disassembly. It's not entirely free, as I think I won't get back the minerals, and of course there's the wealth spent. Is this a legitimate strategy?
On another note, how do I use salvaged components in my own ships? There are these delicious strength 2000 passives inside the mothership that I really want to mount onto a surveillance ship.