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Are Carriers Better?

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Borealis4x:
How do large (100,000 ton) carriers stack up against rail/missile ships of similar size in combat? Are they more effective generally? I know that in Aurora specialization trumps generalization as far as ship roles go so I guess a ship which does both is out. 

TheDeadlyShoe:
The size doesn't really matter. Everything scales pretty much linearly past a certain point.

Otherwise...it depends on both sides sensor, missile, and engine technology.  If the fighters can strike without response, they win, with caveats about the enemy's missile defense.  If the fighters have to enter firing range to fire themselves, they lose.

Michael Sandy:
I honestly do not understand most large carrier designs.  They are detectable from so much further away that it gives away the vector the fighters are coming in from.  Now there is a theory of carriers as pod launchers, where their fighters are basically fire control, box launcher and a small engine, and the carrier becomes a missile launcher capable of large volleys.  The fighters don't have to get in range or have any survivability because they are only targetable in the brief moments after launch and before they return to their mothership.

That kind of carrier you would want big in order to have proper defenses, because it would be expected to get into missile range.

But that kind of carrier is going to be more expensive than a missile ship, with a smaller number of launchers, its advantage is that it can reload much more efficiently.

Borealis4x:

--- Quote from: Michael Sandy on March 20, 2017, 01:29:51 AM ---Now there is a theory of carriers as pod launchers, where their fighters are basically fire control, box launcher and a small engine, and the carrier becomes a missile launcher capable of large volleys.

--- End quote ---
I didn't think there was any other kind of fighter (or rather strike craft as I call them). Trying to keeps things <500 tons is difficult.

I also hope that the newer version of Aurora will make it so missiles aren't the be-all-end-all in terms of pure combat efficiency.

Gyrfalcon:
Well, there's nothing saying that fighters have to travel straight from the carrier towards the target - it's well possible to come in at an angle against the target task force. That said, for fighting against the AI it doesn't matter one bit. Fighting between two human-controlled factions (and thus ones that might have anti missile escorts sweeping ahead of the main group), it might make a significant difference.

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