I've encountered some aliens (apparently precursors) in a system next to Sol. I'd like to kill them, so these below are my initial designs for ion-tech warships. I have shipyards that can build 9000t, 7000t, 3000t and 1000t, so I'm choosing my sizes from those.
To be honest, actually, this is my second set of designs. The first fleet I sent out was five of a do-everything cruiser called the Wolf class. In addition to launching anti-ship missiles it did its own point defense with a laser turret. The turret and its fire control were so huge, however, I could only fit one on each cruiser and at the expense of armor and engines. In the first battle, my ASMs proved quite capable of destroying enemy ships. However, my laser turrets couldn't stop all the incoming fire, and something with longer range sensors than my ships started firing volleys of 19x strength-7 missiles which destroyed us.
The new lineup starts with a redesigned Wolf that has thicker armor, a higher top speed, and no laser turret:
Wolf Mk 2 class Cruiser 9,000 tons 175 Crew 1195.4 BP TCS 180 TH 540 EM 0
3000 km/s Armour 8-38 Shields 0-0 Sensors 6/6/0/0 Damage Control Rating 3 PPV 30
Maint Life 2.76 Years MSP 249 AFR 216% IFR 3% 1YR 47 5YR 706 Max Repair 32 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Spare Berths 0
Magazine 270
60 EP Military Ion Drive (9) Power 60 Fuel Use 85.5% Signature 60 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 850,000 Litres Range 19.9 billion km (76 days at full power)
S5-R75 Missile Launcher (6) Missile Size 5 Rate of Fire 75
Missile Fire Control FC57-R100 (1) Range 57.6m km Resolution 100
ASM Spike 5A (54) Speed: 12,000 km/s End: 187.3m Range: 134.8m km WH: 9 Size: 5 TH: 44/26/13
Active Search Sensor MR19-R100 (1) GPS 3200 Range 19.2m km Resolution 100
Thermal Sensor TH1-6 (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 6m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-6 (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 6m km
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
Since my missile tech is better than my energy tech, I'm now providing anti-missile defense with AMMs and I created a destroyer to carry a whole mess of them. Incidentally, the alien ships can make 4607km/s and I don't know if I can say anything about their missile speed. They've used size 3 (WH7) missiles against me, as well as using some kind of AMM in offensive mode. The Jackal class:
Jackal class Destroyer Escort 6,950 tons 128 Crew 995 BP TCS 139 TH 420 EM 0
3021 km/s Armour 9-32 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 2 PPV 20
Maint Life 2.6 Years MSP 179 AFR 193% IFR 2.7% 1YR 37 5YR 559 Max Repair 32 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Spare Berths 0
Magazine 320 Cryogenic Berths 200
60 EP Military Ion Drive (7) Power 60 Fuel Use 85.5% Signature 60 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 600,000 Litres Range 18.2 billion km (69 days at full power)
Size 1 Missile Launcher 15sR (20) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 15
Anti-Missile Missile Fire Control FC1-R1 (4) Range 1.4m km Resolution 1
AMM Dart-1A (320) Speed: 21,000 km/s End: 16.8m Range: 21.1m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 91/54/27
Missile Search Sensor MR1-R1 (1) GPS 32 Range 1.9m km Resolution 1
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
That's really the main battle line. I also have a light carrier which serves as a jump tender for the other ships, but it doesn't have enough fuel to get to the battlefield and back. Therefore I plan to mainly use it for Sol system defense until I have a dedicated jump tender and can upgrade the design. Just for info, though, here it is:
Lion class Light Carrier 9,000 tons 165 Crew 1024.2 BP TCS 180 TH 480 EM 0
2666 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 4-38 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 4 PPV 0
Maint Life 2.56 Years MSP 285 AFR 162% IFR 2.2% 1YR 61 5YR 916 Max Repair 114 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Flight Crew Berths 18
Hangar Deck Capacity 2000 tons Magazine 300
J9000(3-50) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 9000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
60 EP Military Ion Drive (8) Power 60 Fuel Use 85.5% Signature 60 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres Range 7.0 billion km (30 days at full power)
ASM Spike 5A (60) Speed: 12,000 km/s End: 187.3m Range: 134.8m km WH: 9 Size: 5 TH: 44/26/13
Strike Group
5x Rebel Fighter Speed: 3750 km/s Size: 8
Rebel class Fighter 400 tons 2 Crew 63.8 BP TCS 8 TH 30 EM 0
3750 km/s Armour 1-4 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 3
Maint Life 55.54 Years MSP 100 AFR 1% IFR 0% 1YR 0 5YR 1 Max Repair 16 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months Spare Berths 8
Magazine 20
15 EP Ion Fighter Drive (2) Power 15 Fuel Use 155.65% Signature 15 Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 5,000 Litres Range 1.4 billion km (4 days at full power)
Size 5 Box Launcher (4) Missile Size 5 Hangar Reload 37.5 minutes MF Reload 6.2 hours
Fighter Missile Fire Control FC20-R50 (1) Range 20.3m km Resolution 50
ASM Spike 5A (4) Speed: 12,000 km/s End: 187.3m Range: 134.8m km WH: 9 Size: 5 TH: 44/26/13
I'm not sure what's the best way to deal with the fact that the enemy's active sensors have much longer range than mine. I could design a much larger sensor, or alternatively try to design a fast sensor fighter or sensor FAC. Currently my plan is to just bring so much AMM defense that I can battle through their missiles and get into range. I'm thinking six of Wolf Mk 2 and six of Jackal should about do it. I'll be getting magneto-plasma drives about the time those would roll out of the shipyard.
Any thoughts?