@Garfunkel

 --- Well, if you are talking about the Arrow, even one Engineering Space - Fighter gives a 500 Ton craft of nearly any composition an absurd maintenance life. Having two is for the incremental rating and for fluff reasons. If you are talking about the Archer on the hand, Damage Control modules provide twice the HTK per systems as a regular Engineering Space while providing five times the Damage Control rating of a regular Engineering Space at the price of three times the mass and two times crew requirements of just one Engineering Space. Combined with the Maintenance Storage to repair / replenish the Arrow-Class, the Maintenance Storage Bays also provide additional HTK padding. Combined with ten regular Engineering Spaces, two fighter-sized ones and a single small one make the Archer-Class' repair / resupply / maintenance abilities robust and resistant to degradation from battle damage.

 --- If a Damage Control module is hit and destroyed, the ship loses one third of it's Damage Control rating, but suffers no loss of MSPs nor an increase in annual fail rate. Likewise if a Maintenance Storage Bay is lost to battle damage, MSPs are lost, but fail rate and damage control ability are not affected. If an Engineering Space bites the farm, even the big ones only degrade the Damage Control rating by one, while the increased annual fail rate and loss of MSPs is somewhat mitigated by the Maintenance Storage Bays... assuming they aren't already dead. Finally, damage eaten by Engineering Spaces, Damage Control modules, and Maintenance Storage Bays is damage NOT eaten by Fire Controls, Weapons, Hangar Bays or more explody bits like Engines or Reactors.

 --- So to wit, the answer to your question is, "No." It's not for long term deployments. For the fighter it's because fluff / IFR and the Fighter sized spaces are always overkill anyways. For the Carrier it's because of defenses.

This is why I do all my holiday shopping online 

Reduced sized lasers is definitely an interesting option in a fighter.

A 2 HS weapon system allows for a higher engine ratio on a fighter than a 3 HS railgun.  Or, go the other way and have a longer ranged laser that is reduced in size and your fighter can outrange early beam combatants.

I get a bit of a Battlestar vibe from the Archers.

Archer-Class Carrier:
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Archer class Carrier    12,500 tons     250 Crew     1229 BP      TCS 250  TH 600  EM 360
2400 km/s     Armour 3-47     Shields 12-300     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 30     PPV 12
Maint Life 8.08 Years     MSP 2658    AFR 116%    IFR 1.6%    1YR 72    5YR 1084    Max Repair 108 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 5 months    Flight Crew Berths 51   
Hangar Deck Capacity 2500 tons     

StarTech Systems NT2500/300 Ion Drive (2)    Power 300    Fuel Use 6.19%    Signature 300    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres    Range 69.8 billion km   (336 days at full power)
Spirra Novaguard (6)   Total Fuel Cost  84 Litres per hour  (2,016 per day)

Federal-Colonial CR3-3 Naval Mass Driver [10cm] (4x4)    Range 30,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Federal-Colonial Light Screen FCS (2)    Max Range: 64,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     84 69 53 37 22 6 0 0 0 0
Spirra Ember (3)     Total Power Output 27    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Solar Optics "Archer" AM/AF Area Sensor (1)     GPS 108     Range 6.5m km    MCR 706k km    Resolution 1

Strike Group
5x Arrow Fighter   Speed: 7200 km/s    Size: 10

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
- Overview:

 --- The Archer-Class Carrier is a versatile design capable of providing respectable Anti-Missile and Anti-Fighter support to any fleet. Long ranged and with high endurance, this design trades mobility for versatility and firepower. Three layers of armor leaves it rather thin skinned against larger foes, but provides adequate protection against beam fighters and smaller Anti-Ship Missiles alike. Six shield generators provide a passive defense that scales well with improving technology, while four 10cm Railguns offer it good Anti-Fighter capabilities and contribute decent Point Defense to itself and it's allies. A trio of Gas-Cooled Reactors gives the ship longevity, forcing enemies to whittle away it's firepower piecemeal rather than all at once. A pair of FCS systems allow it some latitude against multiple salvos while allowing it to effectively engage enemy Beam fighters with comparable armaments. A robust Hangar Deck, dedicated Maintenance Storage, and generous Fuel allocation, combined with the use of Commercial Engines allow it to support it's strike group liberally. A pair of Damage Control Modules help to facilitate the repair of battle damage.

 --- [Maybe I'll finish this bit later... its been a long post...]

- Component List:



Arrow-Class Fighter:
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Arrow class Fighter    500 tons     4 Crew     98.6 BP      TCS 10  TH 36  EM 0
7200 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 4
Maint Life 6.14 Years     MSP 25    AFR 10%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 1    5YR 17    Max Repair 27 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months    Spare Berths 6   

StarTech Systems SCNT100/36 Ion Drive (2)    Power 36    Fuel Use 189.04%    Signature 18    Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres    Range 1.9 billion km   (3 days at full power)

Solar Optics "Arrow" 10cm Twin Laser (1x2)    Range 60,000km     TS: 7200 km/s     Power 6-2     RM 2    ROF 15        3 3 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
Solar Optics "Arrow" TAS Integrated FCS Module (1)    Max Range: 64,000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     84 69 53 37 22 6 0 0 0 0
Spirra Spark (1)     Total Power Output 2.16    Armour 0    Exp 16%

Solar Optics "Arrow" TAS (1)     GPS 2     Range 120k km    MCR 13k km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes

- Overview:

 --- A large, powerful Beam fighter designed to engage enemy fighter craft, the Arrow-Class wields a potent and relatively lightweight 10cm Twin Laser calibrated for the Visible Light spectrum as it's main weapon. A Target Acquisition Sensor [TAS] is mated to an integral Fire Control System [FCS] to provide the Arrow-Class with the telemetric data needed to bring this fearsome weapon to bear on it's enemies. A pair of 100 Ton Boosted Ion Drives propels this craft to a maximum velocity of 7,200 km/s, while a pair of 5 Ton Fuel Tanks give the range need to strike out at targets up to a day and a half burn away. The hull is built for ease of maintenance, allowing ready access to nearly every part of the ship when it's docked in a hangar; specialized sub-systems allow the re-routing of power, fuel and Life Support while backups allow the ship to carry on operations in spite of minor damages or failures. A long serving and successful design which blends firepower, speed and utility into one great beam platform which only gets better as the technology of it's parts improve.

 --- Unfortunately, the rather aptly named Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor which powers the Arrow-Class' weapons has been designed to push the envelope of power production and as a result the Arrow-Class is known for exploding in a rather spectacular fashion should it suffer damage to this component. A point of interest which would see the perpetuation of the class long after it's obsolescence was the design of it's cabin. Four action stations provided controls for operating both the Arrow-Class's weaponry and the ship itself, meaning that only 2 crew members were technically required to operate the vessel. Multi-Functional Displays allowed for the addition of a pair of Rear Inspection Officers to monitor the status of the ship as well as monitor the TAS for enhanced situational awareness. A dedicated command position allowed the Arrow-Class to maintain superior Command, Communications, and Control over contemporary craft, as lower ranked COs assigned to the craft could better co-ordinate the attack with other Arrow-Class fighters as well as larger ships within the Task Group.

 --- On top of all this the Arrow-Class doubled as a shuttle / insertion craft with a quintet of spare berths in addition to the command seat, all of which are secured for combat maneuvers. The Arrow-Class is rated for OSO [Orbit-to-Surface-to-Orbit] operations, meaning it can enter and re-enter a planet's atmosphere at will. The hull of the craft is built using a structural frame, which the Twin Laser, Engines, Fuel Tanks, Sensors and Fire Controls are all mounted to. The cabin is a separate, free-standing construction to which this structural frame is mounted to. The entire is assembly is then housed in a monocoque armor shell. The entire craft is design so that the cabin can be detached separately, acting as the vessels escape pod, itself rated for re-entry... albeit it is possible that it's occupants will be killed by the impact after it has landed. The armor shell leaves provision for access to the fuel tanks, so as to facilitate ease of re-fueling.

 --- The Arrow-Class presents a fearsome profile, with it's Twin Laser forming a pronged front and it's twin Boosted Ion Engines dominating the rear of the craft. Specially designed for the Arrow-Class and the Arrow-Class alone, StarTech Systems' SCNT100/36 Ion Drive provides an incredible amount of power while still retaining mobility. These engines feature forward mounted thrust vents, which poke out from under the Twin Laser's mount, to enable the Arrow-Class to more easily brake and maneuver under combat conditions. The Arrow-Class' drives are fitted with advanced cooling systems to allow the ship to present a smaller Thermal Signature, thus making the craft even harder to detect while in transit. The craft loads easily from the front, and has a sizeable yet secure escape hatch in the "roof" for egress after a rough landing. It's armor shell wraps around the engines and the Twin Laser to form the Arrow-Class' landing bars. The Arrow-Class Fighter would go on to serve proudly and would see several upgrades along the way, increasing the effectiveness and building onto the lethality of the design.

- Component List: