Oh, I forgot to reply to a point!
I think the main problem with that idea [of using an Orbital Habitat] would be the insane-huge (military) shipyard that I would need to have in order to build it...
Any ship tagged as an Orbital Habitat can be built with planetary industry, regardless if its military or commercial!
No shipyard required, though it does tie up your construction factories something fierce.
Anyhoo, I thought I'd post my largest military design so far. None have actually been built, mostly because I wanted to use shiny new features in newer patches.
Expansion class Command Carrier 128 200 tons 2404 Crew 13743.6 BP TCS 2564 TH 3300 EM 0
1716 km/s JR 2-25(C) Armour 6-226 Shields 0-0 Sensors 80/110/0/0 Damage Control Rating 213 PPV 54
Maint Life 5.03 Years MSP 14272 AFR 617% IFR 8.6% 1YR 942 5YR 14128 Max Repair 315 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 48 months Flight Crew Berths 347
Flag Bridge Hangar Deck Capacity 26000 tons Magazine 1584 Cryogenic Berths 1000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 25
Ispartan Drive XXL Max Ship Size 129000 tons Distance 25k km Squadron Size 2
Mk XIII Military Booster (11) Power 400 Fuel Use 6.19% Signature 300 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 7 000 000 Litres Range 158.8 billion km (1070 days at full power)
Pilum Heavy Laser Turret (6x1) Range 320 000km TS: 6250 km/s Power 16-4 RM 4 ROF 20 16 16 16 16 12 10 9 8 7 6
Gauss Defense Grid (12x6) Range 1000 km TS: 16000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
Dalian M14 Capital Targeter (2) Max Range: 320 000 km TS: 6000 km/s 97 94 91 88 84 81 78 75 72 69
Stellarator Fusion Reactor (4) Total Power Output 24 Armour 0 Exp 5%
T-122 (144) Speed: 32 000 km/s End: 34.7m Range: 66.7m km WH: 9 Size: 6 TH: 117/70/35
K-125 (30) Speed: 32 000 km/s End: 48.2m Range: 92.6m km WH: 25 Size: 24 TH: 117/70/35
Dalian Torpedo Detector X1 (2) GPS 210 Range 23.1m km MCR 2.5m km Resolution 1
Area Search System (1) GPS 50400 Range 438.3m km Resolution 160
Surveillance Telescope (1) Sensitivity 80 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 80m km
Surveillance Grid (2) Sensitivity 110 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 110m km
ECCM-1 (2) ECM 10
Note: The sensors are placeholders, as the new generation sensor systems are currently under development. Effective search range is expected to double given increases in size and improvements in technology.
Expansion-class vessels represent a significant departure from previous command carrier designs as they are built from the ground up as an exploration mothership. The 'Probe'-class variant of the standard command carriers had never been truely satisfactory, being reliant on jumpgates and constant refueling. The Expansion class is 30% larger than the current Obsidian-class battle carrier but costs about the same to manufacture (and is 100% larger than the Probe class). The new high-efficiency engines and most importantly the built-in jumpdrive give it drastically more flexibility and reach. The jump drive is also capable of jumping standard heavy freighter, cryo-vessel, and troop transport designs, so an Expansion class can easily lead a convoy to establish a forward base or small colony.
Although a powerful vessel in its own right, the Expansion's primary asset is its array of parasite warships. Standard complement is projected to be
-1 squadron of 12 Troll-class multirole Strikers (12x480tons. 12x pulse laser, 24x T-115 torpedo)
-1 Ogryn squadron, consisting of 5 Ogryn Marauders and 1 Ogryn-Magi sensor/command Marauder (6x2,000tons. 10x SR pulse laser, 10x K-125 shipkiller)
-1 Ice Hawk dropship, utilizing cryogenic technology to keep 1 Genetic Legionnaire battalion available for deployment (2,000tons)
-1 survey squadron, consisting of a TBD mix of 6 geo- and grav- survey corvettes. (6x1000 tons)
The Ogryn squadron is experimental at this point. Although generally weaker than 2 additional squadrons of strikers, the Ogryn squadron is far more capable of independent operations, up to and including missile defence and target acquisition. I anticipate being able to use them for colonial defence. They have enough maintenance capability to be left on their own for years as long as there is a colony. By the time it becomes a problem, either a carrier should be able to reach them or a maintenance base installed.
FAUX EDIT:
Upon a little thought, I realized the chassis is easily adaptable for utility designs. The high build cost of the command carrier version means that almost any commercial design in the same tonnage range can be built from the same tooling. For example:
Expansion - Copy class Command Carrier 128 150 tons 2069 Crew 8870.4 BP TCS 2563 TH 3300 EM 0
1716 km/s JR 2-25(C) Armour 6-226 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 213 PPV 0
MSP 9215 Max Repair 218 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 1
Cryogenic Berths 1000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 25
Maintenance Modules: 10 module(s) capable of supporting ships of 2000 tons
Ispartan Drive XXL Max Ship Size 129000 tons Distance 25k km Squadron Size 2
Mk XIII Military Booster (11) Power 400 Fuel Use 6.19% Signature 300 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 3 000 000 Litres Range 68.0 billion km (458 days at full power)
Gauss Defense Grid (11x6) Range 1000 km TS: 16000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
A ready-to-go maintenance base design, capable of supporting the Ogryn-class Marauders