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How would you use fighters?
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Masao: [QB] Boo-hoo-hoo!!! OK. My concepts are starting to firm up with your guys' help. How large do you think a ship needs to be to be warp capable? If you think that a TOS shuttle is warp-capable, then we can get as small as 7 m, which is pretty damn small. F-14s and F-15s are about 20 m long and weigh about 30 tons. The A3D Skywarrior was even larger. If planes of this size can operate from aircraft carriers, I'd think that starships can handle fighters at least as large, if not larger, since we don't have to worry about take-off weights and landing at high speeds. I'd think that a 20-m long ship should be warp capable, even in the pre-TOS period, as Phoenix was only 20 m long. Fighters of this size look like insects compared with a starship. I also wonder if they could carry beam weapons strong enough to seriously damage a full-size, fully-shielded cruiser. So, I'm leaning towards fighters carrying some sort of large torpedo with a larger warhead than a standard cruiser-launched torpedo. But, they still might be too easily shot down. Fighters are also useful in situations where large ships can't use their speed or where they are too large to go safely. This would include sublight regimes, such as asteroid fields, orbit, etc. I'd also use them against pirates, since pirate ships probably carry weapons sufficient only to rob or hijack ships, not to destroy them, or against technologically inferior enemies. Fighters could also be used as scouts, pickets, and defenders for a fleet. Carriers themselves would stay out of trouble by keeping well away from the battle zone. Fighters would use their warp drive to go somewhere, fight (either at warp or sublight), then return to the carrier. Carriers would carry relatively little armament, except light defensive armament, and would have to be shielded by escorts. [/QB][/QUOTE]
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