E: Well apparently 10 is a WEE BIT TOO MUCH ARMOR (who could have guessed)
Maybe this does better:
Augcatlos class Missile Cruiser 15,050 tons 215 Crew 1440.44 BP TCS 301 TH 900 EM 0
2990 km/s Armour 4-54 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 2 PPV 24
Maint Life 2.38 Years MSP 2120 AFR 906% IFR 12.6% 1YR 511 5YR 7666 Max Repair 160 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 3
Magazine 626
MK1 Commercial Ion Drive (6) Power 150 Fuel Use 10.61% Signature 150 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 1,100,000 Litres Range 124.0 billion km (479 days at full power)
MK1 Size 3 Missile Launcher (8) Missile Size 3 Rate of Fire 25
MK1 Missile Fire Control (2) Range 162.9m km Resolution 50
Size 3 Anti-ship Missile (209) Speed: 12,000 km/s End: 243.8m Range: 175.5m km WH: 3 Size: 3 TH: 56/33/16
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Yeah, low-tech armor is absurdly massive. Which actually makes sense, I suppose.
As Sheb mentioned, look into starting down the reduced-size launcher techs. They're pretty much the most important launcher tech you can get, given the orientation on volley size rather than rate of fire when it comes to missile engagements. Either you get the same weight of fire per ship for considerably less volume consumed, or you double or triple your weight of fire. That said, you've got good range for TL3 missiles, so you shouldn't have too much trouble against things that aren't going to stomp you no matter what you're using. A 4-thickness armor belt is fine at this tech for ships that shouldn't be anywhere near enemies.
But yes, switching over to military drives is pretty important, especially once you get some of the power-boosting techs. It's basically a tradeoff between tactical utility and strategic utility; mildrive ships are more effective in combat, and commercial drive ships are more effective logistically (in terms of moving between colonies/systems without support). You can compensate for the latter with tankers and refueling stations, but you can't substitute anything for mildrives to get higher speed/lower tonnage devoted to drives. At this point it's unlikely that you have anything to protect at anywhere near their maximum flight range; the distance to the outermost edge of Sol system is less than 10b km, and JPs are rarely that far out.
E: Just started a new campaign. Luna has a 3.7m ton deposit of accessability 1.0 Duranium. montyburns.gif