So I decided to scrap the jump cruiser idea on the basis of cost. I do not feel my current mineral economy can support a single vessel costing 34k tons of minerals.
Instead I'm going with the good ol' military fleet with commercial tender fleet. Also reduced the max operational range to 120 bkm (or 60 bkm excluding return).
But I wanted to use more than just tankers. Future proofing, I suppose. So I got myself a recreational ship for future plans.
Love Boat class Recreational Ship (P) 150,000 tons 1,446 Crew 5,758.3 BP TCS 3,000 TH 3,000 EM 0
2000 km/s Armour 3-251 Shields 0-0 HTK 193 Sensors 11/0/0/0 DCR 11 PPV 0
MSP 4,023 Max Repair 2000 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months
Recreational Facilities
C-MPD 400x0.5/0.5 S2.5k/C40m/F15.81/TH50 (15) Power 6000 Fuel Use 3.95% Signature 200.0 Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 4,286,000 Litres Range 130.1 billion km (752 days at full power)
CIWS-20k S407/ROF6 (5x6) Range 1000 km TS: 20,000 km/s ROF 5
TS50-11 EH50 (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 26.2m km
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
Debating on whether to scrap a few CIWS in exchange for some more armor. CIWS will age faster than armor will, after all. Then again, can always do some refitting. Right now, the design will probably sit on the drawing board until I need more operational range.
I also wanted to try a maintenance vessel. However, with an expected fleet tonnage capacity of more than 120k, that's going to be at least 480k tons of maintenance modules (19k tons of minerals). I would almost certainly have to split them up into smaller ships to avoid a massive jump drive. Which means more jump ships, and more minerals. Not sure if it's worth it at this stage. Will probably stick to supply ships instead.
Moving on, the tender fleet will need a jump ship. The design I came up with also makes the ship act as a backup sensor ship and hospital ship.
Charon class Jump Ship (P) 40,000 tons 286 Crew 1,770.4 BP TCS 800 TH 800 EM 0
2000 km/s JR 5-25(C) Armour 3-104 Shields 0-0 HTK 77 Sensors 11/0/0/0 DCR 11 PPV 0
MSP 1,227 Max Repair 223.4 MSP
Cryogenic Berths 8,200
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months
CJD-151k/12 S21.8k/SQ5/JR25 Max Ship Size 151000 tons Distance 25k km Squadron Size 5
C-MPD 400x0.5/0.5 S2.5k/C40m/F15.81/TH50 (4) Power 1600 Fuel Use 3.95% Signature 200.0 Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 1,290,000 Litres Range 146.9 billion km (849 days at full power)
CIWS-20k S407/ROF6 (6x6) Range 1000 km TS: 20,000 km/s ROF 5
C-ASSx21/11 S50/RSS5k/R39m/EH50 (1) GPS 2100 Range 39.8m km Resolution 100
C-AMSx21/11 S50/RS933k/EH50 (1) GPS 21 Range 8.6m km MCR 933.8k km Resolution 1
TS50-11 EH50 (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 26.2m km
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
Again, will probably swap CIWS for some armor.
But then I got to thinking. With missile range reduced and the new sensor models, scouts are more important than ever. So why not go with a jump scout carrier?
Pareto class Jump Scout Carrier (P) 60,000 tons 428 Crew 3,291 BP TCS 1,200 TH 1,200 EM 0
2000 km/s JR 5-25(C) Armour 8-136 Shields 0-0 HTK 100 Sensors 11/0/0/0 DCR 11 PPV 0
MSP 6,054 Max Repair 223.4 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 2,000 tons Cryogenic Berths 1,000
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Flight Crew Berths 40
Maintenance Modules: 2 module(s) capable of supporting ships of 2,500 tons
CJD-151k/12 S21.8k/SQ5/JR25 Max Ship Size 151000 tons Distance 25k km Squadron Size 5
C-MPD 400x0.5/0.5 S2.5k/C40m/F15.81/TH50 (6) Power 2400 Fuel Use 3.95% Signature 200.0 Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 2,000,000 Litres Range 151.8 billion km (878 days at full power)
CIWS-20k S407/ROF6 (3x6) Range 1000 km TS: 20,000 km/s ROF 5
C-ASSx21/11 S50/RSS5k/R39m/EH50 (1) GPS 2100 Range 39.8m km Resolution 100
C-AMSx21/11 S50/RS933k/EH50 (1) GPS 21 Range 8.6m km MCR 933.8k km Resolution 1
TS50-11 EH50 (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 26.2m km
Strike Group
1x Seraph Fast Sc[spoiler]out Craft Speed: 15108 km/s Size: 19.99
1x Valkyrie Fast Scout Craft Speed: 15108 km/s Size: 19.99
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
I'm not sure how the maintenance will work here. According to the C# changelog, hangars don't offer maintenance (commercial ones at least). So will I need those maintenance modules to maintain the parasites? My main concern is stopping the maintenance clock from going up while the parasite is onboard. MSPs I can already handle easily.
As for the parasites themselves, I have a few variants. Obviously missiles are out due to commercial hangars not offering reloading. But I didn't want to leave them defenseless, either. So they will primarily scout for big ships and defend against fighters.
Seraph class Fast Scout Craft (P) 1,000 tons 44 Crew 401.1 BP TCS 20 TH 151 EM 0
15108 km/s Armour 2-8 Shields 0-0 HTK 10 Sensors 11/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 4
Maint Life 3.03 Years MSP 75 AFR 27% IFR 0.4% 1YR 12 5YR 184 Max Repair 113.28 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 2.7 days Morale Check Required
FM-MPD 151.04x2.95/0.4 S160/C10.569/F1596.36/TH50 (2) Power 302.1 Fuel Use 1056.91% Signature 75.520 Explosion 29%
Fuel Capacity 179,000 Litres Range 3 billion km (56 hours at full power)
UVL-4/12 S200/ROF5/P4/R160k (1) Range 64,000km TS: 15,108 km/s Power 4-4 RM 40,000 km ROF 5
BFCx1/3 S75/R64k/TS15k/EH50 (1) Max Range: 64,000 km TS: 15,000 km/s 84 69 53 38 22 6 0 0 0 0
P4 Stellarator S33/PB20 (1) Total Power Output 4 Exp 10%
C-ASSx21/11 S50/RSS5k/R39m/EH50 (1) GPS 2100 Range 39.8m km Resolution 100
TS50-11 EH50 (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 26.2m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Valkyrie class Fast Scout Craft (P) 1,000 tons 40 Crew 373.4 BP TCS 20 TH 151 EM 0
15108 km/s Armour 2-8 Shields 0-0 HTK 10 Sensors 11/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 4
Maint Life 3.01 Years MSP 70 AFR 27% IFR 0.4% 1YR 12 5YR 174 Max Repair 113.28 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 2.7 days Morale Check Required
FM-MPD 151.04x2.95/0.4 S160/C10.569/F1596.36/TH50 (2) Power 302.1 Fuel Use 1056.91% Signature 75.520 Explosion 29%
Fuel Capacity 185,000 Litres Range 3.2 billion km (57 hours at full power)
PC-6/15 S200/ROF10/P3/R60k (1) Range 60,000km TS: 15,108 km/s Power 6-3 RM 10,000 km ROF 10
BFCx1/3 S75/R64k/TS15k/EH50 (1) Max Range: 64,000 km TS: 15,000 km/s 84 69 53 38 22 6 0 0 0 0
P3 Stellarator S27/PB20 (1) Total Power Output 3 Exp 10%
C-ASSx21/11 S50/RSS5k/R39m/EH50 (1) GPS 2100 Range 39.8m km Resolution 100
TS50-11 EH50 (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 26.2m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Wasp class Scout Fighter (P) 500 tons 27 Crew 235.5 BP TCS 10 TH 76 EM 0
15107 km/s Armour 1-5 Shields 0-0 HTK 4 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 3
Maint Life 2.07 Years MSP 29 AFR 20% IFR 0.3% 1YR 9 5YR 135 Max Repair 113.28 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days Morale Check Required
FM-MPD 151.04x2.95/0.4 S160/C10.569/F1596.36/TH50 (1) Power 151.0 Fuel Use 1056.91% Signature 75.520 Explosion 29%
Fuel Capacity 22,000 Litres Range 0.7 billion km (13 hours at full power)
UVL-4/12x0.75 S150/ROF20/P1/R160k (1) Range 64,000km TS: 15,107 km/s Power 4-1 RM 40,000 km ROF 20
BFCx1/3 S75/R64k/TS15k/EH50 (1) Max Range: 64,000 km TS: 15,000 km/s 84 69 53 38 22 6 0 0 0 0
P1 Stellarator S13/PB20 (1) Total Power Output 1 Exp 10%
C-ASSx21/11 S50/RSS5k/R39m/EH50 (1) GPS 2100 Range 39.8m km Resolution 100
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
Hornet class Scout Fighter (P) 500 tons 24 Crew 199.1 BP TCS 10 TH 58 EM 0
11522 km/s Armour 1-5 Shields 0-0 HTK 5 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 3
Maint Life 2.39 Years MSP 24 AFR 20% IFR 0.3% 1YR 6 5YR 86 Max Repair 86.4 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days Morale Check Required
FM-MPD 115.20x3/0.5 S120/C15.910/F1832.82/TH50 (1) Power 115.2 Fuel Use 1590.99% Signature 57.60 Explosion 30%
Fuel Capacity 77,000 Litres Range 1.7 billion km (42 hours at full power)
UVL-4/12x0.75 S150/ROF20/P1/R160k (1) Range 64,000km TS: 11,522 km/s Power 4-1 RM 40,000 km ROF 20
BFC1/2.4 S60/R64k/TS12k/EH50 (1) Max Range: 64,000 km TS: 12,000 km/s 84 69 53 38 22 6 0 0 0 0
P1 Stellarator S13/PB20 (1) Total Power Output 1 Exp 10%
C-ASSx21/11 S50/RSS5k/R39m/EH50 (1) GPS 2100 Range 39.8m km Resolution 100
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
Jacket class Scout Fighter (P) 500 tons 20 Crew 152.5 BP TCS 10 TH 38 EM 0
7561 km/s Armour 1-5 Shields 0-0 HTK 5 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 3
Maint Life 2.91 Years MSP 19 AFR 20% IFR 0.3% 1YR 3 5YR 50 Max Repair 56.64 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 6.3 days Morale Check Required
FM-MPD 75.52x2.95/0.5 S80/C18.684/F1411.0 (1) Power 75.5 Fuel Use 1868.38% Signature 37.760 Explosion 29%
Fuel Capacity 136,000 Litres Range 2.6 billion km (4 days at full power)
UVL-4/12x0.75 S150/ROF20/P1/R160k (1) Range 64,000km TS: 7,561 km/s Power 4-1 RM 40,000 km ROF 20
BFC1/1.5 S38/R64k/TS7.5k/EH50 (1) Max Range: 64,000 km TS: 7,500 km/s 84 69 53 38 22 6 0 0 0 0
P1 Stellarator S13/PB20 (1) Total Power Output 1 Exp 10%
C-ASSx21/11 S50/RSS5k/R39m/EH50 (1) GPS 2100 Range 39.8m km Resolution 100
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
Out of all these, I like the scout FACs and the Hornet. The Wasp lacks range and the Jacket is too slow. The only thing irking me is the lack of a thermal sensor on the Hornet, which is a shame since I'd be able to cover more ground with four Hornets compared to two scout FACs. The alternative is to use a smaller thermal sensor but I'm then concerned about sensor range.
Also wondering which one will get detected first, the Hornet or the target. My current "best" sensors indicate the Hornet would be detected at 3 mkm on search sensor, and 9 mkm on thermal sensor. The TS50-11 will detect a thermal signal of strength 118 at 9 mkm. That's about a 1.5k ton vessel traveling at 7500 km/s (my military fleet combat speed) with 50% thermal reduction. The search sensor would detect equivalent vessel at ~3.8 mkm. Of course the GPS will probably give the game away, but at least I get early warning if the ships are moving.