Should maned small combat crafts be deleted from chartered space?

[Condottiere]

I'd go for an anti smallcraft frigate, which would be as large as a destroyer.

 

[swordtart]

Since you got to upgrade your ultralight fighters, can I upgrade the destroyer into something actually designed to take out fighters? You have to admit, most of the book designs are NOT optimized for the firepower in the roles they are supposed to fill.

That wasn't really the point, just to show that you don't have to make close in attacks with fighters (and if you do they will probably die).

I have no doubt that you could design a custom ship that was optimised to deal with fighters, just as you could build an ever better fighter. Refitting a Destroyer is much more involved that swapping out the fixed mount weapon.

If it bothers you run the same scenario with the stock Heavy Fighter.

 

[Endie]

It's laughably easy to design a fairly cheap ship that can rapidly murderzone large numbers of fighters.

 

[swordtart]

It's laughably easy to design a fairly cheap ship that can rapidly murderzone large numbers of fighters.

You would probably better served dealing with the weapon threat than the platform. Missile spamming can be effective via fighter but it is not the only method. If the missile fighter cannot effectively engage then the fighter becomes irrelevant.

I would have thought the best way of dealing with swarms of cheap fighters equipped with missiles is another swarm of cheap fighters equipped with missiles.

EDIT.
For reference in the Small Craft Catalogue, the Homeshield Mini Fighter is under MCr1.5 and is a missile platform and well within the technological capability of the majority of systems. It is hardly the last word in capability, but since over half the cost is the weapon, there is only so much you can do at that budget. It has plenty of unused space for extra fuel and the dual cockpit is probably unnecessary and could be dispensed with to allow a deeper magazine. I probably would have dispensed with the separate thruster and simply made the main drive Thrust 3. An M-Drive for such a small ship would not have added much to the cost. There is also no need to make it that ugly

It can be launched from any convenient planetary body, asteroid or from an ertsatz carrier, so the limited duration range is not really relevant.

I also designed a 3DTon Planetoid sleeper craft. At MCr1.2 it had 4 Advanced Missiles, a low berth and over a years fuel. The idea would be that it could be seeded in the hundreds in the asteroid belt with the pilots in stasis for up to a year. When required the pilot could be awakened, engage as necessary and then disengage and disperse returning to statis to await recovery and replenishment.

 

[Condottiere]

Intercepting, with the sun against their backs.