We know that warships exist in ED we've seen them in all their glory and I would have to assume that there's also large ED analogues of super-tankers and really big freighter vessels, not everything is hauled by independent merchants on contract. I could imagine that large freight shipping companies might have a collection of Annacondas, Pythons, Puma's etc on their books, but for Mega-corps and the like to haul bulk stuff you'd still need the equivalent of this.
I'd also assume that the navies of the major powers don't just base their strength on the two cruisers we've seen in game, there is probably a whole gamut of support ships, escorts, single role vessels (bombardment, scouting etc) as well as a carrier and battleship analogue. I guess that vessels like the Annaconda are in naval service, those small (and really they are small) ships could basically be a picket vessel, the equivalent of a patrol boat.
Obviously these large ships must come from somewhere, but we've not seen that 'somewhere' in game yet. What I mean is orbital docks and facilities where they are constructed. Imagine flying past a huge shipyard with the huge hull of a partially completed Imperial Interdictor in it, imagine a mission where you've got to fly in and drop a plasma bomb in said ship without being caught...
Whilst space stations and the smaller orbitals probably provide the main source of off world manufacturing I would have to wonder if there is indeed dedicated orbital factories, not large ports like we see with the Corolis stations but huge plants that can churn out metal or other goods by the megatonne each month. There would also probably be certain orbitals and places that would serve as naval headquarters and possibly even orbital defences with something akin to long range mass drivers/rail/coil guns to engage a hostile capital ship if one was closing with a world as well as being a base for fighter craft.
Large mega-freighters like Elite II's long range Freighters would also probably need a place to unload, again the orbital docks could come in handy here, instead of just having to sit outside a station whilst small tug like ships (lifters anyone?) haul stuff to the station from their cargo bays. That would be slow and inefficient to say the least, a direct method of unloading would be quicker and more direct.
What do folks think about this?
I'd also assume that the navies of the major powers don't just base their strength on the two cruisers we've seen in game, there is probably a whole gamut of support ships, escorts, single role vessels (bombardment, scouting etc) as well as a carrier and battleship analogue. I guess that vessels like the Annaconda are in naval service, those small (and really they are small) ships could basically be a picket vessel, the equivalent of a patrol boat.
Obviously these large ships must come from somewhere, but we've not seen that 'somewhere' in game yet. What I mean is orbital docks and facilities where they are constructed. Imagine flying past a huge shipyard with the huge hull of a partially completed Imperial Interdictor in it, imagine a mission where you've got to fly in and drop a plasma bomb in said ship without being caught...
Whilst space stations and the smaller orbitals probably provide the main source of off world manufacturing I would have to wonder if there is indeed dedicated orbital factories, not large ports like we see with the Corolis stations but huge plants that can churn out metal or other goods by the megatonne each month. There would also probably be certain orbitals and places that would serve as naval headquarters and possibly even orbital defences with something akin to long range mass drivers/rail/coil guns to engage a hostile capital ship if one was closing with a world as well as being a base for fighter craft.
Large mega-freighters like Elite II's long range Freighters would also probably need a place to unload, again the orbital docks could come in handy here, instead of just having to sit outside a station whilst small tug like ships (lifters anyone?) haul stuff to the station from their cargo bays. That would be slow and inefficient to say the least, a direct method of unloading would be quicker and more direct.
What do folks think about this?
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