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Mikey wrote:I'm no electrical engineer by any stretch, but don't capacitors add an awful lot of impedance to a circuit?

BTW - As far as the greater utility of fighters for certain roles such as ground support - that's pretty much how I entered this conversation. If the 'Trek universe in general has a place for ground-based actions, then there will be a definite role for strike "aircraft" and air superiority. In space-borne fleet actions, they can be replaced by more effective craft and deployments.

Maybe but sometimes you gotta work with what you got

Right - but "what you got" SHOULD be based on what needs you're trying to fill. If there is a ground support role to fill, and the fighters you make for that have to suffice for other roles as well, so be it. If there isn't, then you should be instead building ships for the roles that you do need to fill.

Mikey wrote:I'm no electrical engineer by any stretch, but don't capacitors add an awful lot of impedance to a circuit?

Or they can take it away.

But in the kind of applications where you're using them for a burst of power it would be more like you don't initially have them attached to whatever you want to power, you then charge them with something, disconnect them from the charger, and then connect it to what you want to power. The capacitor will attempt to shove current through the new circuit as fast as it can.

A camera flash is roughly an example of this. When the indicator light turns on it means the capacitor is charged and you're ready to take a picture. You then have to wait a while for it to recharge after taking the shot.

I'm thinking of something in-between a runabout and a Sabre, maybe 80-90 meters long, 12-15 crew, extremely fast and maneuverable, with reasonable armament, and good shields for short-range strike missions and ground support.

Tsukiyumi wrote:I'm thinking of something in-between a runabout and a Sabre, maybe 80-90 meters long, 12-15 crew, extremely fast and maneuverable, with reasonable armament, and good shields for short-range strike missions and ground support.

Isn't that something like the Dominion bug fighter.

From where does the reference that it is a fighter basicly come from, is it canon or fanon.

Tsukiyumi wrote:I'm thinking of something in-between a runabout and a Sabre, maybe 80-90 meters long, 12-15 crew, extremely fast and maneuverable, with reasonable armament, and good shields for short-range strike missions and ground support.

Hmm...wouldn't that be a BoP?

So basically a Dominion bug attack ship?

I think the general idea of those is to be as small a ship as you can while having a repeat firing full sized photon torpedo tube and the usual stuff you need on a ship.

Which in turn, for all but ground/"infantry" support, would be a more efficient use of resources than the resource-equivalent number of fighters.

Wow, three posts saying the same thing at the same time. I don't know that I've been double ninja'd before.

Anyway the bug seems to be "a good deal" and this makes sense as, again, you're getting a ship that has passable capabilities and most importantly the ability to fire multiple torpedos without reloading.

However these things are already bigger than Corvettes(of WWII and modern times) and from a number of engagements we know the things are quite capable of getting from point A to interstellar point B in a very reasonable amount of time on their own. So they don't need a Carrier.

Agreed. I even think a militarized version of something as small as a runabout could contribute; if we continue our analogy, something akin to a PT boat.

My two cents, I think one of the reasons we don't see fighters more routinely is because of the cost vs. effectiveness. It is not really a question per se of whether or not they can be handy or an edge in battle; they can be. But equipping a large number of custom or purpose built craft with fusion power generation and/or warp cores might come down to a question of whether you want to invest the resources involved to build fighters or build whole starships. Especially if you are talking about creating large enough numbers of them to be effective in combat situations. (One or two won't split enemy fire very much, and can be easily disabled or destroyed by a competent opponent starship.) I think possibly the logic comes down to, do we want to create 24, 36, 50, 80, 100 of these craft to be expendable targets for normal operations starships (i.e. outside of war situations) or simply devote the same resources to creating additional full-service starships.

The three situations I can think of where fighters were used were exceptions, more or less. The Maquis used fighters because they were fighting a guerilla/terrorist war with limited resources and an inability to "hide" or even acquire larger military assets. The Scimitar was an enormous superiority ship meant to overwhelm larger numbers of enemies, and possibly the need for secrecy in construction preferred decking out one ship with a lot of extra toys and firepower than building more than one starship. The Federation during the Dominion War was badly outnumbered and needed every edge it could get. Aside from that, we very rarely see major powers fielding fighters in any routine manner.

Exactly my feeling, save that there could be a use for a dedicated strike fighter IF there is more to ground ctions than AR-558. The resources required for enough fighters to make a difference in a fleet action could similarly be spent on a more effective, more efficient full-sized starship.

A big Federation fleet was 150 ships. Even 20-30 fighter would make a big difference.

Teaos wrote:A big Federation fleet was 150 ships. Even 20-30 fighter would make a big difference.

Nobody's saying that they wouldn't make a difference; how big is debatable. What some of us have said is that if you could build 4 - 6 corvettes/frigates for the same amount of resources as those 20 - 30 fighters, the 4 - 6 starships would make a bigger difference; due to the fact of being able to stay in the fight longer, carry heavier weapons, etc.

I'd rather have both. Just swapping one out for the other isnt the only option. Have a few of each because both have their advantages.