Space Fleet Structure
Much like starship weapons and defenses, the typical fleet structure has been influenced by the needs of typical interstellar missions.
At the core of any military fleet is the drop carrier, a very large ship built with the main purpose of transporting the troops and vehicles needed to take over ground or orbital objectives - the ultimate purpose of space warfare. While not designed for front line combat, drop carriers are quite resilient due to sheer size, and usually have enough armament to defend themselves in a pinch. In practice, this makes them far from useless in ship-to-ship engagement.
But a drop carrier can't perform its intended mission unless it can reach low orbit. Destroyers are dedicated front line warships designed to engage and stop enemy carriers and, conversely, to escort friendly ones. For this reason, some civilizations actually call them 'escorts' or 'guardians'. In offensive fleets, they form screens around carriers; in defensive fleets, they are usually the main type of warship.
Then again, sometimes a battle fleet is too much, or just not available. When one ship is all you can send, you probably want a cruiser. These are essentially lighter, faster and less conspicuous destroyers, intended for long solitary missions such as patrols. By necessity, a cruiser must be able to outrun anything it can't beat.
Light cruisers are just what is says on the tin, even faster and more inconspicuous warships typically used as a mobile base of operation for special troops, or as advance scouts for battle fleets.
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Tags: Fiction
