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So I'm going to have carrier vessels that will carry strikecraft inside them that can be launched when needed, but I'm wondering how having no gravity or atmosphere will affect the tactics they employ. I know for example, that compared to a jet fighter, a space fighter will have very different acceleration and turning, but I'm wondering how this will change the fight. Will it make certain tactics and manoeuvres that jet fighters use more difficult or certain weapons work better?

Edit The fighters will have a main thruster at their rear to accelerate them up to their combat speed, and then radial thrusters to allow for monoevering once at that speed. What I'm not sure about is how advantageous things are like getting behind the enemy or flanking the enemy, with the fighter's manoeuvrability, could they just dodge any flanking attempts.

With regards to missiles, the fighters are going to be rather light, and so cannot carry more than two missiles, therefore these should be reserved in use. Also, would I not be correct in thinking that space would change the way missiles work I.e. no need for its main thruster to be constantly burning, will not need to be a star aerodynamic and will needn't manoevering thrusters for it to change direction, just like the fighters.

Pyromaniac Mariner
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  • Do you want the answer to use existing technology, or star-wars like technology? Because with existing tech the acceleration would be very tiny indeed. – Ebonair Jan 26 '18 at 15:43
  • Star Wars like technology please. – Pyromaniac Mariner Jan 26 '18 at 15:54
  • Modern jet fighters are flown under computer control and fight by launching fire-and-forget air-to-air or air-to-surface missiles from several hundred kilometers to where the enemy is. Maneuvrability is much less important than it was half a century ago; cruise speed, range, sensors and avionics are very much more important. – AlexP Jan 26 '18 at 16:00
  • @AlexP would missiles not work in a completely different manner to how they do in-air – Pyromaniac Mariner Jan 26 '18 at 17:11
  • I think this can be a quality question, but you should focus on "What will the flight characteristics be?" and you will have to provide a mass and thrust so we can do some calculations. – kingledion Jan 26 '18 at 17:45
  • Missiles are rockets. Rockets work in space just fine; they also work fine in the atmosphere, but they work a liitle better in space where there is no air drag and there are no aerodynamic forces. – AlexP Jan 26 '18 at 20:38
  • Of course the very concept of space fighters is not very realistic. http://www.rocketpunk-manifesto.com/2007/08/space-fighters-not.html – M. A. Golding Jan 26 '18 at 21:41
  • @M.A.Golding I've always thought that the space fighter has a niche role, close to home in law enforcement against civilian ships that you don't want to damage too badly if they won't heave to for customs inspection. – Ash Jan 27 '18 at 10:33
  • I don't know if the 2 missile limit is really the way to go here. A missile is basically a Kamikaze drone and would be crazy useful in space combat. They are useful in space combat specifically because they are a guided munition with a lot of disposable deltaV on their hands (they can track and adjust to hit maneuvering targets). Modern missiles use solid propellants, but you definitely wouldn't want that for space applications - restartable is the only way to go - so liquid, high thrust electric, or something a bit more SciFi. – MParm Jan 28 '18 at 03:43
  • @AlexP How do we convince the folks with the purse strings? This is so true, and seeing all this money go into obsolete technology is really annoying. – MParm Jan 28 '18 at 03:47

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