Alternate bomber types
Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Star Fleet Battles: New Product Development:
Module J3: Back in the Cockpit:
Alternate bomber types
The idea would be to add alternate, "specialty" bomber types for scenarios such as: AWACs, or "anti-fighter" for some races such as:
Fed P-3 AWACs: take a B-24 frame (3 space bomber), it carries: Phasers-?, 2xType-1, 2xType-6 drones, 2xEW pods, it has a limited function Special Sensor which can do functions ?, ?, ?. (like tactical intelligence, etc)
P-3A (YIS-Y175) Add +1xType-6, 1xADD-3.
The anti-fighter variant.
Romulan Retarius Med. Bomber (RTB). Replace Plasma-Fs w/ Plasma-D racks (LS/RS) (similar purpose to anti-fighter hvy. fighters).
The Coalition (to me) would field more anti-fighter bombers to stop the Federation 3rd Way. Provide a mix of standard bombers and anti-fighter bombers to deal with the Fed hordes. PFs would eventually replace these when they are introduced so these would be short lived for the Coalition.
Actually, given the limited speed of a MRS, a case could be made for a bomber (or 2 space fighter) with MRS stuff in place of most of it's weapons.
Heck, a 2 space MRS would probably be worth it JUST so it would be harder to kill at range.
A single space MRS has quite a bit of firepower plus the MRS capabilities,so I don't see it having much inpact on armament on a two space shuttle.
That MRS or SWAC is going to recieve the first narrow salvo from the enemy fleet once they get to range.
Heck a Fed can just pay EW to get where they get hits on a "1" and then just narrow salvo pairs of photons to kill it.
A bomber/ 2 space fighter bomber has several advantages. It wouldn't have to give up ALL it's weapons. Unless it went wild or did something a bomber/ fighter can't do, you couldn't pick it out from the rest of its squadron. And killing a 4 space bomber is HARD!
And giving something like a fighter/ bomber SWAC capabilities isn't going to happen. Those things cost about as much as a Frigate or Destroyer (IIRC).
I'd rather have a DWS over a SWAC...
Recovery bomber is out, too many existing units can do that mission. I will edit it out of the above to focus the discussion. I am not entirely opposed to some fiction story about a worn out bomber locally converted for some kind of mission but that's not a published unit. Can POIS capsules be hitched to drone rails?
Anti-fighter is discussable.
Multi-Role-Bomber is discussable.
See fiction story in Captain's Log #9, near the end is the recovery of a pilot from a POIS capsule from an F-8 by another F-8.
The problem is internal volume. I doubt any given unmodified bomber can pick up more than one crew, two if it goes out on a rescue mission with just one pilot. A specific rescue bomber probably wouldn't do any better as there just isn't much you can remove unless you have a bomb bay. One of the converted shuttles might do a bit better but one never converted to a bomber would do better.
Heck, you could just put a 4 space transport shuttle atop some bomber engines...
So it would have space to tote those people and speed 15 or so.
PERSONALLY, I think this is a mission for a darn PF with shields/ PF level sensors & scanners/ and the crew space. But I do think IF bombers are pretty common, there would be a lot of trials to do random stuff with them.
questions
1) What kind of range does a Bomber have with/ without packs? I'm thinking 12 hours at "high warp" so they basically can just get to the next system or so?
2) If you strip the bomber of it's combat stuff (maybe keep a P3 and chaff) how much room is inside it? I'd think a 3 space old bomber would be able to tote at least as much as a shuttle. a 4 space one as much as a HTS. So (for example) if Petrickistan needs some Purple Rum (for medicinal purposes) in a hurry, they could just subspace Graftonia and ask my to load up a few cases and send it via my Bomber transport thingy.
3) I see these things as "truck analogues" where free traders/ Fed X/ cargo ships are more like ocean going cargo ships...
4) Skiffs/ workboats are the inbetween Coast guard/ small coastal freighters.
Examples of such missions:
a) a group of 4 systems with minor colonies has a couple of these to move around specialists. So that high level geologist/ chief detective/ high level systems engineer (for those engineering problems that only come up rarely and that need more than a tech to fix).
b) moving critical spares/ supplies
c) Moving one or two people from Remote-istan to "Regional Stop For Liner-istan." A very low level kind of hub and spoke transport network.
99.999999% of this is entirely invisible at F&E or SFB scales.
Mike?
IF I understand you correctly, you're thinking in terms of an advanced version of the LVP (R1.F16; Module J2) and its kissing cousin, the VFS (R1.F14, again Module J2) that can both go Speed 15 (as opposed to the 12 and 8, respectively, that the preexisting units can).
Personally? I like the idea, but given that the Seeker Skiff is even faster and has both the transporter and tractor beam that shuttles lack (except the specialized tractor beams on Recovery and, IIRC, Prospecting and/or Salvage shuttles), I would argue that these improved shuttles would likely find themselves with too little of a market to be regarded as a viable production model for most corporations.
Sorry. 
Well, how much of the cost of a darn bomber is the military grade drives (able to use packs), phasers, targeting stuff, and heavy weapons?
Basically with an old bomber, you'd be scrapping all that stuff and just keeping the engines & life support. The rest is used to tote "stuff."
An analogue would be the EB66. Carries just a big pile of jamming gear. So it might correspond to a giant MRS.