Interstellar Missile Ships are also known as Interstellar Arsenal Ships or Interstellar Firepower Ships. They primarily use Interstellar Missiles as their main attack method, as their hull contains a large number of ammunition depots for storing Interstellar Missiles. Because they are like a powder keg, once hit by an enemy starship, they are extremely dangerous! Therefore, in fleet operations, just like Aircraft Carrier Starships, they require extremely high levels of protection!
But at the same time, their short-term firepower output capability is almost unmatched by any other type of starship! Because the Interstellar Missile is an interstellar weapon with a long range and extremely high hit rate, it comes with a guidance and lock-on function. Unless it is intercepted and destroyed, or the target starship leaves the maximum firepower range, it will definitely hit!
Most importantly, its launch interval is extremely short! Because it does not require charging or cooling, theoretically it only requires the loading time of the Interstellar Missile, and it generally takes less than ten seconds to automatically transfer an Interstellar Missile from the ammunition depot to the launch bay. Therefore, an Interstellar Missile Ship can launch all its Interstellar Missiles in the shortest possible time, causing a saturated firepower strike against the enemy fleet within a short period!
"This starship is good, it's just…" Zachary Chase muttered to himself.
This starship has obvious advantages and obvious disadvantages. It's not that it's easy to fall after being hit. It's that it's too much of a money pit!
The only few Interstellar Missile Ships in the T1 and T2 series of starships have long been phased out. The number of Interstellar Missile Ships in the T3 series is also very small! The reason is that they are too expensive!
Because often, an Interstellar Missile Ship fully loaded with Interstellar Missiles, after three to five saturated firepower strikes, the construction cost of the Interstellar Missiles fired is equivalent to the cost of a standard starship of the same level! And these three to five rounds of attack, not counting the time consumed for replenishing Interstellar Missiles, only take less than ten minutes in total! Using up a starship's construction resources in ten minutes! Even the Imperial Army finds it difficult to bear such high ammunition expenses!
In comparison, ordinary starships might be more cost-effective. Therefore, Interstellar Missile Ships have become a very unpopular starship. According to Zachary's understanding, there is only one type of Interstellar Missile Ship still in service in the Star Glory Empire! And the quantity is extremely small!
"Let's look at the detailed information first." Zachary began to read the detailed data of this technical blueprint in his mind.
[T2 Lion King-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ship
Ship Type: Interstellar Missile Ship
Technology Level: T2
Hull Armor Strength: 130 units - 150 units
Cruising Speed: 25 knots
Warp Engine: Level 4 Warp Engine
Length: 258 meters
Mass: 150,000 tons
Crew: 50 people
Starship Weapons: 50 Interstellar Missile launch bays and a full load of 500 T2 Lion King-class Interstellar Missiles]
The attributes of this T2 Lion King are relatively conventional, but its 500 Interstellar Missile load capacity, according to Zachary's understanding, is more than twice the maximum load capacity of the several T2 Interstellar Missile Ships that have been phased out! It can truly be called a mobile firepower output platform!
The attack power of one T2 Lion King-class Interstellar Missile is not inferior to the main gun damage of a T2 Interstellar Battlecruiser! Just imagine how magnificent the scene would be with five hundred T2 Lion King-class Interstellar Missiles simultaneously striking the enemy fleet.
But when Zachary calculated the cost, a string of numbers with '0's seemed to appear before his eyes.
The cost of a T2 Lion King is not expensive, only 1.5 million star coins, exactly the same as a T2 Bee Queen-class Heavy Carrier Starship. This cost includes the first batch of 500 accompanying T2 Lion King-class Interstellar Missiles. And the cost of these five hundred T2 Lion King-class Interstellar Missiles is a full 1000 star coins per missile! In other words, if a T2 Lion King runs out of Interstellar Missiles, it's equivalent to having expended nearly 500,000 star coins worth of materials! Performing three rounds of firepower output is equivalent to completely expending a T2 Lion King.
Zachary covered his face. What kind of interstellar warship is this? This is clearly a 'gold-swallowing beast'. He finally understood why even the Star Glory Empire couldn't mass-produce and maintain this starship. One must know that Zachary's calculation was only the manufacturing cost! If calculated according to the selling price, it would be a number tens of times higher!
"But from a performance perspective, my T2 Lion King is several times better than any T2 Interstellar Missile Ship recorded. Moreover, I can't support a large fleet in a short time, so this small and refined starship is more suitable for me." Zachary showed a thoughtful expression.
If Zachary had even one T2 Lion King in the previous battle, dealing with a T3 Black Iron-class Medium Star Destroyer would have been a piece of cake! As for the other T2 Mechanical Clan interstellar warships, they would be living targets! Without considering interception, an average of ten to twenty T2 Lion King-class Interstellar Missiles could disable a T2 Mechanical Clan interstellar warship.
Build! Zachary hardened his heart. Even if this was a gold-swallowing beast, Zachary would build it! Because as Zachary revealed more and more starship technologies, the risk of exposure was gradually increasing. For example, in this battle, Zachary revealed a T2 Carrier Starship with Star Shield technology. He believed this news would quickly spread to those with ulterior motives. Before that, Zachary must have sufficient self-preservation power. The Interstellar Missile Ship will become a trump card in Zachary's hand!
"I'll build a few when I get back! And then pair them with T2 Black Rhino-class Interstellar Heavy Assault Frigates! With both shield and spear, it's simply perfect!" Zachary was very excited; he was even impatient to take such a fleet out for a real battle.
Just as Zachary was fantasizing about these beautiful times, Lilith reported something to Zachary: they had received a batch of crew members from Serena Frost's T2 Hyena.
"There are thirteen female crew members in total. They had superficial injuries in the previous battle, but they have all been properly treated," Lilith reported.
"Ah? Serena's crew? Why didn't I know about this?" Zachary looked at Lilith in surprise.
Lilith looked at the commander in confusion: "I reported to you once just now… you just said 'Okay… okay'; I thought you agreed. Serena's T2 Hyena was severely damaged, and the starship engine also malfunctioned. It looks like it's difficult for it to sail back and can only wait for a future interstellar repair ship, or rely on other starships for transport back."
Zachary was stunned. It seemed that he had been so focused on the T2 Lion King just now that he hadn't heard Lilith clearly.
"In that case, let's accommodate them on our starship first… Oh, by the way, why are they all female crew members? Doesn't Serena's starship have any male crew members?" Zachary asked subconsciously.
Lilith said casually: "Those male crew members have all been arranged on Smoking Uncle (Zheng Xiong)'s starship."
As for why it was arranged this way? Lilith hated all males except Zachary!