Interstellar missile ships are also known as interstellar arsenal ships or interstellar firepower ships.
They primarily rely on interstellar missiles as their main means of attack, as their hulls contain large ammunition depots for storing these missiles.
However, due to their resemblance to powder kegs, they are extremely vulnerable if hit by enemy ships! Therefore, in fleet operations, they require a high level of protection, much like carrier starships.
At the same time, their short-term firepower output capability is unmatched by almost any other starship type.
This is because interstellar missiles are long-range, highly accurate interstellar weapons equipped with guidance locking functions.
Unless intercepted and destroyed or if the target starship moves beyond their maximum weapon range, they are guaranteed to hit their mark!
Most importantly, their launch intervals are extremely short.
Since they do not require energy charge cooling, theoretically, the only time needed is for missile reloading. Typically, it takes less than ten seconds to automatically transport an interstellar missile from the ammunition depot to the launch silo.
Thus, an interstellar missile ship can launch all its missiles in the shortest possible time, delivering a saturation firepower strike against an enemy fleet within moments.
"This starship is good, but..." Zhao Chen muttered to himself.
The advantages of this starship are clear, but so are its drawbacks.
It's not just about being easily destroyed if hit.
It's also about how ridiculously expensive it is!
The few interstellar missile ship models in the T1 and T2 series have long been phased out.
Even T3 series interstellar missile ships are extremely rare!
The reason? They're too costly!
A fully loaded interstellar missile ship, after conducting three to five saturation firepower strikes, will have expended missiles with a construction cost equivalent to that of a standard starship of the same level.
These three to five rounds of attacks, not accounting for the time needed to replenish missiles, take less than ten minutes in total!
In just over ten minutes, it consumes the construction resources of an entire starship!
Even the Imperial Army struggles to bear such high ammunition expenses.
In comparison, conventional starships offer much better cost-effectiveness.
As a result, interstellar missile ships have become highly niche starships. From what Zhao Chen knows, the Stellar Glory Empire currently has only one model of interstellar missile ship still in service, and even that is in extremely limited numbers!
"Let's take a look at the detailed specifications first." Zhao Chen began reviewing the detailed data of this technical blueprint.
[T2 Lion King-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ship
Starship Type: Interstellar Missile Ship
Technology Level: T2
Hull Armor Strength: 130–150 Units
Cruising Speed: 25 Knot Stellar Speed
Warp Drive: Level Four Warp Engine
Captain: 258 Meters
Mass: 150,000 Tons
Crew Complement: 50
Starship Weapons: 50-unit Interstellar Missile Launch Silo with a full load of 500 T2 Lion King-class Interstellar Missiles]
The attributes of this T2 Lion King-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ship are fairly standard, but its load of 500 interstellar missiles, according to Zhao Chen's knowledge, is more than double the maximum capacity of the phased-out T2 interstellar missile ships!
It truly can be called a mobile firepower output platform!
The attack power of a single T2 Lion King-class interstellar missile is comparable to the damage dealt by the main cannon of a T2 interstellar battlecruiser!
Just imagine, five hundred T2 Lion King-class Interstellar Missiles launching in unison toward the enemy fleet—what a spectacular sight that would be.
But when Zhao Chen calculated the construction cost, a string of numbers with '0's seemed to flash before his eyes.
The construction cost of a single T2 Lion King-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ship wasn't exorbitant; it only required 1.5 million Star Coins, exactly the same as the T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship.
This cost included the first batch of five hundred accompanying T2 Lion King-class Interstellar Missiles.
And the cost of these five hundred T2 Lion King-class Interstellar Missiles alone was a full 1,000 Star Coins per missile!
In other words, if a T2 Lion King-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ship exhausted all its interstellar missiles, it would be equivalent to expending nearly 500,000 Star Coins worth of supplies!
Three rounds of firepower output would essentially mean depleting an entire T2 Lion King-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ship.
Zhao Chen covered his face with his hands. What kind of starship was this? This was clearly a 'Gold-devouring Beast.'
He finally understood why even the Stellar Glory Empire couldn't afford to sustain this type of starship in large numbers.
Keep in mind, Zhao Chen was only calculating the construction cost!
If calculated based on the selling price, that number would be dozens of times higher!
"But based on performance, my T2 Lion King-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ship offers several times better cost-effectiveness than any T2 interstellar missile ship on record.
Moreover, I won't be able to sustain a large fleet in the short term. Instead, this kind of small but elite starship suits me better." Zhao Chen wore a thoughtful expression.
If Zhao Chen had even one T2 Lion King-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ship during the previous battle, dealing with a T3 Black Iron-class medium interstellar destroyer would have been a piece of cake!
As for the other T2 Mechanoid interstellar warships, they would have been nothing more than sitting ducks!
Assuming no interception, an average of ten to twenty T2 Lion King-class Interstellar Missiles would be enough to render a T2 Mechanoid interstellar warship combat-ineffective.
Build it!
Zhao Chen steeled his heart. Even if this was a Gold-devouring Beast, he would build it!
Because as Zhao Chen unveiled more and more starship technologies, the risk of exposure was gradually increasing.
For instance, after this battle, Zhao Chen had revealed a T2 carrier starship equipped with star shield technology. He was certain this news would reach certain interested parties in no time.
Before that happened, Zhao Chen needed to have sufficient self-defense capabilities.
The interstellar missile ship would become a trump card in Zhao Chen's hands!
"I'll build a few as soon as I get back! Pair them with the T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates! With shields and spears, it's simply perfect!" Zhao Chen was excited, even itching to deploy such a fleet for a real combat test.
Just as Zhao Chen was lost in these pleasant fantasies, Lilith reported something to him. They had taken in a group of crew members from Shen Bing's T2 Hyena-class Medium Interstellar Destroyer.
"A total of thirteen female crew members. They sustained minor injuries in the previous battle, but all have been properly treated," Lilith reported.
"Huh? Shen Bing's crew? I didn't know about this," Zhao Chen said, looking at Lilith in surprise.
Lilith looked at the commander with confusion. "I reported this to you earlier... You just said 'Okay... okay' at the time; I thought you had agreed."
Shen Bing's T2 Hyena-class Medium Interstellar Destroyer was severely damaged, and its starship engine had also malfunctioned. Given the situation, it would be difficult for it to sail back on its own. It could only wait for a later interstellar repair ship or rely on being towed back by another starship."
Zhao Chen was taken aback. It seemed that he had been so focused on thinking about the T2 Lion King-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ship that he hadn't clearly heard what Lilith said.
"In that case, let's arrange for them to stay on our starship for now... By the way, why are all the crew members female? Are there no male crew members on Shen Bing's starship?" Zhao Chen asked instinctively.
Lilith replied casually, "Those male crew members have been assigned to Zheng Xiong's starship."
This Zheng Xiong was the Smoking Uncle.
As for why it was arranged this way? Lilith disliked all men except Zhao Chen!