This is just a concept, but it seems rather simple to implement, both in story and in-game.
Basically, this is either/both a new type of fighter and/or a new class of ship.
Going off of the whole "sprint drive" capability--essentially two jump drives, so that a ship can jump in and jump out quickly--design a fighter and/or ship that is cost effective, very affordable, and a highly useful strategic and tactical asset.
I'll start with the fighter version for simplicity's sake.
It's got poor maneuverability, but good speed. Depending on which is cheaper/more practical, weak armor or weak shields. It has minimal primary gun armaments, though if it is somehow practical/viable, they'd be equipped entirely with anti-subsystem/anti-ship guns. But that part isn't really the point; most of the time, the few gun ports remain empty because they're just not needed.
Instead, this fighter jumps in, ideally within range of their long range missiles (like the Trebuchet, though I suppose Cyclops could also be equipped and used if it jumps right within range, or close to it, to begin with), targets fighters, ships, subsystems, whatever, fires off the missiles, and then jumps away ASAP. It might stick around to see the effect of its missiles if there's no danger in doing so.
What's the difference between this and already standard Trebuchet strikes/hit and runs? There are several:
1) This fighter/strike craft is cheap. Very cheap. Or at least, not expensive and highly cost effective because they rarely die. You wouldn't need that many of them, but even if you did, you could still use them cost effectively by having them raid targets of opportunity all over the place, especially in supply lines, etc.
2) Very easy to train pilots to use it--no ACM required, among other things. Its combat role is essentially jump in, launch missiles, jump out ASAP before you're even in any danger. This means that pilots and fighters that are otherwise capable of filling other roles can do so instead of filling this singular role, which is a comparatively inefficient use of people and fighters.
3) Much greater strategic and tactical flexibility. These fighters can jump at least twice as frequently as other fighters, or possibly even more than that by means of charging up both jump drives ahead of time, so that you can jump out extremely quickly after jumping in.
4) With coordination with AWACS (or similar, like an Aurora), these guys could jump in right ahead of a fighter or bomber wing, fire those massive cluster-anti-fighter/bomber missiles, and jump out. Or jump right "next" to a cruiser or corvette, launch a large salvo of missiles/bombs, and jump out--at least some would get through, and no fighters would be lost (and the mere threat of such a capability has a tremendous impact and advantage in itself).
As for the specifics:
1) Size-wise, it could range from light-medium bomber to Herc II-sized fighters. The former allows it to carry much more in the way of missiles/torpedoes/bombs, however. In order to increase missile/bomb capacity, gun ports are very few in number (2 at most, and potentially even 0).
2) Without the need to power guns, more energy output can be redirected into recharging jump drives, shields, and/or afterburners.
3) Maneuverability can be poor; it shouldn't need it anyway unless things go very wrong (at which point you'd need a lot more than maneuverability to make the difference, so it's a moot point).
4) Both drives can be charged simultaneously, and their charges can be expended independently. Meaning, you can charge both ahead of time, use the first, and then use the second separately.
5) A new long-range missile would need to be developed, but it would be cheaper than the Trebuchet. Essentially, it'd have a longer range, but poorer maneuverability and tracking of maneuverable targets. The idea is that this is used to launch surprise, rapid raids against targets all over the theater of war, but these missiles would mainly target slow, relatively lightly defended targets, like cargo transports, some space stations, damaged capships, etc. In order to make ECM far less effective, the missile would be hardwired to not maneuver much--slow targets like freighters wouldn't be able to dodge anyway, and once a lock is attained, only slight adjustments in vector would be needed, so you design the guidance system/software to take advantage of that. They'd be fired in sufficient numbers as to make anything less than good fighter cover or good point defenses inadequate to prevent serious damage.
As for the cost of subspace drives?The limiting factor. Potentially, one or both of the drives would be smaller/shorter ranged to reduce cost. However, given how even mass-produced, standard/sub-standard fighters always have good intrasystem drives, they can't be that expensive, especially if using shorter-ranged variants.
Additionally, given how these fighters are designed to almost never get shot down, they'd be highly cost effective regardless.
So what are your thoughts? It seems right up the GTVA's alley, especially given the TEI, and the effectiveness of long-range "hit-and-run" missile strikes against convoys, fighters, and stations alike.
EDIT: To clear up confusion, I'm pasting a post I made further down, that explains why it's unique and more effective (and cost efficient) than Treb strikes with Ares fighters:
Instead, this fighter jumps in, ideally within range of their long range missiles (like the Trebuchet, though I suppose Cyclops could also be equipped and used if it jumps right within range, or close to it, to begin with), targets fighters, ships, subsystems, whatever, fires off the missiles, and then jumps away ASAP. It might stick around to see the effect of its missiles if there's no danger in doing so.
Don't we get exactly this in the Ares treb strike? Seems to me the Ares fills every single bullet point in your list. The only maybe is the "cheap" part, but then Treb strikes seem so low risk I don't really think it matters.
What the GTVA really needs is an anti-subsystem missile that can't be shot down and isn't lag-pursuit like that PoS Stiletto-II. The Treb was that in FS2, but now it doesn't have puncture damage, making it pretty much useless against uparmoured subsystems like the Medea's beam cannons (or whatever guns the Feds or Shivans decide to uparmour).
No, not really. An Ares is a very durable fighter, without a doubt, but it's still a comparatively expensive fighter. The "Ballista" is far cheaper, and does away with all of the unnecessary things, carrying only what it needs. The two jump drives, decent-large sized missile capacity, adequate engines (as in, max cruise speed of 40), and minimal armor/shields. That's it. So, very cheap, and very efficient.
It's also unique in that it can jump in and out of the fight very quickly, unlike the Ares. Seriously; imagine the first mission to WiH. Only this time, instead of sending a bunch of fighters and a single Ares treb strike, you have 20 Ballistas jump within 4000 KM of the convoy/UEF escort, fire off 40 Trebs, and jump out. Then you send in a wing of bombers to kill every ship in the convoy with impunity. This is possible, because Ballistas are cheap as hell, their pilots require no ACM training/experience, and they rarely get shot down.
But let's up the ante: Delena Est (sorry if I misspelled the name). The part just before the "last stand" of the Carthage's fighter wings against the War Gods' charge. You need to take out those UEF gunships for the Carthage's battlegroup to be capable of taking on the incoming frigates, as well as the about-to-arrive backup frigates. Well, you have 20-40 Ballistas jump in from somewhere--even from the Carthage itself--in range of Trebuchets. You then have those Ballistas launch a Macross Missile Massacre (each Ballista firing at least four Trebuchets at once, possibly following that up with further missile launches in rapid succession). Those Ballistas then jump out, or back to the Carthage to get quickly rearmed. In the meantime, the UEF fighter/gunship force is a mere shadow of what it once was, as there are simply far too many missiles to effectively dodge them all, especially with so little warning. For bonus points, you could time it so that your remaining fighter wings are now in range to engage the UEF fighters around the time when the missiles are launched or hit their targets.
Now, you've either got limited fighter superiority, or the UEF's fighter/gunship presence is effectively gone. This is enough to turn the tides, allowing you to win the battle. Assuming, of course, that it isn't all a trap for when a Raynor and Chimera shows up, but you get the point.
Why can't the Ares do that? Because you can't build Ares like that, period. It's expensive and nowhere near as cost-efficient. Ares are heavy fighters, featuring very heavy armor and shielding, high military-grade engines, gun ports (and the guns themselves), etc. They also have only one jump drive.
The Ballista can be produced and deployed on a strategic and tactical level in massive numbers, with relatively minimal losses. Their pilots require no ACM training or experience, and their very presence/system/setup is a morale boost--the rooks/non-ACM-trained pilots flying them have a very high survival rate, yet still contribute significantly to the war effort. They can be used, on both a tactical and strategic level, in ways that other assets can't, in an extremely cost-effective manner. When you combine high-cost effectiveness with high survivability--and even high numbers/prevalence, to boot--you get massive morale boosts. In a war where losses are common, something like that helps tremendously. It directly challenges the notion of attrition or inevitable casualties--these guys come home almost every time.
There's another thing they can do that Ares can't--using more short ranged missiles, instead of relying on the superior range of the Trebs to avoid harm (which is not entirely effective; in cases where the treb launches aren't enough to prevent enemies from attacking or pursuing the Ares, the Ares often get destroyed, unless they have other fighter cover--which again, is something that the Ballista never needs. So instead of Trebs, you could equip Stilettos, jump to within 2500M of a corvette, and launch them en masse, targeting the engines, comms, and beam turrets. Then jump out after launching. For best effect, you have some kind of observer hanging back (like an Aurora in the general area) to see the effect on target, and coordinate further strikes to finish off the vessel, likely using cruisers/bombers. You could even make that 2000 or 1500M--because you can jump right out again in scant seconds, it's not a problem.
I hope, now, that you're starting to see where the actual advantages and possibilities of such a craft lies. It's flexible, super-cost effective, morale-boosting, and highly effective
even just by existing as the threat that it presents. Like a deterrent, it forces the UEF (or GTVA, depending on who uses it, though this is far more GTVA specialty and style) to consider the potential threat of Ballista strikes in almost every action it takes, including defending of supply lines or stationary assets. You can't fight it with attrition, or by increasing fighter cover across the board. Maybe you invent truly new weapon systems/tactics to fight it, but again, unless what you come up with is as cost-effective as the Ballista, then it's a GTVA advantage/victory, as the Ballista becomes less cost effective (or less flexible in terms of how you can use it, more likely/specifically), but tilts the attrition/balance in the GTVA's favor.
