Spacecraft

The spacecraft designer

Craft Stat Panel Highlighted to see effects of Component Changes in Green/Red

Spacecraft (or craft for short) are aircraft-like small vehicles that can be launched from hangars on larger ships. They can perform a number of roles, including scouting, electronic warfare, anti-missile and anti-craft fire, and anti-ship strikes. Their ability to receive orders after launch makes them more flexible than other tools such as cruise missiles.

Spacecraft Mechanics

Controls

Right-Click Commands

Craft are controlled similarly to ships, but with context-sensitive actions depending on the item the cursor is pointing at when right-clicked. Where multiple valid controls exist, additional commands may be accessed by holding Shift.

Right-click commands

Object clicked	Modifier	Requirements	Action	Explanation
Space		None	Move	Opens the dial widget to allow movement. Holding Shift will allow placement of waypoints as normal. May also be opened via the ship 'move to position' hotkey.
Friendly Ship		None	Guard/Orbit	Craft will move into a holding pattern moving around the target ship. If it has anti-craft/missile armaments, it will be slaved to the ship's PD controller and will attack incoming threats.
Friendly Ship	Shift	Landing Pad	Land	Craft will line up and attempt to land on the target ship. It will orbit the ship until a landing pad is free and the ship is within flight quarters speeds.
Friendly Craft		None	Guard/Orbit	Craft will move into a holding pattern moving around the target craft. If it has anti-craft/missile armaments, it will be slaved to the craft's PD controller and will attack incoming threats.
Friendly Craft	Shift	Target of same craft type	Merge flight	Craft will join with the target craft/flight to form a unified flight.
Enemy Ship		None	Attack Ship	Craft will move towards the target ship and attempt to attack it with appropriate weapons. Behaviour is dependent on the craft's set stance toggles. Craft will automatically deauthorise weapons that cannot harm ships when given an attack ship order.
Enemy Ship	Shift	Craft has standoff illuminator/Jammer/EO module	Designate target for Illumination/Jamming/Scanning	Craft will move into range of the target with its module and enter a holding pattern, attempting to keep the target jammed/illuminated/scanned.
Enemy Craft		None	Attack Craft	Craft will move toward the target craft/flight and attempt to attack it with appropriate weapons. Behaviour is dependent on the craft's set stance toggles. Craft will automatically deauthorise weapons that cannot harm craft when given an attack craft order.

Stance Controls

The craft stance controls

Spacecraft behaviour is controlled by toggling behaviors in the craft stance control board, similarly to ship postures. Spacecraft launch with the default stances shown on the right. The stances are:

HBURN (Engine Hard Burn)

State	Behaviour
OFF	Craft will fly at their cruise speed, using the regular amount of fuel.
ON	Craft will fly at their hard-burn speed, (usually 1.5x cruise speed) and increased fuel consumption (XXXX%)

FORM (Formation Type)

State	Behaviour
WEDGE	Craft flights will fly in a wedge-shaped pattern, pointing in the direction of travel.
LINE	Craft flights will fly in a line-shaped pattern, perpendicular to the direction of travel.
CROSS	Craft flights will fly in a cross-shaped pattern, perpendicular to the direction of travel.
ECHE	Craft flights will fly in an echelon (diagonal line) shaped pattern.

Craft not in formation will speed up faster than their top speed in attempt to form up; this includes when swapping formation.

MNVR (Maneuvering posture)

State	Behaviour
DIRECT	Craft will fly straight towards their destination, and remain still when loitering.
JUKE	Craft will constantly make small directional changes as they fly or loiter.
EVADE	Craft will constantly make large directional changes as they fly or loiter.

STNCE (Stance)

State	Behaviour
PSV	Craft will follow orders normally, unless dogfighting AI is triggered due to an enemy craft.
AGRSV	Craft will receive an attack order on craft and missiles in close proximity.
EVASV	Craft will run away from nearby enemy craft.

WRTB (Return To Base, by Weapon Status)

State	Behaviour
SKOSH	Craft will automatically return to base once all missiles in the flight are expended.
WINCH	Craft will automatically return to base once all ammo, including guns, in the flight is expended.
NEVER	Craft will not automatically return to base.

COHER (Combat Coherence)

State	Behaviour
AUTO	Craft will attack multiple different targets if assigned to attack a craft/missile but will attack the selected target if ordered to attack a ship.
FOCUS	Craft will always attack the selected target.
SPLIT	Craft will always attack multiple different targets.

SALVO (Missile/Bomb Salvo Size)

State	Behaviour
AUTO	Craft will fire as if on UNLIM against ships but will reduce missile amounts against craft/missiles.
ONE	Craft will not fire more missiles against a target if one missile is already in flight for that target. Resets on re-issuing attack order.
TWO	Craft will not fire more missiles against a target if two missiles are already in flight for that target. Resets on re-issuing attack order.
THREE	Craft will not fire more missiles against a target if three missiles are already in flight for that target. Resets on re-issuing attack order.
FOUR	Craft will not fire more missiles against a target if four missiles are already in flight for that target. Resets on re-issuing attack order.
UNLIM	Craft will fire missiles regardless of missiles already in flight.

• The following rules about craft behavior applies for all craft launched with missiles; craft launched only with guns will follow old behavior (i.e. always closing to the range of the shortest range weapon, which is the gun).
• Craft ordered to attack other craft will now loiter near their missiles' maximum range, or the range they were at when ordered to attack, and fire missiles at the enemy group.
• Craft will not automatically close with the enemy group to use guns, even when out of missiles.
• Craft will only dogfight with guns if the enemy has approached to within gun range, or they were already in gun range when the attack order was issued.

RANGE (Attack Range)

State	Anti-Craft	Anti-Ship
STND-IN	Close to 4000m or 75% of munition max range, whichever is closer	Close to 4000m or 95% of munition max range, whichever is closer
STND-OF	Close to 75% of munition max range	Close to 95% of munition max range
GUN	Close to gun range	Close to gun range

ATGT (Attack Target)

State	Behaviour
ALL	TO DO
ENGINE	TO DO
DEFWEP	TO DO
OFFWEP	TO DO
SENSOR	TO DO

RADAR (Radar Emissions Control)

State	Behaviour
ON	TO DO
OFF	TO DO

DEFND (Missile Self-Defense)

State	Behaviour
AUTO	TO DO
MAN	TO DO

DFTAC (Missiles Self-Defense Tactics)

State	Behaviour
AUTO	Craft will follow the default evasion behavior for the seeker targeting them
NOTCH	Craft will turn perpendicular to the missile threat, presenting a side profile in the hopes that seduced missiles will be unable to re-acquire
SCRAM	Craft will run away from the missile threat, attempting to get out of range
OUT-G	Craft will attempt to out-pull the missile as it gets close

CMSR (Countermeasure Usage)

State	Behaviour
AUTO	Craft will fire counter measures against seeker types seduced by them
ALL	Craft will fire counter measures against all missile seekers, even if the seeker type is not seduced by them
NEVER	Craft will not fire counter measures

Craft Stats

(Size, HP, Threat Size, etc.)
Tanto/Pike/Barracuda each achieve cruise and Hburn speed 1 m/s faster than their stat screen indicates. The 33% top speed penalty brings them to their old speeds, the 17% top speed penalty is generated when a fighter's loadout is 1.0 weight, such as when equipping jam pods and no other weight.

ANS

Name	Type	Base Cost	Size/Pad Size	PD Threat Size	HP	Armor	CMD Control Cap	Speed m/s (Idle/Cruise/Hburn)	Speed m/s -17% (Idle/Cruise/Hburn)	Speed m/s -33% (Idle/Cruise/Hburn)	Fuel (Capacity/Loiter Time/Range)
RS-35 Halberd	Skiff	15	1/6x6	1	125/+30	3mm	1/+1	20/45/68	N/A	N/A	1,200/33:20/36km
E-44 Sundial	SEWAC	75	2/10x10	1	135/+30	3mm	0	25/60/90	N/A	N/A	2000/42:40/60km
PF-440 Tanto	Interceptor	8	1/6x6	2	50/+30	1.75mm/+1.25mm	0/+1	35/113/169	35/94/141	35/75/113	1200/11:26/73km
B-86 Claymore	Bomber	12	2/10x10	3	135/+30	3mm/+1.25mm	0/+6	30/65/98	N/A	N/A	2000/13:20/43km

OSP

Name	Type	Base Cost	Size/Pad Size	PD Threat Size	HP	Armor	CMD Control Cap	Speed m/s (Idle/Cruise/Hburn)	Speed m/s -17% (Idle/Cruise/Hburn)	Speed m/s -33% (Idle/Cruise/Hburn)	Fuel (Capacity/Loiter Time/Range)
RS-35 Halberd	Skiff	15	1/6x6	1	125/+30	3mm	1/+1	20/45/68	N/A	N/A	1,200/33:20/36km
RF-286 Pike	Scout	8	1/6x6	1	40/+30	1mm	0	40/131/196	N/A	40/88/132	500/11:07/65km
PF-386 Barracuda	Strike Fighter	8	1/6x6	2	60/+30	1.75mm/+1.25mm	0/+1	35/101/176	35/84/147	35/67/118	1200/10:00/60km
B-45 Sturgeon	Bomber	12	2/10x10	3	135/+30	3mm/+1.25mm	0/+6	30/60/90	N/A	N/A	1700/13:36/41km

Craft Radar Stats

Craft radars are broadly very similar, though they have some small differences.

Craft	Radar Shape	FOV	Range	Radiated Power	Gain	Aperture Size	Sensitivity	Positional Error	Velocity Error	Can Lock?	Lock Error Mult.
RS-35 Halberd	Omnidirectional	360	4000m	750kW	60dB	20m2	-35	35m	1m/s	Yes	.05
Internal Radar (Advanced)	Omnidirectional	360	8000m	750kW	90dBm	40m2	-39dB	40m	1m/s	Yes	1
E-44 Sundial	Omnidirectional	360	10000m	750kW	100dB	80m2	-39	40m	1m/s	No	N/A
PF-386 Barracuda	Front-Facing Cone	60 deg.	3000m	750kW	60dB	20m2	-35	25m	2.5m/s	Yes	.05
PF-440 Tanto	Front-Facing Cone	60 deg.	3000m	750kW	60dB	20m2	-35	25m	2.5m/s	Yes	.05
RF-286 Pike	Front-Facing Cone	60 deg.	3000m	750kW	60dB	20m2	-35	30m	.5m/s	No	N/A
B-45 Sturgeon	Front-Facing Cone	60 deg.	4000m	750kW	60dB	20m2	-35	30m	.5m/s	Yes	.05
B-86 Claymore	Front-Facing Cone	60 deg.	4000m	750kW	60dB	20m2	-35	25m	.5m/s	Yes	.05

Designing Craft

(Different types of craft, ships that can carry craft, etc.)

Loadouts (ANS)

Classification	N	E1	E2	E3	E4	MP
Missiles & Pods		S1	S1	S1	S1
Other Munitions	35mm*					35mm*

Component	Option 1	Option 2	Option 3
Nose	35mm Gun
Mission Package	ELINT Sensor	Spring Masquerade	35mm Gun
Avionics	Helmet-Mounted Display	Missile Control Computer
Fuselage	Ablative Foam
Engine	Articulated Nozzle	Shrouded Exhaust
Countermeasures	Standard CM Launcher	High-Capacity CM Launcher	High-Coherence CM Launcher

Component	Option 1	Option 2	Option 3
Mission Package	ELINT Sensor
Fuselage	Ablative Foam
Engine	Articulated Nozzle	Shrouded Exhaust
Countermeasures	Standard CM Launcher	High-Capacity CM Launcher	High-Coherence CM Launcher

Classification	N	W1	W2	B1	B2	B3	B4	W3	W4
Pods		Illum. Pods							Illum. Pods
		Jam. Pods							Jam. Pods
Mssiles & Bombs		FBU-15	FBU-15	FBU-15*	FBU-15*	FBU-15*	FBU-15*	FBU-15	FBU-15
		KBU-15	KBU-15	KBU-15*	KBU-15*	KBU-15*	KBU-15*	KBU-15	KBU-15
		S1	S1	S1*	S1*	S1*	S1*	S1	S1
				S2*
Other Munitions	20mm*
	15mm*
	35mm *	35mm						35mm

Component	Option 1	Option 2	Option 3	Option 4
Nose	20mm Gun	35mm Gun	15mm Gun	Nose Illuminator
Centerline	S1 Missile Bays	S2 Missile Bays	Centerline Fuel Tank
Avionics	Helmet-Mounted Display	Missile Control Computer
Fuselage	Ablative Foam	Ceramic Tile	Stealth Coating
Engine	Articulated Nozzle	Shrouded Exhaust
Countermeasures	Standard CM Launcher	High-Capacity CM Launcher	High-Coherence CM Launcher

Classification	B1	B2	B3	B4	B5	B6	B7	B8
Bombs	KBU-22*	KBU-22		KBU-22*	KBU-22*	KBU-22		KBU-22*
	KBU-22				KBU-22
	CBU-40*				CBU-40*
Missiles	S2*	S2*		S2*	S2*	S2*		S2*
	S3*				S3*

Component	Option 1	Option 2	Option 3
Centerline	S2 Missile Bays	S3 Missile Bays
Fuselage	Ablative Foam	Ceramic Tile	Stealth Coating
Support	Missile Decoy Projector	Missile Control Computer
Engine	Shrouded Exhaust
Countermeasures	Standard CM Launcher	High-Capacity CM Launcher	High-Coherence CM Launcher

Loadouts (OSP)

Classification	N	E1	E2	E3	E4	MP
Missiles & Bombs		S1	S1	S1	S1
Other Munitions	35mm*					35mm*
	35mm Flech*					35mm Flech*

Component	Option 1	Option 2	Option 3	Option 4
Nose	35mm Gun
Mission Package	Wake Sensor	Ferryman Masquerade	35mm Gun	Internal Radar (Advanced)
Avionics	Helmet-Mounted Display	Missile Control Computer
Fuselage	Ablative Foam
Engine	Articulated Nozzle	Shrouded Exhaust
Countermeasures	Standard CM Launcher	High-Capacity CM Launcher	High-Coherence CM Launcher

Classification	N	T1	T2	B1	B2	B3	B4	T3	T4
Pods					Fuel Tanks	Fuel Tanks
				Illum. Pods			Illum. Pods
				Jam. Pods			Jam. Pods
Missiles & Bombs		S1	S1	S1	S1	S1	S1	S1	S1
		KBU-15	KBU-15	KBU-15	KBU-15	KBU-15	KBU-15	KBU-15	KBU-15
			R-1		R-1	R-1		R-1
				R-2		R-2
				S2		S2
Other Munitions	20mm*
	35mm Flech.*			35mm Flech.		35mm Flech.
	35mm*			35mm		35mm

Component	Option 1	Option 2	Option 3
Nose	20mm Gun	35mm Gun	Nose Illuminator
Avionics	Helmet-Mounted Display	Missile Control Computer
Fuselage	Ablative Foam	Ceramic Tile
Engine	Articulated Nozzle	Shrouded Exhaust
Countermeasures	Standard CM Launcher	High-Capacity CM Launcher	High-Coherence CM Launcher

Classification	N	E1	E2	E3	E4
Pods		Fuel Tanks		Fuel Tanks
		Illum. Pods		Illum. Pods
		Jam. Pods		Jam. Pods
Missiles & Bombs		S1		S1
Other Munitions	20mm*

Component	Option 1	Option 2	Option 3
Nose	20mm Gun	35mm Gun	Nose Illuminator
Fuselage	Ablative Foam
Engine	Articulated Nozzle	Shrouded Exhaust
Countermeasures	Standard CM Launcher	High-Capacity CM Launcher	High-Coherence CM Launcher
Top	EO Targeting Ball

Classification	W1	W2	W3	W4	W5	W6	W7	W8
Missiles & Bombs			CBU-40		CBU-40
	KBU-22	KBU-22					KBU-22	KBU-22
			R-1 Pod		R-1 Pod
	R-2	R-2					R-2	R-2
			R-3		R-3
	S2	S2					S2	S2
			S3		S3
Other Munitions			100mm AP		100mm AP
			100mm HE		100mm HE
			100mm HE-HC		100mm HE-HC

Component	Option 1	Option 2	Option 3
Fuselage	Ablative Foam	Ceramic Tile
Support	Missile Control Computer
Engine	Shrouded Exhaust
Countermeasures	Standard CM Launcher	High-Capacity CM Launcher	High-Coherence CM Launcher

Fixed Modules

Type	Name	Cost (pts)	Component Mass	Stats/ability	Restrictions
Avionics	Helmet Mounted Display	2	0	Missile Launch Angle: +300%	None
Avionics	Missile Control Computer	3	0	CMD Control Cap: +1-6	None
Fuselage	Ablative Foam	2	2	Frame Integrity: +30	None
Fuselage	Ceramic Tiling	6	0	Skin Thickness: +1.25 mm	Only on Fighters & Bombers
Fuselage	Stealth Coating	6	0	Wake Signature: -50%; Target Size: -66%	Only on Fighters & Bombers
Engine	Articulated Nozzles	3	0	Turn Rate: +33%	None
Engine	Shrouded Exhaust	2	0	Wake Signature: -33%	None
Countermeasures	Standard CM Launcher	0	0	Pattern Shot: 4; Shots per Pattern: 10; Shot Spacing: 0.25s	None
Countermeasures	High-Capacity CM Launcher	2	0	Pattern Shot: 8; Shots per Pattern: 10; Shot Spacing: 0.25s	None
Countermeasures	High-Coherence CM Launcher	0	0	Pattern Shot: 4; Shots per Pattern: 20; Shot Spacing: 0.13s	None

Launch and Recovery Sequence

Select Armaments -> Give Flight Sortie Command -> Arm -> Traverse -> Launch -> Return to Base -> Traverse -> Disarm -> Repair -> Store

Arming/disarming time

A Craft must be readied before it can sortie from a carrier. This includes loading fuel and ordinance onto the Craft. The duration to complete the readying operation depends on the the size and ammunition loaded the time that. This ranges from arming a vehicle without armaments with virtually little to no time to a significant amount of time such as your bombers.

When a craft returns, any unspent ordinance must be removed and returned to stores, this occurs before the craft is repaired.

Some Carriers have bonuses to Arming Speed, and the Gear Deck Locker can increase the speed as well.

Deck Traversal Time

Deck Traversal is similar to the Arming/Disarming time above. However it occurs after the craft has been fully armed and positions the craft on the launch pad.

A similar amount of time occurs when a craft is recovered before it is sent to be Disarmed.

Some Carriers have bonuses to Arming Speed, and the Flight Deck Traversal System can increase the speed as well.

Craft Repair

Any damaged Craft are repaired after their armaments have been removed but before they are available to be selected to launch from the Hangar.

The number of slots that a craft can repair at is equal to the number of small and large launch pads on the selected Carrier. For example the Levy has 2 Large and 4 small pads while the number of pads for the OSP is directly related to the number of Bank Hangar's installed.

This number can be increased with Spacecraft Repair Station, this will allow additional craft to be repaired in addition to the ones that can be armed on the launch pads. For example, a Levy with 2 Spacecraft Repair Stations can repair 4 Claymore Torpedo Flight at the same time and launch them much faster than they would otherwise

Preflight Slots

The number of slots that a craft can armed is equal to the number of small and large launch pads on the selected Carrier. For example the Levy has 2 Large and 4 small pads while the number of pads for the OSP is directly related to the number of Bank Hangar's installed.

This number can be increased with Spacecraft Strikedown Station, this will allow additional craft to be armed in addition to the ones that can be armed on the launch pads. This will allow craft to instantely traverse to the launch pad after the previous flight has been returned or sortied. For example, a Levy with 2 Spacecraft Strikedown Stations can arm a 4 wing Claymore Torpedo Flight at the same time and launch them much faster than they would otherwise