Fighter

This article contains information relevant to both the C# and VB6 versions of Aurora. Where differences exist, they are noted in the appropriate sections.

Fighters are ships massing 500t or less. While they are designed in the same fashion as any other ships, they are generally built via fighter factories on the F2 industry screen, not in shipyards. Fighters are typically very short-range ships, so they are often used on carriers, which will move them longer distances, and refuel, reload, and maintain them along the way, or else simply kept as local planetary defense forces.

Designing a fighter

Fighters are considered Fast Attack Craft and do not require a bridge. In C#, they tend to use a variety of very small components (e.g., single-weapon Beam Fire Controls, box Missile Launchers, reduced-size Lasers, and so on). In VB6, they can also use special "fighter only" components, such as a Beam Fire Control with a bonus to tracking speed.

Due to the size limitation, Fighters are typically designed as fast, short-range craft that don't spend a of time outside their hangars. As such they require minimal deployment time and maintenance supplies. Because of the 500-ton weight limit, keeping size absolutely minimized is essential - smaller engines (with very high power levels to keep speed high), minimal fuel and maintenance storage (which yields very short ranges), omitting Engineering Spaces, deployment times of only a few days, and so on are all things to keep in mind when designing fighters. (Note: In VB6, smaller components will sometimes require additional research.)

Gauss cannons make the best point defense fighters, but without skilled officers inaccuracy with small GCs is a problem. Reduced size lasers pack the best punch. Missiles are the most flexible in terms of fighter size and role - fighters are often equipped with Box Launchers to maximize their hitting power and let you upgrade their combat effectiveness in future (when you have better missiles available), but these require a greater logistical effort.

Building and Maintenance

Fighters can be fabricated on a colony with Fighter Factories, a type of installation. From the Industry tab F2 there is a pull-down menu called Construction Options. Select Fighters. A list of all your fighter designs will appear. Select one, and just like ordinary construction, place a number and a percentage. Unlike ordinary construction, you also have to give define a fleet/task group for the new production. In VB6, it is important that you do this, as any fighters made without a task group designation will be lost. (In C#, a new fleet will simply be created)

Fighters will frequently operate from motherships. These might be huge Carrier leviathans, small cruisers or your colonies (Note: in VB6, this involves PDCs). Any class with a hangar deck, boat bay, or both, with enough space, can serve as a valid mothership. These provide a capability to house fighters and repair, refuel, and rearm them. In C#, fighters can also operate just like any other ship. In VB6, fighters are not serviced by maintenance facilities nor can be refitted.

Fighter Squadrons

Note: I'm Unsure - Please Verify of the C# interface here, but hopefully you can figure it out.

Once fighters are built, they can be organized into a squadron for ease of use. This is done on the F4 Naval ORganization window in C#, and via the Fighter Squadrons Window F7 in VB6. Once there, select the 'Reorganize Squadron's' tab. Your new fighter will appear here. Click on the 'New' button at the bottom left. This will create a new squadron. Then simply click on the fighter under 'no assignment', and click on the left arrow to move it to the squadron.

Now the squadron has a fighter, but the squadron itself needs a home. Open up the motherships' dropdown and select a home for the squadron, click on the squadron and then on the assign button. The fighter, and its squadron have been assigned a base.

All that is left is to 'Recover' the squadron to place them safely in their hanger or boat bay. It is advisable to keep them in a hanger or boat bay as the maintenance clock is off while they are stored.