Editing Tractor Beam (section)

==Uses==
Ships built to utilize a tractor beam tend to have a disproportionately large engine and fuel allotment relative to other ships of their size, to account for the increased load of the towed ship. If engines are present on the ship being towed, they will be used as well during the towing. Overall the Tug speed is calculated as <code>(SumOfEnginePowers)/(SumOfMasses)</code> of the two ships. 

:Tip: military engines will offer more speed, but they will chew more fuel then you can imagine. Better to go full size max civilian power engines and put more on there instead.

Tugs can act as "rescue" ships for refueling stranded ships. Additionally, Terraformers, sorium harvesters and asteroid miners tend to be ships that move only rarely, so building engine-less designs which will be towed into place by dedicated tugs greatly reduces build cost for these types of ships. Other more creative uses are also possible, such as a towed point defense pod intended to protect commercial convoys. By collecting the military equipment into a separate towed module, the ship may remain commercially-classed and the military module is spared the maintenance costs for the engines and functional modules aboard the commercial vessel.

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