Starfighters

[Shamrock Holmes]

A discussion on the ENT forum on the MACOs, I also got thinking about the viability of fighters in the Star Trek setting. My first conclusion is that it is unlikely that a top-level independent command (ala the USAF or RAF) exists in Starfleet, however various squadrons do probably exist as part of the Reserves (for use during wartime or other emergencies), alongside larger infantry divisions/brigades of Ground Forces and potentially as Type/Functional Command with Starfleet itself (similar to the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy)

As far as what sort of vessels would be used as fighters, that's a little more complicated and depends - to my mind - on the intended use.

The popular image of the single/twin seat light fighter (either in-line [like 20th C fighters] or side-by-side [like the Maquis Fighters from DS9: The Maquis or the slightly larger fighter/courier (Peregrine-class?) from TNG: Preemptive Strike] seem like they would be far too limited in scope (and too politically "military") for Starfleet.

A more likely niche for the light fighter (or combat shuttle) would be as an impulse/low-warp vessel similar to the Argo for supporting landings and close air support or anti-piracy/defense work within a few AUs of homebase (carrier, starbase or planet). These could be crewed by either dedicated personnel (more likely Reserves or Border Patrol than an independent Starfighter Corps) or by regular Starfleet Command/Tactical Division officers.

For anti-ship combat, particularly operating away from a base, you would - IMO - require something like a raider (The Valjean-type from VOY: Caretaker, the Jem'hadar bug, Cardassian Hideki-class patrol ship or Hirogen hunting vessel) at minimum and would be crewed by regular Starfleet personnel (officer and enlisted).

Does anyone have a contrary suggestion?

 

[somebuddyX]

Very interesting. I thought the Federation fighters were one person fighters, about the size of a modern fighter jet, since they looked tiny compared to the other ships around them, and probably because of other sci-fi franchises use of one-person starfighters. I hadn't realised they were meant to be the same ship as the Maquis fighter.
I always liked the idea that Federation ships with forward facing shuttlebays, like the Constellation-class, could come out of warp and launch starfighters straight at a target. I thought I'd read somewhere that the Akira-class had a connected forward and rear shuttlebay precisely to do this, but that may have been some fanon thing I read or just misremembering speculation.

 

[Captain Rob]

Break out the Starfleet battlestars and Vipers.
Chuckle's Maquis ship was huge. There were at least thirty Maquis on board.

 

[Sgt_G]

In the Star Fleet Battles universe, the General War ran for some 18 years. Fighters, and by extension carriers, were developed in the years leading up to the war. Six years prior to the General War, the Four Powers War between the Klingons & Lyrans vs. the Kzintis & Hydrans ended in a stalemate. The Kzintis used drones (guided missiles) as a primary weapon. The Klingons and Federation also used drones to a lesser extent. The Kzintis developed attack shuttles, precursor to true fighters, as a way to get more drones in the sky at once and thus overwhelm the enemy's defenses. In the early part of the war, carriers/fighters were used in a support role. By the mid-part of the war, pretty much everyone was using fighters, which of course had advanced in technology quite rapidly (as did drones). Battle fleets were built around a carrier group However, anti-fighter systems and tactics began to blunt their effectiveness, and the Fast Patrol Ship, aka Gunboats, were developed (initially by the Lyrans) and rapidly replaced fighters. A flotilla of six gunboats packed the firepower of a dreadnought. But even before the war ended, new advanced ships, the so-called X-Technology, made such small ships pretty much obsolete.

Assuming a similar tech-development timeline in the Star Trek universe, by the time we get to TNG-era, fighters and gunboats would at most be relegated to defense of minor planets and perhaps base stations / star bases. The on-screen data, though, suggests that technology and miniaturization eventually matures enough that small 15-25 man gunboats and even one- / two-man fighters return to service in time for the Dominion War.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

Assuming a similar tech-development timeline in the Star Trek universe, by the time we get to TNG-era, fighters and gunboats would at most be relegated to defense of minor planets and perhaps base stations / star bases. The on-screen data, though, suggests that technology and miniaturization eventually matures enough that small 15-25 man gunboats and even one- / two-man fighters return to service in time for the Dominion War.

I can see gunboats (or raiders) in the 15-25 crew range as being viable for at least a few weeks activity (giving a range of within a sector at warp 6), but realistically a one or two person fighter based around pod or shuttle-style cockpit wouldn't be viable for more than 12 hours with comfort and maybe 24 hours in extremis (1 light year @ warp 6, maybe 5 lightyears in at emergency Warp 9) with would seriously limit their usefulness out of set-piece battles (not something like Starfleet typically provisions).

 

[Timo]

The point of having fightercraft would probably be of minimizing the expenses. If you pile too much on them (interstellar range, multiweek endurance, multipurpose gear), you just create a waste of resources that might better be sent on building proper starships.

Earth and Sol would be a great location for minimizing expenses: the UESF (or UE Military, or whatever) could build craft that rely totally on surface support, making short interception sorties and nothing else.

That hinges on a fightercraft, or a great swarm of them, being capable of intercepting enemy assets, though. In the 24th century, this is not the case: when Starfleet launches wave after wave of "attack fighters" against Cardassian capital ships, everybody thinks it's suicide, and indeed it achieves nothing but a minor psy-ops effect of making the ill-disciplined Cardassians break formation. Would matters have been any different in the 22nd century where some of the major players already had shields?

In contrast, using fighters against soft ground targets (in what today's USAF would call "attack", fitting for "attack fighters") might be viable in all centuries, and something worth doing with cheap little craft that match the low value and spread of the targets, rather than with a big and expensive single starship. But UESF or UEM of the 22nd century wouldn't have many ground targets to aim at. Why bombard assets inside your own star system?

In the 24th century, the small attack fighters are decidedly interstellar, as per "The Maquis II" where they were to be used for ground attack until Sisko intercepted them with general purpose spacecraft in a more or less even fight. In the 22nd century, interstellar wouldn't be viable even with the use of big carrier ships if those took months to reach Proxima Centauri.

Unless one argued that since getting any assets to a distant star was such a chore, the best way would be to get big factories and bases there, and keep them carefully out of all fighting, with only expendable small craft deployed out of them. Since we don't see much about the pre-NX-01 warships of UESF or UEM or whatnot, this is certainly an option; since we know zip about Earth space warfare before the 2150s, we could argue the basestars were exactly what Earth did, even though it would have done them zero good in any real war, and thankfully none of those ever happened.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Relayer1]

The concept of starfighters in the Trek universe was comprehensively discussed (and trashed) here :

https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/starfighters-in-star-trek.149177/

 

[F. King Daniel]

We almost got a movie in the mid-2000's called Star Trek:The Beginning which would have been about a hotshot United Earth Stellar Navy fighter pilot during the Romulan war and would have featured fighters taking on Romulan drone ships in Earth orbit.
http://theomegasector.com/index.php?/topic/20965-star-trek-the-beginning-a-rick-berman-production/

 

[GabyBee]

I've always felt that starfighters just never fit well in the Star Trek universe. They seem more appropriate for a universe like Star Wars, or Battlestar Galactica. Star Trek is first, and foremost, about exploration, which is a team sport. Starfighters are all about individual glory.

 

[somebuddyX]

I think having a couple of starfighters as support craft for a starship would be interesting. They could be more like shuttlecraft but with a more combat focus, without all the space for cargo/passengers. I think they could create some interesting space battle scenes that we don't see often.

 

[Longinus]

I don't think fighters are much use in Star Trek universe. Ships in Trek seem to have almost flawless targeting, so small size of the fighter offers no protection like it might in universe with less effective targeting computers (like Star Wars universe.) The capital ships would just insta squish the fighters like flies, and the fighters really cannot carry weapons powerful enough to threaten the capital ships.

 

[Voth commando1]

There's a mention in Living Witness of "fighter shuttles" or something to the effect of a strafing run being used to flush out Tedrin.

So the idea exists.

 

[Voth commando1]

At least for ground assaults. Perhaps they could be used in certain situations in space for example control of a base or outpost without capital ships nearby.

 

[Longinus]

Oh I'm sure they exist, but they're just not particularly prevalent for the reasons I mentioned.

 

[Jetboogieman]

The Peregrine Class Attack Fighter was used throughout the Dominion War, most promentantly in the Battle of Bajor, Sacrifice of Angels.

 

[Prax]

So in Star Wars, in the clone wars era, the Jedi have these really small and maneuverable starfighters that have no hyperdrive. So they use these hyperspace rings to get from place to place.

IMO, those rings are so frickin cool!

Had to share...

 

[Sgt_G]

Ships in Trek seem to have almost flawless targeting, so small size of the fighter offers no protection

Well, in the game Star Fleet Battles, fighters actually do receive a small-target defense bonus. Of course, combat range in SFB is measured in tens of thousands of kilometers, unlike on-screen Trek.

 

[Longinus]

Well, in the game Star Fleet Battles, fighters actually do receive a small-target defense bonus. Or course, combat range in SFB is measured in tens of thousands of kilometers, unlike on-screen Trek.

Yes, but that game is pretty much completely divorced from Trek canon.

 

[Sgt_G]

In many ways, SFB is more true to the original Trek canon than later Trek movies / shows were.

 

[GabyBee]

In many ways, SFB is more true to the original Trek canon than later Trek movies / shows were.