Smaller Nations' ship and fleet designs

With OU troops now available, my mind inevitably drifts to a related
question:
what about OU _starships_? And, for that matter, the ships of the other
smaller
human powers -- the PAU, IC, IF, LLAR, FCT, RH, the Dutch, etc. What do
_they_ use for ships? Do they have their own, or do they get them from
the big
4?

We know that the PAU use NSL powered armour, so it wouldn't be too much
of
a stretch to imagine that they might either use NSL designs or something
very
like them (here's a chance for modellers to produce lots of interesting
variants
on the "standard" minis). Similarly, the LLAR, who have to have ships
because
they don't have any holdings left on Earth, IIRC, might have an
FSE-inspired
fleet since they are likely to retain links with Spain.

An interesting question -- one of many -- is whether or not the larger
powers
would sell capital ships to the smaller nations, either before or after
the Kra'Vak
appear. Just how big a ship would a small nation feel they needed, or
could
afford? And what sort of fleet might a small nation have if they
mixed-and-matched classes from different big powers? Would there be
interoperability problems?

Of course, all that assumes that the little guys buy their ships rather
than build
their own. What then, both in terms of FT stats and visually, might an
OU
starship be like (no jokes about 'roos, kiwis and boomerangs, please --
I think
I've heard them all already)? Or a ship from any of the other small
human
powers?

I note that Jon mentions in the latest FallOut -- and thanks for the
e-mail
version, however accidental -- that we might see a big expansion in the
FT
range. Dare we hope for UN and small nation ships?

Okay, over to you lot: what do you think? And Jon, if you have the time,
what's
the "official" word on this?

BTW Jon, given the... ah, inspiration for the CR range, is there any
chance of
extra figures in that range for Alien Representatives -- say, "Female AR
in long
robes", both before and after transformation (of course, what some
people might
_really_ like is the aforementioned ambassador in the GC range!); "Male
quasi-reptilian AR"; "Male AR with awful hairdo"; and "Mysterious AR in
protective armour." Well, I just thought I'd ask...

Phil
--------------------------------------------------------------
"We gotta get out into Space,	     | A sentiment echoed by:
 If it's the last thing we ever do!" |	   Phil Atcliffe  
   -- Return to the Forbidden Planet |	(p-atclif@uwe.ac.uk)