[FT] Ship Design Fluff

There is a lot of previous discussion of the various factions ship
design doctrines, but not much on why the ships look like they do.

Of course, the real reason is that the sculptor thought the designs
looked good - but I can't help trying to come up with PSB for the
various ship configurations.

E.g. 'Why do the NAC ships have those long spindly necks?'

Because...

1) The weapons/sensors/drives require a long linear particle accelerator
2) To produce an offset distribution of critical systems, which causes
problems for primitive targeting systems that home in on the centre of
the targets mass.
3) To present an apparent weak point to draw fire while ensuring that
the neck is in fact the best armoured/screened part of the ship
4) To present an apparent weak point to draw fire which is actually
quite difficult to hit, so causing more shots to miss
5) The shape is for FTL 'streamlining'
6) To partition the ship into two distinct sections that can operate
independently should the other be destroyed - the length of the neck
is enough that one part exploding will leave the other intact (hence
longer necks on bigger ships)

Next: Why the Sa'Vasku are so spiky...

Steve Scothern