[member="Jorus Merrill"] [member="Coren Starchaser"] @Popo @Friedrich Stahlmann [member="Captain Larraq"]
Oh was she supposed to have gone in the last segment already? Camellia could hardly tell how things were going, they hadn't given a specific order of when to go for the people and no one had signaled her out as next ever either. Because of that she hadn't been sure whether standing up would make her look like a fool or not. Now they had already moved past talks of larger starships and the Rendili woman felt like she had missed a prime opportunity to bring up specific designs out there that might have defined the philosophy going on lately. Well maybe she had a chance this time before anyone else spoke to dip between both subjects? Or just stay on topic because that was what she was supposed to do.
Taking her turn to stand up now then, Camellia stepped up to the podium and nodded politely to the staff and audience to imitate the manners everyone else had shown thus far when speaking. "Well firstly I'd like to thank those who allowed me to be on this panel and our audience for finding us interesting enough to attend. As to the question though, , , , ,I'd say they don't in conventional ways. In my opinion we have indeed seen a greater propensity for larger warships to take center stage as is evident by designs such as the Sith Titan class that appeared at battles such as Manaan and others since. My take on this is that we're seeing fewer vessels of cruiser class or below in naval combat these days as we appear to slide into the days of Xin the Despot or the Alaskan League once again when conflicts were between very few, but very large, ships."
Smoothing out a crease in her uniform she hadn't noticed before the Rendili woman sighed before continuing. "We do still see a number of frigates and cruisers in battles, but they appear to fill the carrier roles and form the rearguard rather than fall into attack formation very often. Perhaps it's just my bias that they were once more used as fire support craft or even situational command vessels if in solo skirmishes. Being faster and more maneuverable, well designed frigates and cruisers can roam a battle zone more aptly than their larger counterparts. Which I believe Admiral Stahlmann can attest to, as his tactics at Manaan exploited the horrendous turning ability of the Titan for even the large destroyers under his command could outperform. Still, this isn't necessarily a bad role for these ships to fill, as they are more lightly armed and armored normally. This allows larger ships to focus on firepower while leaving fighter screens up to their escorts. The tides of war constantly change between a habitual increase in the use of fewer, more singular powerful, ships and alternate with the use of many more and smaller craft. Looking at history we typically notice the use of larger ships die down when attack craft such as fighters become a more serious threat which at their size they can't handle in large quantities, which leads to navies focusing on smaller ships like frigates and corvettes covering large carriers. The most balanced time period that had a split focus between large and attack sized craft was the Clone Wars in my opinion, but that may be speculation of interpretation."
Was she roaming too much, sometimes she had a habit of rambling on tangents whenever they formed in her head as she tried to cover every angle that came up, but she wasn't often aware of going too far and hoped she hadn't. "Corvettes still find themselves in their most common position used as pickets and fighter screening roles, though as battles focus more and more on planned invasions rather than battles wherever they can happen to destroy enemy fleet units we've seen a drop in their recon and patrol parameters. It is also this rise in planned battles that has perhaps led to a decrease in stealth technology as it takes away from power output that can be put into firepower or other combat oriented systems. Though I believe such ships would be highly prized for their potential to lay sleeper mine fields or break an enemy blockade unnoticed. . . . .and while I cannot speak for governments as a whole or other companies, I can state that Rendili Stardrive has been working to bring the smaller "escort" class back into being. Our cruiser line especially is an attempt to design smaller warships capable of engaging in exchanges with the larger warships and brawling with the best of them. We hope to finish the corresponding frigate and carrier lines to bring an entire front to the revival of smaller warships. It is our belief that the tides of war will change very soon once again to break the midway galactic navies are in. It is very likely the next few battles fought in space could determine where designs are steered toward. It largely will depend if large warships can be exploited by smaller ones or if technological advancements make large targets a threat to keep in the roster, or if this rise in large warships can withstand what is thrown at them and make smaller ships obsolete for the time being."
