Battlecruiser

A battlecruiser is a ship designed to combine a battleship's armament with a cruiser's speed, i.e. it has disproportionate firepower for its protection. Thus it is a warship of maximum speed and fire power, but with lighter armour than a battleship.

Role in fleet operations

Battlecruisers cannot stand up to their own armament for long, but they are not intended to. Instead, they undertake fast strike operations against enemy shipping or bases, or chase down enemy cruisers doing so against their own side.

Battlecruisers often make up the centerpiece of small fleets, serving as the command ship in many cases. In very large fleets, they are used as heavy strike craft against the mission objective. Battlecruisers tend to be expensive, so a government may only have two or three dozen cruisers available in peacetime. It’s usually these ships that determine the fate of worlds.

Battlecruisers sometimes possess a higher jump capability than battleships or dreadnoughts, to give enhanced strategic mobility.

Battlecruisers are the lightest type of starship chassis that can be converted into a carrier, as they provide the necessary structural stability and availability of internal space necessary to conduct flight operations.