Ship Weapons

Most ships in the 'Verse are unarmed. Since the war is over, there's little enough need for one ship to shoot down another, and the Alliance has always been touchy over the notion of private citizens totin' cannons in space. Alliance ships are armed, of course. You never know, might be some bad people about. Ship weapons fall into four main categories.

Missiles
Missiles are the main offensive military weapons. Missiles come in many sizes and carry many different kinds of warhead, and can be mounted in simple tube or box launchers (disposable, often packaged with the missile) or on external rails. Target information is provided from the firing vessel; however, missiles can be ordered to operate in either command-guided (to ensure positive control) or fire-and-forget mode. Because of the guidance linkages, missiles are more vulnerable to counter-measures than other weapons systems. Missiles are classified by range, as short-, medium- and long-range, while weight is a multiple of the warhead weight. Cost is ₡1 per pound of missile, plus the cost of the warhead. Missile launchers have negligible weight and cost, but tonnage must be dedicated to the them at 1 ton per 2,000 lbs. of missiles.

In a pinch, missiles can be carried as cargo, kicked out an airlock, and fired by remote. This is very slow and requires enough crew in pressure suits to manhandle the missiles, but this may be the only option for an unarmed vessel.

Example: A captain who operates in pirate territory wants to add missile launchers to his Firefly's over-wing bays. He chooses to add short-range missiles with 100-pound warheads.

A short-range missile with a 100-pound warhead weighs in at 500 lbs, as a short-range missile weighs 5 times the weight of the warhead.

The cost of the launcher itself is negligible, but each standard 100-pound short-range missile is going to cost ₡600, as the cost of a missile is ₡1 per pound, plus the price of the warhead.