Torpedo

In modern parlance, the word “torpedo” does not describe a self-propelled explosive which travels under the surface of the water. Instead, the word torpedo is used to describe any self-propelled, missile like weapon which is utilized in ship-to-ship combat.

Torpedoes are not an especially common weapon, and there are certain factions that make no use of them at all. As technology has advanced, this particular weapon has been forced to adapt to changing arenas of battle. The large distances involved in space combat creates a number of problems for the comparably slow torpedoes. But a significantly bigger roadblock is the active countermeasures employed by basically every military starship. Active countermeasures include point-defense weaponry, disruption fields, jamming devices, and other technologies. The longer a torpedo has to travel, the more time a ship's countermeasures have to deal with it, or plan to deal with it. Furthermore, most torpedoes are based around explosive technologies, which are generally ineffective in space. As a result, a torpedo has to either be purely kinetic, or else puncture a ship's armour *before* detonating.

That said, there are certain advantages to torpedoes. The primary benefit to a torpedo is that, despite being vulnerable to active countermeasures, they can often bypass the passive countermeasures that many ships rely on. Passive countermeasures include such things as the near-ubiquitous shielding tech, which torpedoes often move slow enough to pass through, much like starfighters. Furthermore, if they can actually get into a ship and detonate, they can wreak serious havoc.

As such, the various nations and groups that make use of torpedoes have chosen three primary methods for making torpedoes viable.

Close Quarters Weaponry: This is the most ubiquitous method, wherein a starship is equipped with torpedo tubes as an auxiliary weapon to utilize when other starships get too close. At close range, a torpedo is more viable, as active countermeasures have less time to react to them. Some factions, including the Terran Alliance, actually have small, fast ships that make use of torpedoes as their primary weapon by this method. They include large racks of torpedo tubes. These ships get in close and launch large swarms of torpedoes, the combination of distance and number almost guaranteeing the bypass of active countermeasures. Such vessels put themselves at significant risk, however.

Armoured Torpedoes: This is the second most common method. This involves creating a massive torpedo, generally a bit smaller in length than a frigate, packed with explosives and covered in heavy armour. The idea of this torpedo is to create a one-use piece of ordinance that will shrug off active countermeasures and deal brutal damage. This method is indisputably effective, but costly, and it takes up a lot of space. Only the Murrcioun, who invented this method, field it on ships smaller than battleship tonnage.

Energy Torpedoes: This is the least common method, only used by one or two factions in the Milky Way. It's an esoteric method, involving a small propulsion unit and magnetic field generator. This is used to create, and then propel across space, a highly concentrated mass of energy, such as plasma. Because it is mostly energy, it's immune to standard active countermeasures, and upon impact, releases that concentrated energy. While the most unusual of the torpedo technologies, it functions the most like a standard missile.