Isn't this what those J6 IN couriers are for? AFAIK, they're first mentioned in the CT supplement titled 'Fighting Ships of the Spinward Marches' <sic>. Seems to me that they would be also avail for other official government business, not just the IN's. Also, remember that early entries of the CT TNS declared that the 3I was just about to embark on a program to upgrade Xboats to J6. The route out to Regina was to be given priority & the saving in transit time from Capital to Regina was even specified. -------------------------------------------- On Thu, 10/9/14, Jeffrey Schwartz <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote: Subject: Naval Scout/Couriers Re: [TML] Why do those big ships carry so many fighters? To: "tml" <xxxxxx@simplelists.com> Date: Thursday, October 9, 2014, 6:23 AM I've often wondered why it seemed the IN got ship upgrades every decade or three, but the IISS was using basically the same ship for the last thousand years. I've had this mental image now and then of a poker game amoung the 3I's Joint Chiefs, where the Admiral complains about having to detach escorts to carry mail at Jump-4 so they have any chance of catching up with the fleet, since the Type-S's are only Jump-2. The IISS Administrator replies,"Well , if the Navy didn't suck up all the credits, maybe we'd get an upgraded design..." The Admiral responds,"I know the commanders on scene hate losing the firepower of the escort in an anti-missile role, and it'd almost be worth it for the IN to fund a new 100 ton design..." The Marine General adds,"If it had some way to deploy commando troops, for behind the lines raids, we'd kick in on the funding" The Army General nods, "And the ability to carry the mail quicker for us would be a good thing..." The IISS Admin ponders it, and then says,"The sensible thing would be to accept that it's going to be _another_ thousand years before I hear something like this, and design something really cutting edge under the idea that in 250-500 years it'll be the common place technology. I mean, Jump-2 was cutting edge when the Type-S first was thought up." The others agree,and the research project begins... .... So, if you were doing a ground-up redesign, what would you do ? -----
