Ships

Ships are used to traverse space. As with previous Elite games, there will be a variety of designs.

There will be 25 different playable ships in addition to some non-playable ones at launch, with each manufacturer having its own unique style. Some will have variant versions, and each will have a huge range of different equipment levels, so they could be equipped as freighters, attack ships, explorers, etc.

Current Pilotable Ships

Model name	Value	Cargo	Jump Range** (~Light Years)	Speed Max [Boost]	Hardpoints C2	C4	C6	C8
Sidewinder Mk. I	32,000*	4	7.908	220 [320]	2	0	0	0
Eagle Mk. II	44,800	4	6.444	250 [350]	3	0	0	0
Zorgon Peterson Hauler	18,000	16	8.487	200 [300]	1	0	0	0
Viper Mk. III	122,920	8	11.599	320 [500]	2	2	0	0
Cobra Mk. III	86,052***	36	9.476	280 [400]	2	2	0	0
Lakon Type 6	240,000	100	28.559	220 [350]	2	0	0	0
Lakon Type-9 Heavy	3,555,840	440	17.722	130 [200]	2	3	0	0
Anaconda	6,969,440	228	19.555	180 [240]	2	2	3	1

The in-shipyard prices are modified by the value of your current ship and supply/demand. It is not the true value of the ship. Generate costs from the insurance. The only ships this doesn't work for is the Type 9.

*Note the sidewinder is available for free via insurance.

**Empty, stripped, full fuel. Note that in Beta1 there is a bug whereby the distance reported for missions on the Bulletin Board is the range with no fuel loaded.

***The price of the Cobra MkIII was reduced by 50% as part of a promotion by Faulcon deLacy. It is not clear yet how long the price reduction will last. Get your Cobra MkIII while they're hot.

Values in bold italics indicate best in category

Note that prices will vary greatly between star ports and are modified by the resell value of your current ship, Lakons and Anacondas in particular undergo a significant markup, expect to pay up to double the values in the table. The above prices are the based of the insurance values which are currently the only way to find the true value of a ship.

Here are some more detailed ship stats, which include things such as turnrates, which should be added to this page soon.

Upcoming Ships

• Adder
• Asp
• Beluga Liner
• Dolphin
• Fer de Lance
• Krait
• Lakon Type 7 (previously known as the Freighter 3)
• Orca
• Panther Clipper
• Python

Faction Ships

Frontier are developing a family of ships for the navies of each faction in the game. Example:

• Empire Fighter - Empire Fighter
• Imperial Courier - Empire Scout
• Imperial Cutter - civilian version of Empire Light Warship
• Majestic Class Interdictor - Empire Capital Ship
• F63 Condor - Federal Fighter
• Farragut - Federal Capital Ship

The fleet-class ships that are available to the game’s major factions follow a hierarchy.

Cruisers (Battle cruisers, Battleships, Interdictors)

Long range, independent ships that are capable of controlling entire systems. Heavily armed and capable of deploying large fighter squadrons. The capital ships already shown are an example of this class. In the Empire they are usually known as “Interdictors” – named after the first successful class of cruisers. Currently the most common and most successful is the Majestic class – generally referred to as a “Majestic class Interdictor”. As ships that can also carry out ambassadorial missions they can be used for ‘soft’ power projection, as well as hard.

Frigates

These are large ships designed for escort duties. The actual vessels vary greatly between navies, but are all designed to engage multiple small, fast enemies (typically fighters and missile swarms) and are loaded with point defence batteries. They will also have some anti-ship capability, but are not designed to go up against other warships.

Destroyers

These are anti-warship vessels, but are generally no longer used in the front line, though some are still in service.

Carriers

Designed for the deployment of fighter squadrons. Obsolete in the fleets of the major factions due to the popularity of Cruisers, but small navies still make use of them and some have even been converted into transporters.

Transporters (Couriers)

Armored warships designed specifically for transporting valuable assets and cargo quickly and safely.

Corvettes (Cutters)

Light multi-role warships, capable of recon, incursions and escort missions. These small warships are also popular with smaller factions, organizations and even wealthy individuals due to their adaptability. The Imperial Cutter is a lighter and faster Corvette-class ship, which players will be able to get their hands on in the final game (assuming they can make the right contacts).

Fighters

Small short-range craft that generally cannot operate independently due to having no jump capability. Their main roles include the defense of stations and the large warships that they are deployed from. Commercial fighters are typically jump-capable and are therefore much more flexible than their faction-specific counterparts.

Drones

Small automated ships that have largely been phased out due to the existence of effective counter-measures.