Space warfare is a main theme and central setting of science fiction that can trace its roots back to classical times, and to the "future war" novels of the 19th century. With the modern age, directly with franchises as Star Wars and Star Trek, it is considered one of the most popular general sub-genres and themes of science fiction. An interplanetary, or more often an interstellar or intergalactic war, has become a staple plot device. Space warfare has a predominant role, it is a central theme and at the same time it is considered parent, overlapping genre of space opera and space Western.
Technology
Weapons Usually, lasers and other directed-energy weapons are used rather than bullets. Science writer and spaceflight popularizer Willy Ley claimed in 1939 that bullets would be a more effective weapon in a real space battle. Other weapons include torpedoes and other ordnance that is described as employing particles or radiation known to current sub-atomic physics, such as the proton torpedo and photon torpedo from the Star Wars and Star Trek universes, respectively. Conversely, weapons in science fiction often employ fictional materials and kinds of radiation. Often, the radiation or material is specific to the fictional universe in question. For example, the space warships in the Stargate television series do battle with directed-energy weapons that are described as being powered by a fictional metal, called naquadah.
Destruction of planets and stars
Destruction of planets and stars has been a frequently used aspect of interstellar warfare since the Lensman series. It has been calculated that a force on the order of 1032 joules of energy, or roughly the total output of the sun in a week, would be required to overcome the gravity that holds together an Earth-sized planet. The destruction of Alderaan in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope is estimated to require 1.0 × 1038 joules of energy, millions of times more than would be necessary to break the planet apart at a slower rate.
Naval influences Fictional space warfare tends to borrow elements from naval warfare, often calling space forces as space navies or simply navies. David Weber's Honorverse series of novels portrays several of such space navies such as the Royal Manticoran Navy, which imitate themes from Napoleonic-era naval warfare. The Federation Starfleet (Star Trek), Imperial Navy (Star Wars), Systems Alliance Navy (Mass Effect), UNSC (Halo) and Earthforce (Babylon 5) also use a naval-style rank-structure and hierarchy. The former is based on the United States Navy and the Royal Navy. The United Nations Space Command in Halo fully echoes all ranks of the United States Armed Forces, even the pay-grade system. Some fictional universes have different implementations. The Colonial Fleet in Battlestar Galactica uses a mixture of army and navy ranks, and the Stargate universe has military spacecraft under the control of modern air forces, and uses air-force ranks. In the Halo universe, many of the ranks of the current-day United States Armed Forces are used in lieu of fictional ranks. In the Andromeda universe, officers of Systems Commonwealth ships follow naval ranking, but Lancers (soldiers analogous to Marines) use army ranks.
Ship types
Though the details do differ between various science fiction intellectual properties (IPs for short), classes of ships are most commonly based on those of World War II. Battleships, dreadnoughts and battlecruisers are generally among the largest types of ships, though the three terms are often used interchangeably. Dedicated carriers are rare in science fiction, though not non-existent, featuring prominently in few IPs, such as Wing Commander. Instead, battlecarriers, ships which combine elements of battleships and carriers, are very common, with prominent examples including the Star Destroyer from Star Wars and the titular starship from Battlestar Galactica. Cruisers also make appearances, with some IPs featuring them as the largest and most powerful ships. Prominent example is the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek, occasionally referred to as a heavy cruiser. Destroyers and frigates are often seen as among the smaller ships of the fleet, though in many IPs, both classifications are not used. Corvettes are often the smallest ships in science fiction navies, though some do feature even smaller fast attack craft. Many science-fiction series prominently feature starfighters operating together with larger ships. Prominent examples include the X-wing from Star Wars, the Colonial Viper from Battlestar Galactica and the Starfury from Babylon 5. While most fighters, like the aforementioned ones, tend to be multirole fighters, more specialized fighters do exist as well. The term interceptor, which in reality refers to fast fighters optimized to attack approaching long range heavy bombers, is instead primarily used to refer to fighters designed first and foremost to attack other fighters, generally at the expense of a capability to attack larger warships. Bombers are the opposite of interceptors and are primarily meant to attack enemy warships. Some IPs also feature super-battleship vessels, which are massive warships several kilometers in length, dwarfing even battleships.
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