Thread:Ghelæ/@comment-28305200-20160601133546/@comment-47205-20160601164503

It does depend on what the two empires are like and their relative focus on the military, but in principle, it could well be done.

As for other defensive technologies, not really, especially if by defence you're talking about something that prevents incoming weaponry from reaching inside your ship. Point-defence (particularly, but not exclusively, lasers) can work for missiles and projectiles.