Fiction:Void hunter

A void hunter, also referred to as a void chaser (French: chasseur du vide), is a type of independently-operating hyperspatial stealth ship pioneered by the French Sixth Republic and the French Colonial Empire in the early 2800's. A member of the post-hyperspatial revolution generation of warships, void hunters are unique in that they are often not designed for direct hyperspatial combat. Instead, they are used as strategic weapons, employing stealth to cause havoc far behind the front line.

The first void hunters were made possible when France developed the silent gravitodynamic drive, also referred to as the "caterpillar drive," which channeled hyperspatial fog through the craft by internalizing the void hunter's hyperspatial field. The result was the muffling of the void hunter's hyperspatial signature and greatly reduced hyperspatial fog displacement, two factors which make most starships extremely visible in hyperspace.

However, the Schism-era gravitodynamic drives came with a number of complications which caused most models to carry a conventional drive for non-combat use. For one, the amount of propulsion achieved was greatly inferior to that of normal hyperspatial drives. Second, internalizing hyperspatial fields led to buildups of energy within the void chaser's engines which needed to be vented every couple of hours, a process which made the void hunter extremely visible. Going over the recommended time limit led to a gradual deterioration of the craft's stealth ability and could result in an engine meltdown if sustained for too long. It is for these reasons that most void hunters carried both a conventional drive and a gravitodynamic drive, using the former in non-combat situations and the latter when within sight of the enemy.

Void hunters are typically poorly armored, possessing little in ways of shielding and close-in weapon systems. Instead, they relied almost purely on their ability to avoid drawing enemy fire to survive. Similarly, they were armed with a limited number hyperspatial anti-ship missiles, surprise being their primary weapon. Later designs would see the incorporation of larger warheads, such as hyperspatial cruise missiles and weapons of mass destruction, greatly enhancing their lethality on the strategic scale.

Trivia

 * Void hunters are almost entirely inspired by real-world submarines. Charles_Murray, the creator, made the mistake of watching too many Cold War films.
 * While the design idea was invented by France, the existence of void hunters is widely known, possibly leading to attempts to copy it.