Gunships

Introduction
The weakest and cheapest ship to produce, and is unlocked by default. Typically the first ship which new players build. The fastest ship and has the slowest jump speed. It has a very low firepower with only one tiny weapon slot. Has a 2 minute build time without any weapons and components.

Advantages
They are fast in "regular" space and they are cheap to build and repair. This makes them good for scanning planets which are in your own system. And if you do use them for that purpose, make a few. You might encounter some pirates.

Disadvantages
They have very low health and armor, making them easy to destroy. They have very few component slots, making them unable to partially mitigate this weakness. They also have very low firepower, with only 1 tiny/mini weapon slot. The next ship class up, the Frigate, has 2 tiny/mini weapon slots and a small weapon slot, giving it 4 times as much firepower with only twice the leadership point cost. This makes gunships unsuitable for tanking or dealing damage.