Federal CorvetteTrading

The Federal Corvette is a warship that happens to carry three class-7 optional internals, so it hauls a lot when you fill them with cargo — around 490 tonnes behind a full shield, ~618 t stripped. That tops the Anaconda and every medium hauler, and it does it behind eight utility mounts, two military slots and a huge deterrent hardpoint: the single most survivable hold in the game.

But trading rewards cheap tonnage and long range, and the Corvette is the opposite. It is one of the most expensive hulls in the game, sits behind the Federal Rear Admiral rank — one of the longest grinds — is slow and large-pad-bound, and its 900-tonne mass gives it poor laden jump range. Nobody earns Rear Admiral to go trading. If you already own one for combat it moonlights as a fortress freighter, but a Type-9 or Cutter does the actual job better and cheaper.

Three things shape the Corvette as a trader — one good, two bad:

• Three class-7 optionals behind real protection. A cargo bay bigger than the Anaconda's — ~490 t shielded — carried behind eight utilities, two military slots and a deterrent huge gun. No other trader is this hard to rob.
• Poor laden range. A 900-tonne hull on a size-6 FSD jumps far short of a lighter Anaconda or Asp even fully engineered — short hops, not the long loops that make trading efficient.
• Expensive and rank-gated. ~183M Cr and the Federal Rear Admiral grind put it far out of reach of the cheap freighters that out-haul it — the whole reason it scores 70, not higher.

A warship pressed into hauling: the most survivable hold in the game and a bay bigger than an Anaconda's, held to 70 by a punishing cost-and-rank barrier, slow speed and poor laden range against dedicated freighters that trade for a fraction of the price.

The 70/100 headline is a verdict against the trading role's priority-ordered factors. Each factor carries a weight (its share of 100); this hull earns part of each based on how it performs against the whole field. The points sum to the rating.

Every table rates ships for trading specifically, split by landing-pad class. The Max cargo column is maximum cargo tonnage behind a shield; the rating is the same 1–100 suitability verdict used across the site.

Same class — large trading ships

10 large-pad trading hulls carry a rating, led by Panther Clipper Mk II (98). Every same-pad rival lands where this one does — the direct field to shop.

Other classes — the medium haulers

The medium-pad trading field (9 rated), led by Type-8 Transporter (76) — cheaper hulls and tighter pads. They undercut this hull on the numbers, but sit a pad class away.

Other classes — the small-pad haulers

The small-pad trading field (5 rated), led by Cobra Mk IV (52) — cheaper hulls and tighter pads. They undercut this hull on the numbers, but sit a pad class away.

Cost and access are the Corvette's real trading liability. At ~183M Cr it is one of the most expensive hulls in the game, and it sits behind the Federal Rear Admiral rank — a long grind from the Dropship through the FAS and Gunship. A dedicated Type-9 hauls more cargo for around a tenth of the credits and no rank at all.

That barrier means no commander buys the Corvette to trade. It is a combat capstone that happens to make an excellent fortress freighter once earned — the trade fit is what you fly it as between wars, not the reason you own it.

A warship pressed into hauling: keep a bi-weave shield, a booster stack and one deterrent huge gun, then fill every remaining optional with cargo. Initial is buy-only with a shield from day one; A-rated is the trade baseline; Engineered maximises laden range and protected cargo behind the toughest hull in the trade field.

Earn Rear Admiral, buy the hull, and fit a stock 7E Shield Generator from day one — a laden Corvette must never fly unshielded. Even E-rated cores and stock Lightweight Alloy bulkheads leave it tougher than any dedicated freighter.

Load the two remaining class-7 optionals with cargo racks — ~256 t buy-only — and mount four 0A Shield Boosters in the utilities to thicken the shield cheaply. The hardpoints stay empty on the buy-only fit; a deterrent gun waits for A-rating.

The military slots, the rest of the cargo racks, the point defence and heat sink, and the deterrent huge Multi-Cannon all wait for the A-rated pass. The buy-only fit is a working protected hauler, not yet the full fortress freighter.

A-rating priority for the trade fit:

• 1FSD → 6A — Laden range is the Corvette's weakest trait; the size-6 A drive is the first fix. ~18M Cr
• 2Shield Generator → 7C bi-weave — The bi-weave regenerates fast under fire, the right shield for surviving a hit and running. ~18M Cr
• 3Thrusters → 7A — A 900t laden hull needs every bit of boost to break an interdiction. ~22M Cr
• 4Power Distributor → 8A — Sustains the boost that gets a laden hauler clear. ~22M Cr
• 5Power Plant → 8A (or D for mass) — Powers the shield, cells and boosters; D-rate later to save mass for range. ~28M Cr
• 6Fill the cargo racks + one huge Multi-Cannon — Every remaining optional becomes a rack; one huge gun is the deterrent. ~20M Cr

Range and shields first, then agility and a deterrent gun. Pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application; visit in person for experimentals.

Approximate progression across the three states (figures are representative, not exact rolls):

Cargo is fixed once the racks are fitted — engineering can't grow the hold, so the A-rated and engineered tonnage match. What engineering buys is range and protection: a G5 Increased-Range FSD roughly triples the laden jump from the E-rated floor, and a Reinforced bi-weave behind six Heavy-Duty boosters pushes the shield past 2,000 MJ. Even then the laden jump stays short for the role — the 900-tonne hull is the hard limit no engineer removes.

• Never haul unshielded — the Corvette's entire trade case is protected cargo; strip the shield and a Type-9 does it cheaper.
• Range is the hard limit — plan short laden legs; the 900t hull will never jump like a lighter hauler.
• Keep one huge Multi-Cannon as a deterrent; you rarely need it, but it turns a pirate away.
• Only fly it for trade if you already own it — the rank and credit cost make no sense to pay for hauling.