Okay, where do I begin.
So you have clarified that you mean a ship with the physical dimensions of an old Highlander--essentially twice as long, and only slightly wider and deeper. If we assume about the same density as a Shrike, we can guess it has about twice the mass (and carries about twice the total content)
If you are installing modern inertial compensators, you also need to install a modern fission generator, and beta-squared nodes. It is not obvious whether a LAC fission generator will be enough on a ship this size. You have a lot more equipment on this ship than on a Shrike, and twice as much mass to accelerate and compensate. But it might; RFC said that a fission reactor might possibly be able to power a courier (I don't think he had quite decided yet--see
http://infodump.thefifthimperium.com/en ... gton/145/1) but no larger. This new design of your will mass about the same as a courier, and you are using lasers instead of grasers, so for now we will assume that the fission reactor will work.
Then you want to add a second chase laser and "Roland level PD". I assume you mean by quality rather than number, because there isn't enough room on the surface for the number of point defense clusters a Roland carries.
I'm not sure whether the LERM uses the new microfusion generators; if it does, you can't launch the LERM from the kind of box launchers built into the LERM. You need the equipment to ignite the microfusion generators. In any case, the LERM is much larger than the old missiles, so you will have to completely redesign new larger launchers.
You also want to include Viper missiles. These are much larger than the old counter-missiles carried by the Highlander.
The old Highlander actually had a larger crew than a Shrike. So you are also changing crew size, making up for it with modern automation.
Neither Shrike nor Highlander have any armor at all, so we can assume this new ship doesn't either.
On top of everything else, you want to install Ghost Rider recon drones in this ship. I really doubt that there is enough room for any useful number. All the extra room generated by reducing crew size is taken up by the added size of the missile tubes, the larger counter missiles, the larger PDLCs, the larger impeller nodes, and the extra laser.
Since this masses as much as a courier, I'm not sure how you can convince yourself that this is not an HAC. But I'm not going to argue the point strenuously.
You keep saying that this is a proven design, but it isn't. It is a completely new design. The only thing this has in common with a Highlander is the size. There is not a thing on the interior that remains the same. You are changing crew size, doubling the number of beam weapons, installing fission generator, increasing the size of the impeller nodes, doubling the size of the counter missiles and handling equipment, increasing the size of the PDLCs, new larger missile launchers. That does not automatically invalidate the design, but you can't say that this is merely a minor modification of a proven design. It is completely new.
This design could not possibly have eight times the endurance of the Shrike. At most, I could see twice the endurance. But the crew space won't be much bigger than the Shrike. It still won't have sleeping quarters, and only barely enough room to move around. It will be just as uncomfortable inside as a Shrike.
You say that if this ship is captured, the only secret it gives up is the inertial compensator, but that's not true. It gives up the fission reactor (no one except the Alliance has seen the LAC fission reactor), the beta-squared nodes, the buckler shield, the improved sidewalls, the improved PDLCs (Roland PDLCs are much better and fire faster than the rest of the galaxy's), the Viper missile, and the fancy automated feed gear incorporated into the Shrike for the Viper. It has all the same secrets as a Shrike, except the graser, and the graser is just an ordinary graser. The only secret is that they were able to fit one into the Shrike.
I still don't see the point of this ship. If you want to defend a system with longer range missiles, just use some system defense pods and Mycroft.
