Considering the responses so far, a very simple solution to cover many different needs would be a new default order with multiple targets-> Attack enemy in range of...
Kind of similar to the solution with "repeat order" but the difference is you could assign your unit to any object, and they would be able to use a homebase if assigned, which makes it actually usefull as a permanent and very flexible solution.
Rules of engagement, like for the class of ships at least, would be hugely helpfull.
With that order you can assign combat ships to stations, satelites or whatever you like. Preferably with a homebase, station or carrier for supply and repair.
This would not only cover object protection but also make military operations somewhat managable, insteat of the current micromanagement overkill if it gets complex.
It would also adress the limited operational range of carriers/defense stations if you can have squadrons that can use them as homebase for customizable tasks.
A major problem with carriers is anyways that you cant set them as a homebase for your fighters and give them individual orders at the same time. Insteat a headless routine is sending them out in a very limited space, mostly all of them to the same weak S fighter while other ships are shot down by the P's... Wasnt that logic creating squads and attacking multiple targets at the same time in earlier versions?
Anyways, sure you can give squadrons any order, but then they dont use the carrier as supply station anymore and you have to babysit the unit. Making the carrier pointless again.
Think about it, how powerfull a single Raptor actually would be if its fighters are not limited to its small radar range. 130 fighters a Raptor can carry are way too much for anything the game can do with these ships right now. I dont see any benefit in more than 30 well equpiped fighters. Currently using Chimera with TER Pulse Laser, they kill anything in almost any number the game provides right now below L class without any problem, and are even able to take on the bigger ships, but with a loss probability.
But with that order at hands, you could park a single carrier nearby to your AO or even multiple AO's and assign different squadrons to different objects, like some are protecting you, some are patroling along a satelite network, and some are holding a perimeter marked by a stelite. Right now you need for each task a different fleet, and moving carriers in a fleet just dont work very well...
Also a defensive base with plenty of hangar space and a maintenance bay would suddenly make some strategic sense.
Even the AI could make use of this command and give you a hell of a hard time if the devs set this up properly.
Defensive perimeters, carrier fighter squads, object protection and area patrols. Everything adjustable. What would you need more? Some cookies?
And the beauty of it, considering the range of its usefullness, its a really simple solution.
Yes sure some details are still open, like if those units return home if no target in range or if they follow the assigned object, and in what manner.
I would suggest 3 options, kill and go home, follow and protect using interceptor logic, patrol along assigned objects and create a kill task for each area on the schedule.
Everything is covered... and the logic very easy to implement, as i assume with some basic coding knowledge. There is not even new code necessary, everything can be covered by existing logic.
The problem i see with a response system is that it is very ineffective in larger areas. I use the mod Reaction Force and its somewhat ok to protect my Home sector, especially because of respawning Khaak nests. But the major flaw with that is its reactive only. They ignore a passing by raiding force if no shots are fired... Your forces will be scattered all over the place and only engage on "request", not if they see a raiding party closing in on a defenseless miner... until they receive the distress signal its very probably too late already... And they dont even twitch if Khaaks bothering your L ships if you have set the threshold below 100% which is recommended to prevent "misunderstandings".
And we dont want to hunt down for revenge, they will respawn a few minutes later anyways. We want something that is effective.
So i also have a fast M ship squadron with the mod Sector Patrol to cover this flaw.
But we are talking about a vanilla solution anyways. And how is the vanilla distress threshold? The mod reacts like "Hey they are shooting at me" while vanilla reacts like "I am going to d..."
And we want to keep it simple on the back end, otherwise i dont see a chance this would be even considered by the devs.