[Mark Caliber]

Alright, I'm not going to be able to do any math, but I'm familiar with how vectored thrusters are used currently and we should be able to adapt that knowledge to this situation.

Harrier Jump Jets and V-22 Osprey* use vectored thrust for vertical take off and landings. So temporarily they can use the thrust to 'hover' and once airborne, they switch the thrust so that they can propel themselves forward.

The other more common application of vectored thrust is to enable jet fighters to turn faster. But once they have completed their maneuver, the thrusters are reset for straight thrust.


As in real life, starship designers would not use vectored thrusters, unless the craft being designed has a specific function that would require the use of a vectored thruster.

So yeah. Straight thrusters do work "more effectively" than vectored thrusters.

That's also why spaceships employ very low powered maneuver thrusters that reorient the ship and then employ a very powerful main drive to alter the course of the ship.



* Yes, I know that the V-22 uses propellers, but those propellers are vectoring airflow (like a jet turbine vectors airflow) in a similar principle.