I have a carrier fleet with a ton of fighters.  Randomly when they get into battles, their fighters will be not be in the fight (and the carriers, lacking any other weaponry, are slaughtered by whatever is there).  It seems random - one time they'll be there, one time they will not.  It *seems* only to effect fights that I watch (if I "Quick Fight", this won't happen).  Anyone else have this problem, or is there any indication of workarounds or fixes?

My installation has the "Mercenaries" DLC, and I think all the other DLC with the exception of "Crusade".  I appreciate the guidance.