So it look like the essentials for using the Tech 3 ships are:
- Racial Cruiser V
- Engineering V
- Electronics V
- Missile Launcher Op V
- Shield Op V
- Mechanic V
- Gunnary V
- Drone 3
Apart from the cruiser which is a rank 5, the rest (inc the specialist skills coming for the subsystems in the expansion) are rank 1.
Rank 1's tend to be about 5 days from 0 -> 5.
Some of the details may change but he core skills - Engineering, mechanic, etc will probably stay.