The Cavalier can't mount Torps, are you sure about all this?
Sounds like your guns are too weak, but nned more details.

"Got anything for me?" - Trent, A.K.A. 'Mr. Eloquent'

Even with bad guns the Cavalier is strong enough to kill those weapon platforms. However, you have to shoot the weapon platforms and not the fighters (or empty space) if you want to beat the timeout.

Also, if the timeout gives you problems then destroy the first weapon platform (the right one as seen during initial approach) before starting on the second one, since the timeout for the first platform starts when the attack group breaks formation and the timeout for the second platform starts later.

I strongly recommend getting some decent guns - for the Cavalier even the Bretonians standard guns (either series) are better than the Drails. And the freetime before mission 8 provides a perfect opportunity to ditch the Cavalier for a Drake (hint, hint). The Cavalier is a fine ship and certainly good enough to beat the campaign with but the Drake is outstanding and so much better in every respect ...

I recommend that you fly a couple of random missions after getting the Drake, so that you get a feel for the ship. When you are comfortable flying missions in the civilized Kusari systems then go to Hokkaido and test your skills there (in the north of the system). When you are satisfied then go to Shinagawa Station and mission 8. Juni will wait forever if need be but the later missions can be frustrating if you rush into them before developing your skills a bit ...

you need more powerfuller weapons than crappy drails because these are the stronger kind of wepon platform i used to have the same problem.

blow up ask questions later

I got the weapons platform with a cavalier, but I died several times. I only had javalin and one other lower class seeker missile, just sat and fired until started getting hit hard ran away nano & sheild battery tried again. Not great advice from a man who died a lot... it gets worse though have died 14 times on mission 9 so far and still not through that last pesky generator..........

Thanks! Btw, is there any difference if I hit the lower part of the platform, the middle part or the top? I mean, does the damage that I make depend on the part of the platform that's being hit?

The missile turrets at the ends can be destroyed separately and the damage you do to these turrets is not counted 'against' the weapon platform. In fact, during the Starflier campaign I took out one missile turret on the first platform because there is nothing that a Starflier likes less than an incoming missile when the shields are down. The gun turrets seem to be indestructible but they do not matter anyway.

Apart from that you don't have to worry about which part you shoot or bomb, and it is unlikely that you'll hit the turrets by accident.

By the way, light fighters cannot use torpedo launchers but if you are near enough to the target then you can bomb it with mines while shooting at it with your guns. The mines will seek out the nearest target that is why you cannot bomb a target that is far away. Beware: if a mine does not find anything to hit then it will get bored after a while and come after you.

Another easy (but equally expensive) way out is a Catapult missile launcher and you could probably do the platforms in mission 8 with missiles alone. But 50 missiles are nowhere near enough to do all the work in later missions; they can supplement your 'gun work' but not replace it. Also, once you have used up the ammo the missile launcher becomes useless and you might wish that you had mounted a gun instead ... In my Starflier campaign I tried the all-guns approach first and it worked, so I never tried missiles except in one mission of the maximum-fun campaign (2nd page, Sprague dock campers) where they gave very satisfactory results.

Thank you!
And the distance? is it crucial to get as close to the damned platform as possible to make it go down quicker?
My problem is the lack of time during this mission. I cannot even destroy the first platform during the period of time given for that mission.

No, distance does not matter except for mine bombardment (where the mines might go after the wrong targets if you are not near enough to the platforms). Of course, you have to be in weapon range in order to hit the platforms since the projectiles/bolts/missiles decay when they get past their range ...

You could back up a bit and go track down the Crusader HF. It's sold on the battleships in Bretonian space. Also you might want to get some Gaian weapons, they have the best weapons in Bretonia, the Avengers and Gaia's Savior. You can get these weapons at their base in Edinburgh, or if you're hostile with them, just do some missions in Edinburgh and they'll drop off of their ships when destroyed.

Just do what the last post said. Also keep hammering the weapons platforms. They will die eventually.