[Suicide Junkie]

1) if by CM you mean Capital Ship Missile, they fire every three turns.
Typically you will launch all of them, and wait for the reload, but certain strategies may change that...

2) Generally not. The CSMs have much longer range, and when using them it is a good idea to stay as far away as possible, lobbing shots at the enemy. If you add a direct fire weapon, your ships will close in, and get killed.

3,4) Unmodded, Typically 3-4 Point Defense cannons, and one stealth armor is good. Use shields to get more hitpoints, rather than armor in most cases.

5) You only need one scanner. The rest are redundant. Just stick on the highest level scanner you have.

6) Speed is life. and engines form such a small fraction of your hull space it it snot worth removing.

7) CSM and PD are good. You can lob long shots, and shoot down the long lobs coming back.

8,9) You only need one support ship to carry the anti-cloak sensor and the LR scanner.
Point defense should be on every ship to ensure coverage, and cloaks need to be on every ship as well.