I’m a new player so bear with me. When a ship’s card says it has 2 squadrons, does that mean it can only control 2 squadrons?

It means that with a single Squadron Activation Command dial , it can activate 2 squadrons.

That total may be combined with other things; for example, a Squadron Token (received from a previous turn) can be combined with the Squadron Dial to activate +1 squadrons. Thus, if the ship had squadron rating of "2" + 1 for the token, it could activate 3 squadrons in a single turn (2 from the squadron command dial and 1 from the squadron command token )

Another common way to increase the Squadron value of a ship is the "Expanded Hangar Bay" upgrade card. That effectively increases your Squadron Command rating by 1. Thus a ship with a Squadron Command Rating of 2 (for example, a Gozanti Cruiser), also equipped with Expanded Hangar Bay, AND using a Squadron Command Token in tandem with a Squadron Command Dial could activate 4 squadrons in a single turn. (2 Dial +1 Ex. Hangar Bay +1 Token = 4)

Thank you very much

Ok, another squadron question.

During the squadron phase and after a squadron has attacked either a ship or another squadron, does that target then counter-attack the attacking squadron?

46 minutes ago, LetsGoPeay said:

Ok, another squadron question.

During the squadron phase and after a squadron has attacked either a ship or another squadron, does that target then counter-attack the attacking squadron?

Counter-Attacks Only happen when the Target has the Counter keyword. In which case, it counter-attacks via that keyword immediately after being attacked.