NationStates Jolt Archive

Aldovar's military has three main branches, the Air Guard, the Land Guard, and the Sea Guard. The Air Guard is composed primarily of airships, JSFs, some new UAVs and UCAVs, reconaissance blimps, and various land-based bombing and reconaissance planes. The JSFs and UCAVs have standard airborne combat armament, including missiles and machine guns. Both have a cruising speed around Mach 2. Blimps and reconaissance planes are equipped with long-range radar and high-powered optical equipment. Bombers are mostly B-2 equivalent stealth craft. The airships, however, are a different matter.

The Air Guard has 5 Imperious-class, 11 Dominion-class, and 37 Sovereign-class airships. All are armed with gun turrets and various missile launchers. All have solar and nuclear power systems of varying degrees. All airships are equipped with stralth technology, including adaptive camouflage and radar-absorbing coatings and hull shapes.

The Imperious class, roughly 1 kilometer in length, is the only one capable of launching and recovering aircraft. Crew complement ranges from 100-120 officers, airmen, engineers, gunners, and flight deck support crew. Each ship has a fleet command center onboard which governs navigation, as well as defense and attack patterns. Carries 20-25 F-35s and 16-18 unmanned craft. It has 16 engine pods used for lift, maneuvering, and propulsion, as well as helium gasbags. Top speed is around 150 knots.

The Dominion class, 120 meters long, is used primarily as a defense platform for the 5 Imperious fleets. Most are now capable of launching and recovering 2 UAVs for remote reconaissance. However, these vessels are bristling with turrets and missile launchers, and each has a 2-meter bow cannon. The newest Dominion-class, the A.A.S. Columbia, has an experimental bow railgun, which theoretically could propel a shell up to 10 times the speed of sound. Largely automated, the Dominions have a crew of 25 officers, engineers, and gunners. Using 8 engine pods, it has a top speed of 300 knots.

The Sovereign class ships, only 70 meters long, serve as cruise missile platforms. Most systems are either automated or, as is the case of the missile systems, operated from either land-based or airborne command centers. This means a ship only requires a crew of 7. With 6 engine pods, the ship has a top speed of 175 knots.

Cardinal Rozencranz, Aldovarian Minister of Defense

A.A.S. Imperious - Imperious Class - Flagship
- 20 F-35s and 16 X-45 UCAVs
A.A.S. Invincible - Dominion Class
A.A.S. Indestructible - Dominion Class
A.A.S. Interceptor - Sovereign Class
A.A.S. Sovereign - Sovereign Class
A.A.S. Black Asp - Sovereign Class
A.A.S. Basilisk - Sovereign Class
A.A.S. Menace - Sovereign Class
A.A.S. Celsius - Sovereign Class
A.A.S. Cyclone - Sovereign Class

A.A.S. Draco - Imperious Class - Flagship
- 24 F-35s and 16 X-45 UCAVs
A.A.S. Indomitable - Dominion Class
A.A.S. Impregnable - Dominion Class
A.A.S. Envy - Sovereign Class
A.A.S. Pride - Sovereign Class
A.A.S. Lust - Sovereign Class
A.A.S. Gluttony - Sovereign Class
A.A.S. Anger - Sovereign Class
A.A.S. Greed - Sovereign Class
A.A.S. Sloth - Sovereign Class

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much thought went into this.

Ximinez: Shut up, you! I am now commissioning you a new airship fleet!

::Blows up a pretty blue balloon::

Ximinez: This is the S.S. Andaluciae is Gay! I hereby give command of the Andaluciae is Gay battlegroup over to Andaluciae! Now watch closely!

::Ximinez attaches a paper cut out of the Face of Bepplar, releases the balloon into the air, then pulls out a gun and shoots it! Small shards of rubber rain down from the sky::

Anyways, back to business.

::Ximinez rises to the dragon-crested podium in the main hangar of the Draco Skybase, Behind him, two massive structures, suspended from the ceiling, are taking shape, each with the flag of Pax Germania, the Walrus, hanging from the nose. Above him hovers a large, red-shrouded mass.::

Ximinez: Today marks a glorious day in the history of the Aldovar Air Guard. We are christening the newest ship in our fleet. This vessel represents the glorious technological and military achievements of Aldovar over its glorious history. This airship will be the fastest, most advanced vessel in our navy. It is crewed by a mere 10 airmen, and is capable of total unmanned autonomous operation in an emergency. It possesses our most advanced projectile and energy weapons, our most sensitive detection equipment, and our most powerful engines. With it, Aldovar will be able to crush its enemies in one swift stroke! I hereby christen this vessel the A.A.S. Scimitar of the new Scimitar class of airships!

::As the music plays, two dragons fly up from behind the Dark Regent. They simultaneously let fly massive fireballs at the shrouded vessel. As the shroud is burned away, the airship's gray hull is revealed. It is approximately 500 meters long. It has trapezoidal pectoral and dorsal and tail-mounted control surfaces, with nine engine pods arranged about the hull. Notable is its apparent lack of visible weaponry. As the hangar bay doors open above it, the ship rises into the sunlight and begins its maiden voyage.::

In light of recent and extensive use of the Scimitar class, the Ministry is issuing information on its exact abilities as they stand today. The Ministry apologizes for only posting it now, but this forum apparently did not post this a month ago when we initially attempted it.

The Scimitar-class airship is 500 meters in length (.5 km). It has 2 main jet engines for forward thrust, up to 622 kph, 5 lift fans, and 6 lateral maneauvering thrusters. Primary lift is obtained through 7 main helium gas bags. Pressurized helium backup bags Water bags fill

The main engines also privide primary power for ships systems. Additional power can be obtained through hydrogen fuel cells using sodium tetraborate storage systems and auxiliary solar backup.

The ships have 4 fore, 3 port, 3 starboard, and 2 aft missile tubes capable of launching a wide range of missiles. There are also 5 air defense lasers, 2 dorsal and 3 belly. The armory contains 100 cruise missiles, 200 antiarcraft missiles, and 70 precision bombs, as well as oaround 400 million Vulcan rounds including armor piercing, depleted uranium, high explosive, and mixed rounds. Lasers are capable of hitting up to 10 targets per second. Output with this fire rate could detonate a Tomahawk warhead at a range of 5 kilometers.

Each ship has 5 Red Raptor UCAVs and 2 Gryphon Mark II UAVs. Raptors are armed with twin antiaircraft machine guns and have 6 missile mountings. Though the name would indicate otherwise, the Red Raptors are dark grey stealth craft and can be piloted from their base ship, though they usually operate independently. The Gryphons are reconaissance jets with a range of modular sensor suites, and can be tied into the Scimitar's main sensors to serve as "whiskers" of sorts.

Hull design is optimized for stealth operation, including radar-absorbing paint and thermal and sonic insulation. Computers, fuel cells and engines are supercooled against IR detection. The upper hull also possesses LED/LCD adaptive camouflage to guard against aerial and satellite reconaissance. The hull is made of composite materials that optimize both stealth and impermeability. Gasbags have a Kevlar layer and are coated on the inside with a polymer that expands in the presence of oxygen to plug any punctures. Sensitive systems are protected by cages for EM shielding.

Sensors include several types of radar and full-range EM scanners. Navigation is done through a combination of GPS and terrain analysis. The pilot navigates in a sphere of LCD screens. The 2 gunnery stations have similar setups, but also include omni-directional surround sound so that gunners can hear or be alerted to targets outside their range of vision.

Each ship is manned by 10-12 crew members, but the ship is so automated that it is fully functional with a crew of one. All functions can be operated through the commander's chair.

There are currently 45 Scimitars. Seven more are to be completed within the month. There are ultimately to be 105 Scimitars in 5 battle groups.

Cardinal Rosencranz
Aldovarian Ministry of Defense

Following the death of Aldovar Andaluciaen troops had occupied large amounts of the vacated territory. As such, Andaluciae has seized several of these Aldovareon airships, please, if you are reading this take this into account.

General Haribald