NationStates Jolt Archive

(OOC note: This counts as supermodern tech. Also, this is my first statted airship... yay me. :D Second, the Admiral A-1 will be seeing considerable refits as I will be redesigning it to take full advantage of supermodern tech.)

Edit: Link to Admiral A-1 thread . Be aware that the Admiral A-1 is being revised by me at the moment, so it is subject to changes. http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=341779

To those who said it was impossible to transport an Admiral A-1 by air... Axis Nova's Cromwell Airship Industries gives you our answer. Able to carry a staggering -4000 tons- of cargo and airdrop it anywhere it needs to go and possessing enough firepower to stomp a city flat, the Lucifer class is sure to become a mainstay of the Axis Nova fleet.

Link to gas-gun stats: http://www.freewebs.com/bluebomber2/newproducts.htm (scroll down. Also note that when I purchased this technology from him, I secured the rights to modify it in any way I wished-- obviously, I chose to scale up the weapon and modify it for a turret mount =P)


Class: Air Dreadnought
Operator: Axis Nova Air Navy (ANAN)
Full Weight: 3537200 tons
Dimensions: full length 2200 meters; full height 167 meters; wingspan: 2900 meters
Armament: 190 mm double-barreled gas-gun cannon turret x 20; 105mm single barreled gas-gun cannon turret x 40; Metal Storm 20mm defense array x 270; air-to-air missile launcher x 40; bomb bay x 20; countermeasure launcher x many; air to ground missile launcher x 40; long range multipurpose VLS missile system (60 tubes) x 4; 40-tube point defense micromissile launcher x 16
Power system: GenTech fusion reactor x 4, total output 80000 kW
Propulsion system: high energy fusion ramjet array (Works by sucking in the air, compressing it, and using high-speed specialized prop systems to accelerate it to ramjet speed), high-speed ducted fan x many (powered by the reactors)
Armor materials: CLASSIFIED
Cargo capacity: 4000 tons (or 16 Admiral A-1s)
Top speed: 567 km/hour
Electronics systems: Advanced EWAC suite with uplinks to Axis Nova orbital satellite network; full fleet command capabilities
Construction cost: 10 billion credits
Endurance: Effectively unlimited (requires resupply every 3 months)

(OOC: I'll add more later... must sleep now x.X. Design is not finalized by any means, as this is just a rough draft. And to stave off any protests, the only place it'll be able to take off and land is in Axis Nova, or somewhere else with a 30 km long runway.)

Edit: On some advice from several people, edited the weapons a bit to balance em out.

Axis Nova

how does it air drop the tanks?

That is explained in the A-1 thread, and I will be explaining it further when I finish the redesign of the A-1.

(long story short: multiple parachutes + retro-rockets)

Axis Nova

parachutes won't work on something heavier then the Tsar Bomba... which required all of Moscow's nylon to make....

OOC: Holy . . . *alerts Skyfleet to start working faster on the Akira class*

And here I thought I was the only one with giant skyships. Of course, I'm magitech/pseudomodern, so most people ignore me in wartime . . .

Actually, now that synthetics have advanced beyond WW2 level, procuring enough nylon wouldn't be too much of a problem, and it could be done with enough parachutes(mind you some of them would be as big as hot air balloons..) and retro rockets. The only problem would be keeping AA off of it during descent, because a single Phalanx could rip the whole thing apart.

Thus plenty of suppressing fire could be used. In any case, an Admiral A-1 is easily tough enough to survive being pelted with 20mm rounds, even from the bottom.

Edit: Weyr, we should compare notes. We may each have something the other is interested in as far as airship design goes.

Edit2: Ah, you mean AA aimed at the PARACHUTES. Well, those are the risks of war *shrug*

Axis Nova

bump

not really, the limit to parachuting vehicles is 20 tons. Your tank is 400 tons?

You are wrong.

Multiple parachutes + retro-rockets = win.

Care to provide some proof that the max weight is 20 tons? Until then, your objection = overruled.

edit: and I provide a link to the stats of the Admiral A-1. You have no excuse for not knowing it's weight =P

Axis Nova

I just realized that for something that large, it would be possible to use partially metal mesh parachutes(chickenwire supporting the nylon).

Edit: Weyr, we should compare notes. We may each have something the other is interested in as far as airship design goes.


As long as you understand that it's magitech and some of it is not based on real science . . .
I currently have 7 Sakuras, with three more being built. These things are fairly easy to shoot down. Why? Because once the Sakura runs out of missiles it can only turn half of its CIWS guns at incoming threats at any one time.
The Akira Class is a WIP
Weyr is magitech, so some of the systems here don't/can't exist IRL.

Sub-etheric weaponry is a Weyrean (my own) creation. The firing system is highly similar to that of traditional artillery shells, such as those found in tanks. However, the shell itself is just that, a shell, which contains massive amounts of thaumaturgic energy. When fired, the shell is accelerated via induction (a replacement for a gas gun). In the process, the shell itself is vaporized, and a bolt of pure magickal energy leaves the barrel at speeds of roughly 4.5km/sec. A 16kg sub-etheric shell has the same effective mass as a physical 16kg shell. The difference is the velocity.

-----------------


The Sakura class is an automated gun platform. A major accomplishment in Weyrean AI technology and automation, the entire skyship can be operated with only six persons, without any major loss in functionality or capability.

The entire Sakura arsenal is computerized, and has full ‘net intelligence capability. A CIWS defense is fully equipped to stop most missile threats via chaff, flachette, and interception missiles. The skyship has four modes of engagement: autofire, defensive, offensive, and ground attack.

Magazines and gun arrays take up most of the skyship interior. Crew space has been described as highly cramped when flying at full capacity.

The Skaura is designed to act as an air defense platform. When out of Weyrean space, the Sakura looses a good portion of its capabilities.

The hull of the Skaura is designed to accommodate the maximum possible number of weapons. The shape and materials are designed to lessen the Sakura’s radar and lidar signatures. Infrared signature is diminished via increased reliance on BAT arrays.

Skura Class
Type: Skyship
Construction: Weyr Sky and Space Design, General Aviation
Launch: Wye Int’l Skyport
Crew: 20 (captain, pilot, navigator, chief engineer, communications specialist, weapons engineer, systems engineer, weapons officer, High Guard officer,
Max capacity: 60
Mass: 400,000tonns (loaded)
Max Length: 370meters
Max Height: 41meters
Max Width: 88meters
Speed: 120km/h cruise, 290km/h max
Power: 2x Fusactor [specs classified], BAT-cell drives
Propulsion: Turboshaft
Endurance: 1 month of supplies for minimal crew

Armor: Composite honeycomb: Aluminium skin, ceramic layering, diamond-resin center.

Sensors
GTXN-4 phased air search radar (700km)
GTXN-4 phased ground search radar (500km)
NSL-81 millimeter wave tracking radar (400km)
Point-blank LIDAR systems
Infrared detection systems
Radar threat tracking and targeting

Electronic Warfare
Wave jamming technology

Armament
Missile: 64x RASN-4 in 2 16-cell banks
Type: Air-to-Air w/ limited Air-to-Ground capabilities
Speed: Mach 5.6
Guidance: passive/active radar, infrared, terminal laser
Warhead: 280kg proximity HE
Missile: 512x Phoenix-2 in 6 32-cell banks
Type: Interceptor
Speed: Mach 6.2
Guidance: passive/active radar, infrared, terminal laser
Warhead: 80kg proximity frag-HE
Gun: 2x 9-gun Broadside HC cannon banks
Type: 140mm 'caster
Range: 44km
Gun: 16x single-barrel turrets
Type: 88mm 'caster
Range: 36km
Gun: 80x 20mm six-barrel ‘gatling’
Type: 20mm
Range: 6km
RoF: 800rounds/min

Cost: US$1.710billion
Running costs: US$8million

Most of the cost comes from the need for dedicated alchemist and patterner crews in assembling the two fusactors and in patterning the armor. Additional cost comes from the massive weapons that must be fitted into a relatively small space. It takes roughly 10 years to build a single Sakura, and no more than two can be constructed in a single period at current capacity.

Heck, I'd fight a magitek nation, as long as you didn't use the magic to godmode.

So basically, the bolt of magical energy works like a normal super high velocity shell?

Axis Nova

Yes, at least for me. I -could- make it better, but that would make it too easy to godmod . . .

What sort of engine do these things use, and what are they made of?

Axis Nova

The original Sakura design, as it was developed arond thirty years ago, had an aluminium skin.

Modern Sakuras use an aluminium-resin-diamond-ceramic sandwich. The outer skin of the Sakura class is still aluminium. Afterwards comes a ceramic layer that defends against certain types of muinitions, then spaced blocks of diamond suspended in resin, then another later of aluminium.

A munition that breaches the outer aluminium skin encounters a burst of ceramics that decreases its velocity, then impacts the diamond plating. We've found that making a hull entirely out of diamond makes it too rigid, and causes the shock of the impact to reverberate throughout the ship, damaging systems and killing crew members. Resin suspention effectively stops that.

Vertical propulsion is achieved via levitation coils spaced throughout the ship, which are powered by BAT-cells. Horizontal propulsion is achieved via a number of air turbines. These are powered by assisted tritium fusactors.

Heh, ok. Axis Nova uses mostly big ducted fans powered by fusion reactors (slightly less efficient than conventional engines, but when you don't need jet fuel it balances out), and on the really large stuff, we use a sort of assisted fusion ramjet deal-- basically, air is sucked in, compressed, and accelerated to ramjet speed, heated by the fusion reactors, and shot out the back as reaction mass.

Smaller stuff like UAVs and small manned planes and so forth either use conventional jet fuel or ducted fans powered by an onboard set of rechargeable power cells (depending on the design).

Axis Nova