NationStates Jolt Archive


Jane's Air Combat Units 2004 entry: Throne Class Air Gunboat

Axis Nova
03-08-2004, 09:39
(I said I'd start statting all Axis Nova's airships... well, here's the smallest one in production.)

Throne Class

Class: Air Gunboat
Operator: Axis Nova Air Navy (ANAN)
Full Weight: 578 tons
Dimensions: full length 80 meters; full height 16 meters; full witdh: 10 meters
Armament: 90mm single-barrel gas-gun cannon turret x 1; 45mm double-barrel chin-mount gas-gun cannon x 1; air to air missile launcher x 8; air to ground missile launcher x 8; general purpose 40-tube micromissile array x 4; Metal Storm point defense system x 10; cruise missile launch rail x 2 (standard cruise missile or Mjolnir antifortress missile)
Power system: GenTech fusion reactor x 1, output 4000 kW
Propulsion system: Ducted fan x 12
Armor materials: CLASSIFIED
Cargo capacity: none
Top speed: 600 km/hour
Electronics systems: Standard fleet datalink capabilities, enhanced sensor suite, jamming systems
Construction cost: 220 million dollars
Endurance: 6 months


The Seraph Class is the smallest and most widely produced military airship that Axis Nova fields; it is smaller and more manenuverable than the giants familiar to many, but it pays for this by being slightly less durable; though it still is immune to most conventional AA weapons, large air to air missiles can damage it. It mounts a suprising amount of firepower for it's small size, including four external racks that allow it to carry either cruise missiles or the deadly Mjollnir antifortress missile.

The Seraph, though not designed for stealth, has a suprisingly low IR signature due to not being equipped with any drive system beyond it's ducted fans, and it carries a powerful jammer to let it do what it can against radar.

Seraph Class gunboats are usually either deployed in squadrons of 6 or as escorts for larger craft. Occasionally, they are employed as executive transports.

-end entry-

Axis Nova