DontPissUsOff
18-01-2005, 00:35
Blue Dragon class Catamaran Heavy Aircraft Carrier
http://img62.exs.cx/img62/7290/soryumodspons13ml.th.png (http://img62.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img62&image=soryumodspons13ml.png)
Development history
Following a Ministry of Defence white paper into the state of existing craft within the Republic Navy, the Naval Staff determined that a large, long-term programme of upgrading for several arms of the Fleet was a matter of absolute necessity if these arms were not to become basically ineffective within the next decade. Among the arms selected for priority modernisation was the carrier forces of the Navy, at that time furnished with some thirty-one heavy aircraft carriers of the Orel (http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/row/rus/1143_7.htm) class and twenty-nine Repulse (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=361041) class battleship-carriers. The latter were expected to remain in service for some time, but the White Paper's findings concerning the Orel class were less dismaying than damning. The authors condemned them as being too small to carry sufficient aircraft to support the Fleet adequately, being too weak in terms of protection to be allowed near to the enemy's battlegroups, and cited numerous what they felt to be serious design flaws.
It was in these conditions that the idea of a much larger and heavier replacement for the Orel class was first mooted, and it quickly gained enthusiastic support among the carrier forces of the navy. As one would expect, however, infighting prevented the immediate commencement of design work on the class which would one day emerge as the Blue Dragon. The critics of the project ranged from latter-day members of the Jeune ecole who saw fast missile-armed destroyers and cruisers as a superior alternative to the aircraft carrier, to the conservative supporters of the pro-battleship lobby, concerned that these craft were capable of undermining the utility of their ships in the eyes of the policy-makers and submariners who considered it a waste of funding compared to vessels of their own kind armed with cruise missiles.
The chief counter to the missile-lovers' argument was simply that the aircraft from a carrier were not only far more flexible than a cruise missile ever could be, but that carrier aircraft could be used once, where cruise missiles essentially committed suicide by their very nature, and were thus less economical or efficient weapons. However, the proponents of the super-carrier idea still had to mollify the anxious battleship lobbiers, who constituted a powerful political force within the Navy; this was done by flattering commentary to the effect that no carrier force should ever be lacking in the heavy firepower of a battleship, lest it be caught by superior surface warfare forces.
Thus, when the wrangling had finally abated, the Naval Staff set to work on the parameters of their new acquisition, and called for submissions from all of the available ship designers. At this point, one slight problem manifested itself: the ship was so large that nobody could build it, at least not in one piece. Thus, a team of Naval designers selected the winning submission and proceeded to perform a limited redesign of the starboard hulls, allowing them to be sealed up fully and then sailed to "mate" with the port hull in another location. With this final obstacle overcome, the carrier was officially approved for production.
General statistics
Displacement: 276,900 tonnes standard, 297,700 tonnes laden.
Dimensions: Length 392m
Beam 46.8m (per hull)/93.6m (total)
Draught 12.42m (average)
Flight deck area: 380x93.6 = 35,568m2 (approx.)
Complement: 3,155 ship's crew, 3,465 air wing personnel, 132 Naval Infantry
Endurance: Reactor lifespan approx. 9 years
Supplies for approx. 200 days operations
Best speed: 30.3 knots
Storage
Aviation fuel bunkerage: 5,700 tonnes
Aviation muntions carried: 6,520 tonnes
Aircraft
Aircraft capacity: 135, 8 UAVs
Standard Aicraft complement: 84 Su-33B multi-role fighters
24 Su-32FNU attack bombers
16 Ka-27B1 helicopters
4 An-71M AWACS
8 UAVs
Armament
SAMs: 7 SA-N-12 SAM launchers (In Kashtan-II combination mounting)
13 Type 12 Four-cell rotary SAM launchers (S-400K)
CIWS: 10 AK-630MR CIWS (7 in Kashtan-II, 3 separate)
9 F-10 Falanga flechette CIWS units
ASW: 8 RBU-6000 AWS mortars
Sacrifice anti-torpedo system mounted below island with 18 anti-torpedo units.
Electronics
Radar: ASP-101A air/surface search array
4 Palm Frond Navigation
10 Bass Tilt CIWS fire-control
Top Pair-B SA-N-12 fire-control
LADAR: Sage Bag CIWS LADAR
EW: Bell Shroad B, Bell Clout B ESM arrays
Jamming arrays provided
Burn Eye smoke generators (four vents).
Powerplant: Four OKP-150 Pebblebed reactors (150MW)
Eight geared steam turbines (four per hull)generating 340,000 SHP.
Four propeller shafts, four variable-pitch bronze screws per hull.
Protection
The hull is protected by 360mm of armour around vital areas, including machinery spaces, fuel tanks and ammuntion storage areas. This comprises an outer 40mm layer of steel backed by 20mm tungsten carbide and 100mm ferroconcrete, reinforced by a titanium lattice. Behind this, a 100mm compartmented void space area can be used to store fuel or trim the ship. The final layer is a liquid metal/kevlar sandwich, with three 20mm layers of kevlar and two 20mm layers of liquid metal. Horizintal armour is identical except in lacking the tungsten carbide or the titanium lattice for its ferrconcrete.
Other safety and survivability features include:
- Multiple self-sealing fuel tanks for aircraft
- Jackets of flame-retardant gel for missile cells
- Double doors and redundant compartments along the flightdeck area
- Numerous damage control systems, including heat sensors, smoke alarms and flooding alarms
- Automated pumping systems in every compartment
- Sprinkler and other fire-suppression units in all compartments
- Triple interlocking doors on all magazine areas and access shafts
- Reinforced hydraulic and pneumatic lines and wiring
- Ship fully NBC sealed wherever possible.
- Compartments 7A-14A cen be isolated individually by roll-down steel shutters.
- Machinery spaces (compartments 7B-11B) and dedicated storage areas (11B-15B) can be isolated by heavy steel doors controlled from bridge, local control station or individual door.
- Forward compartments (accommodation, ship's storage, emergency command etc.) carry enough battery power for 1,000 miles travel @ 15 knots; transmission cables to emergency electric motors sheathed with armour.
- Sub-compartment beneath flightdeck can be closed or opened in sections, allowing water to flow through the ship or be isolated.
- All compartments provided with personal, portable radios.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exports
As with all RSI systems, we do not generally export the "default" version of this carrier. Instead, RSI has prepared an export package for any nations interested in purchasing the Blue Dragon class carriers. The export package offers high flexibility for the user, while not compromising the high quality of RSI products in any way, and we will happily attend to any difficulties or queries regarding this vessel as best possible.
Alterations:
* Armament (CIWS, SAMs) specified by purchaser.
* Aircraft specified by purchaser.
* Electronics specified by purchaser; RSI can install almost any electronics suite produced by the USA, CIS and many other nations, or leave the electronics suites to be installed by the user.
* Command-and-control facility can be fitted at user's request.
* Powerplant variable; Pebblebeds can be replaced with PWRs if required, at lower cost but reduced speed.
* Protective scheme can be altered at user's request.
* Special construction details can also be specified, e.g. altered hangar space, catapults, lifts, etc.
* Price fixed at $10.1 billion with aircraft, full systems suite and normal propulsion or $8.6 billion without aircraft and systems.
(Click the thumbnails for images)
http://img86.exs.cx/img86/3223/nibaif11lc.th.jpg (http://img86.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img86&image=nibaif11lc.jpg)
An early experiment in catamaran aircraft carrier design, based on the Japanese ship Nibai; this comprised two converted fast freighter hulls and a temporary catamaran deck atop them. The central island resulted in several accidents and the project was abandoned, but it eventually resulted in the Blue DRagon design and gave the designers of that ship invaluable information.
http://img86.exs.cx/img86/8915/soryu065za.th.jpg (http://img86.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img86&image=soryu065za.jpg)
Hull number one of the prototype carrier Little Dragon proceeding to mate with its partner. Note the lack of bow or stern upper sections; containing accommodation spaces and ammunition stores respectively, they are not added to the ship until it has mated with the secondary hull, and their components are produced en masse to aid speedy construction.
http://img86.exs.cx/img86/1299/hull2move1sc.th.jpg (http://img86.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img86&image=hull2move1sc.jpg)
A second hull, this one moving to another shipyard following an accident during construction of the first hull. A large graving dock, due for repair, partially collapsed beneath the weight of the hull, resulting in damage to the bottom of the ship, including watertight compartments. While the first hull was under repair, the second was rigged with a temporary island (hence its unusual placement), patched up to be seaworthy, and (cautiously) steamed to pair up with the first.
http://img62.exs.cx/img62/7290/soryumodspons13ml.th.png (http://img62.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img62&image=soryumodspons13ml.png)
Development history
Following a Ministry of Defence white paper into the state of existing craft within the Republic Navy, the Naval Staff determined that a large, long-term programme of upgrading for several arms of the Fleet was a matter of absolute necessity if these arms were not to become basically ineffective within the next decade. Among the arms selected for priority modernisation was the carrier forces of the Navy, at that time furnished with some thirty-one heavy aircraft carriers of the Orel (http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/row/rus/1143_7.htm) class and twenty-nine Repulse (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=361041) class battleship-carriers. The latter were expected to remain in service for some time, but the White Paper's findings concerning the Orel class were less dismaying than damning. The authors condemned them as being too small to carry sufficient aircraft to support the Fleet adequately, being too weak in terms of protection to be allowed near to the enemy's battlegroups, and cited numerous what they felt to be serious design flaws.
It was in these conditions that the idea of a much larger and heavier replacement for the Orel class was first mooted, and it quickly gained enthusiastic support among the carrier forces of the navy. As one would expect, however, infighting prevented the immediate commencement of design work on the class which would one day emerge as the Blue Dragon. The critics of the project ranged from latter-day members of the Jeune ecole who saw fast missile-armed destroyers and cruisers as a superior alternative to the aircraft carrier, to the conservative supporters of the pro-battleship lobby, concerned that these craft were capable of undermining the utility of their ships in the eyes of the policy-makers and submariners who considered it a waste of funding compared to vessels of their own kind armed with cruise missiles.
The chief counter to the missile-lovers' argument was simply that the aircraft from a carrier were not only far more flexible than a cruise missile ever could be, but that carrier aircraft could be used once, where cruise missiles essentially committed suicide by their very nature, and were thus less economical or efficient weapons. However, the proponents of the super-carrier idea still had to mollify the anxious battleship lobbiers, who constituted a powerful political force within the Navy; this was done by flattering commentary to the effect that no carrier force should ever be lacking in the heavy firepower of a battleship, lest it be caught by superior surface warfare forces.
Thus, when the wrangling had finally abated, the Naval Staff set to work on the parameters of their new acquisition, and called for submissions from all of the available ship designers. At this point, one slight problem manifested itself: the ship was so large that nobody could build it, at least not in one piece. Thus, a team of Naval designers selected the winning submission and proceeded to perform a limited redesign of the starboard hulls, allowing them to be sealed up fully and then sailed to "mate" with the port hull in another location. With this final obstacle overcome, the carrier was officially approved for production.
General statistics
Displacement: 276,900 tonnes standard, 297,700 tonnes laden.
Dimensions: Length 392m
Beam 46.8m (per hull)/93.6m (total)
Draught 12.42m (average)
Flight deck area: 380x93.6 = 35,568m2 (approx.)
Complement: 3,155 ship's crew, 3,465 air wing personnel, 132 Naval Infantry
Endurance: Reactor lifespan approx. 9 years
Supplies for approx. 200 days operations
Best speed: 30.3 knots
Storage
Aviation fuel bunkerage: 5,700 tonnes
Aviation muntions carried: 6,520 tonnes
Aircraft
Aircraft capacity: 135, 8 UAVs
Standard Aicraft complement: 84 Su-33B multi-role fighters
24 Su-32FNU attack bombers
16 Ka-27B1 helicopters
4 An-71M AWACS
8 UAVs
Armament
SAMs: 7 SA-N-12 SAM launchers (In Kashtan-II combination mounting)
13 Type 12 Four-cell rotary SAM launchers (S-400K)
CIWS: 10 AK-630MR CIWS (7 in Kashtan-II, 3 separate)
9 F-10 Falanga flechette CIWS units
ASW: 8 RBU-6000 AWS mortars
Sacrifice anti-torpedo system mounted below island with 18 anti-torpedo units.
Electronics
Radar: ASP-101A air/surface search array
4 Palm Frond Navigation
10 Bass Tilt CIWS fire-control
Top Pair-B SA-N-12 fire-control
LADAR: Sage Bag CIWS LADAR
EW: Bell Shroad B, Bell Clout B ESM arrays
Jamming arrays provided
Burn Eye smoke generators (four vents).
Powerplant: Four OKP-150 Pebblebed reactors (150MW)
Eight geared steam turbines (four per hull)generating 340,000 SHP.
Four propeller shafts, four variable-pitch bronze screws per hull.
Protection
The hull is protected by 360mm of armour around vital areas, including machinery spaces, fuel tanks and ammuntion storage areas. This comprises an outer 40mm layer of steel backed by 20mm tungsten carbide and 100mm ferroconcrete, reinforced by a titanium lattice. Behind this, a 100mm compartmented void space area can be used to store fuel or trim the ship. The final layer is a liquid metal/kevlar sandwich, with three 20mm layers of kevlar and two 20mm layers of liquid metal. Horizintal armour is identical except in lacking the tungsten carbide or the titanium lattice for its ferrconcrete.
Other safety and survivability features include:
- Multiple self-sealing fuel tanks for aircraft
- Jackets of flame-retardant gel for missile cells
- Double doors and redundant compartments along the flightdeck area
- Numerous damage control systems, including heat sensors, smoke alarms and flooding alarms
- Automated pumping systems in every compartment
- Sprinkler and other fire-suppression units in all compartments
- Triple interlocking doors on all magazine areas and access shafts
- Reinforced hydraulic and pneumatic lines and wiring
- Ship fully NBC sealed wherever possible.
- Compartments 7A-14A cen be isolated individually by roll-down steel shutters.
- Machinery spaces (compartments 7B-11B) and dedicated storage areas (11B-15B) can be isolated by heavy steel doors controlled from bridge, local control station or individual door.
- Forward compartments (accommodation, ship's storage, emergency command etc.) carry enough battery power for 1,000 miles travel @ 15 knots; transmission cables to emergency electric motors sheathed with armour.
- Sub-compartment beneath flightdeck can be closed or opened in sections, allowing water to flow through the ship or be isolated.
- All compartments provided with personal, portable radios.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exports
As with all RSI systems, we do not generally export the "default" version of this carrier. Instead, RSI has prepared an export package for any nations interested in purchasing the Blue Dragon class carriers. The export package offers high flexibility for the user, while not compromising the high quality of RSI products in any way, and we will happily attend to any difficulties or queries regarding this vessel as best possible.
Alterations:
* Armament (CIWS, SAMs) specified by purchaser.
* Aircraft specified by purchaser.
* Electronics specified by purchaser; RSI can install almost any electronics suite produced by the USA, CIS and many other nations, or leave the electronics suites to be installed by the user.
* Command-and-control facility can be fitted at user's request.
* Powerplant variable; Pebblebeds can be replaced with PWRs if required, at lower cost but reduced speed.
* Protective scheme can be altered at user's request.
* Special construction details can also be specified, e.g. altered hangar space, catapults, lifts, etc.
* Price fixed at $10.1 billion with aircraft, full systems suite and normal propulsion or $8.6 billion without aircraft and systems.
(Click the thumbnails for images)
http://img86.exs.cx/img86/3223/nibaif11lc.th.jpg (http://img86.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img86&image=nibaif11lc.jpg)
An early experiment in catamaran aircraft carrier design, based on the Japanese ship Nibai; this comprised two converted fast freighter hulls and a temporary catamaran deck atop them. The central island resulted in several accidents and the project was abandoned, but it eventually resulted in the Blue DRagon design and gave the designers of that ship invaluable information.
http://img86.exs.cx/img86/8915/soryu065za.th.jpg (http://img86.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img86&image=soryu065za.jpg)
Hull number one of the prototype carrier Little Dragon proceeding to mate with its partner. Note the lack of bow or stern upper sections; containing accommodation spaces and ammunition stores respectively, they are not added to the ship until it has mated with the secondary hull, and their components are produced en masse to aid speedy construction.
http://img86.exs.cx/img86/1299/hull2move1sc.th.jpg (http://img86.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img86&image=hull2move1sc.jpg)
A second hull, this one moving to another shipyard following an accident during construction of the first hull. A large graving dock, due for repair, partially collapsed beneath the weight of the hull, resulting in damage to the bottom of the ship, including watertight compartments. While the first hull was under repair, the second was rigged with a temporary island (hence its unusual placement), patched up to be seaworthy, and (cautiously) steamed to pair up with the first.