NationStates Jolt Archive

For info on other NSAA R+D projects ongoing, look here (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=463720).

Project Centauri:
the development of a new class of missile based destroyers to fight alongside and eventually replace our conventionally armed destroyers.

this project is a joint effort between the NSAA R+D department and Baltimore shipyards of The Beltway.

NSAA's objectives for this project are that the end design be approximatly equal in size to existing destroyer classes so that it will be able to built using our exisiting facilities, and that its launcher tubes can deploy NSAA "Stormbringer" class cruise missiles, and NSAA "Storm Shield" ASAMs.

OOC: anything you want for the ship TB?

The Beltway has heard that Aegis is often ineffective against modern SSMs. We are interested in improving on Aegis to create a more effective defence for fleet units.
-Benjamin Cardin, Defence Minister

so would you like this design to have anti-submarine capabilities? that wasnt part of the original plan, but i quite like the idea of loading ASMs in the same tubes as the other missiles...

ASW capability, especially if having it be done through missile tubes that could also fire SAMs, would be excellent. However, this ship should probably focus on AD and Anti-Ship warfare.

OOC: my NFT navy use standardised missiles that can ALL be fired from the same tubes, giving us a more flexibile force.

IC-ish:
The NSAA research division agrees with your proposals, and we have set aside a facility at our nordheim naval base for development of the design, and set aside a dry dock for construction of a prototype.

bump

hmm. my magdetect is useful on ASW jobs, but it is really a bit too secret to mount on a ship this small. i'll think on it. any other sub hunting gear you can think of to improve on aegis with?

One idea would be to update the ASROC VLA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASROC), primarily by improving the torpedo. This would allow the destroyer large numbers of torpedoes for ASW work. Further, we'd like to add this (http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/weaps/an-sly-2.htm) to the destroyer, to give it an improved electronic warfare suite.

To improve anti-ship warfare: it might be useful to develop a modernized version (especially in terms of electronics and ECCM) of the Yakhont (http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/missile/row/ss-n-26.htm) SSM, which has a payload sufficient to deal damage to battleships.

well, my stormbringer missiles are multi-purpose, and i'd prefer to use them, but we could make the tubes launch both them and any missiles you want, i guess...

I'd go for a custom electronic package, to allow it to include a toned-down version of the magdetect system, but it could be based on that one, and as for the ASROC, yeah, sounds good, at least until i can develop something to replace it...

Guns: We think that the ship should have at least two quick-firing, non-computer-controlled light guns to defend against commandos/pirates.

one small MG mount on each of the bridge wings?
also one at the extreme fore and aft?
thats the configuration i normally put on warships below cruiser class.
possibly we could also mount a 76mm dual purpose turret forward too, so it can still fight in situations that the missiles are useless in. (and fire warning shots without wasting a missile on them?)

Excellent! By the way, an interesting point-defence weapon is the RIM-116 point-defence SAM system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIM-116_Rolling_Airframe_Missile). It can apparently replace a Phalanx mount, and has no associated electronics (meaning that it won't be made obsolete as easily). We might want to include it.

Methinks we only have room for 4 CIWS type mounts left, so i'm a bit dubious about the worth of those...
er, make it an option for each vessel as to which it mounts?

Certainly. For our model, we'll put on the ship two 20mm Vulcan Phalanx CIWS and two Mk. 49 21-cell launchers for RIM-116C point defence SAMs.

Engines?

bump.

dur...
I have to admit, i know nothing about naval engines. I've never specified what my ships use...
er, some of my special craft (the waverider and temeraire class hydrofoils, all my subs, and a few others...) use a funky magnetic propulsion system that i could explain, but wont, as its soooo top secret that talking about it ooc is bad, let alone fitting it on an exported vessel...
anyway...
you know much about such?

Basically, we could use steam turbine, gas turbine, diesel, or nuclear (the D-series nuclear power plants, built for USN nuclear-powered cruisers and destroyers). Nuclear plants, which create steam for turbines, don't need refueling, while gas turbines accelerate faster. Steam turbines are small, and therefore easier to fit if the ship's crowded. Diesel motors are the most common type in service.

I suppose it boils down to one question: do we want a cheap ship, a quick ship, a long-range ship, or a crowded ship?

methinks a quick ship, therefore gas, right?

Yup. Two to three GE LM2500 gas turbines, producing 82,000-123,000 shp on two shafts, seems appropriate for a destroyer.

cool. have we forgotten anything else?

Nothing I can think of, except for name and dimensions. We'll probably call it the Michael Busch after our Commerce Minister, but you can call it what you like. As for dimensions:
Length - 500-600 feet
Beam - 50-60 feet
Draft - 20 feet
Displacement - 6,000-9,500 tons
Speed - rated at 34 knots [under perfect conditions; probably closer to 32 knots in normal use]

cool.
armament:
1x 76mm dual purpose turret,
4x 30mm machine guns,
4x AA/CIWS mounts (vulcan phalanx, goalkeeper, or Mk. 49 21-cell),
3x 16 cell VLS,
2x 4 tube conventional missile racks.

(that sound right to you?)

Yeah. Helos?

dur...
I dont use helis on my ships apart from carriers...
how about a couple of slightly different models, mine having a one of its VLS pods a 20 and being a bit shorter, and yours having the chopper and being a bit longer?

Sure. We'll finalize design and release tomorrow.

starting a storefront of my own, adding this to it...

realised that we forgot SRBOC style PD weapons.
added them to my version