NationStates Jolt Archive

Late Summer 2006
North Caribbean Sea

Dawn was approaching fast on the horizon and sharks were preparing to feast on their prey. They attacked at dawn and at dusk, the two times when seeing them was most difficult. Fish swam around, unaware that their fate would reach them quickly. The Caribbean Sea was a beautiful vast of water. It covered 1,063,000 mi² and its deepest point was the Cayman Trough, between Cuba and Jamaica, which went down as far as 25,220 feet. In the early 1600s and 1700s, pirates roamed the Caribbean and berthed at Isla Tortuga northwest of Hispanola. The high seas then were rough and dangerous. In the past two decades, they had become safer than they had ever been but they gave something away, something unique to achieve that glory. What the sea gave away was its freedom and its soul and it was given to the Empire. Controlling every point of entry to the east, the Panama Canal to the southwest, the entire northern coast of South America, most of southern North America, all of Central America south of Mexico, and all of the islands in between, the Empire saw the Caribbean Sea as its personal pool and backyard. Layartebian ships and submarines patrolled it to keep its beauty and its economy running smoothly. Gun runners and modern pirates were ruthlessly hunted by warships four times their size. Drug boats had been targeted constantly by fast patrol craft and nothing flew over the Caribbean, sailed on it, or skulked underneath it without the know how of the Empire. Territorial waters for other countries were all they had and to venture outside without some sort of writ was a suicidal act.

Anti-submarine destroyers and aircraft evened the playing field against nuclear powered and air independent propulsion submarines that attempted to encroach upon the territory of the Empire. Despite what anyone wanted to admit or believe, the Caribbean was sovereign territory of the Empire and for good cause. Tourism drove the economy of the Caribbean and poured revenue into the Empire in such high levels that it was one of the largest factors contributing to the surpluses that the government recorded each and every year. Until the atomic bombing on Grenada, the Caribbean Sea was unpolluted by modern society. Tradition still lives and reigned on islands east to west. When the mushroom cloud rose that fateful July morning, it changed a lot. Until then, the Doctrine of Sovereignty, enacted in late 2005, was just a document that had yet to be fulfilled. The very first section of the 6th article of that doctrine stated, explicitly:

The Caribbean Sea, given its close proximity to the Empire will be monitored accordingly. Any foreign vessels caught in the Caribbean Sea violating the sovereignty of the Empire through the use of war games, espionage, or any other devices meant to deceive and damage the Empire will be dealt with accordingly and could either be captured or sunk.

It was no laughing matter. The Empire meant it severely. However, since the doctrine, the Ministry of Defense began to realize a flaw in its plan. Laid underneath the Caribbean Sea was a massive sonar listening system, affectionately called SOSUS, SOund SUrveillance System. The North Atlantic Ocean contained countless SOSUS arrays just as well and each and every one of them lay on the bottom of the ocean in arrays some as large as a minivan, others as small as a bicycle. They were disguised to look like rocks and anything else that could be surmised on the bottom of the sea, where active SONAR lost its potential. Linked together with fiber optic cables and powered through the same, the passive hydrophones just listened, so intently that they could detect a sound source of a single watt as far away as several hundred miles. Even advanced, attack submarines, like those employed by the ILN, could be heard if they got close enough. AIP submarines could be heard just as well, it was a simple matter of the fact and the classified system was never alluded to existence. Nobody knew it was there, save for TOA members and they weren't talking nor did they know the locations of the hydrophones. Billions of dollars had been poured into both SOSUS networks in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean, as well as territorial waters. It paid off on numerous occasions but it was becoming less efficient at tracking a new generation of pebblebed powered submarines and air independent propulsion submarines, which were ultra quiet, especially when loaded with anechoic tiles. SOSUS could definitely hear them, if they were close enough but triangulation was difficult. Underwater targeting required triangulation to eliminate echoes as sound bounced off everything in the water, fish included.

Early in 2001, the concern was first realized and for the next 2 years, designers in the Layartebian Defense Corporation, Maritime Division, pondered over a solution. They evaluated more advanced SOSUS modules, new types of ASW aircraft, newer submarines, etc. The ultimate realization was, rather than work for a means to simply detect the newer submarines, why not augment the power and capabilities of the Empire's already top-notch ASW platforms. Early on, a chief designer referred to what they needed as a shark, a tiburón, as he said in Spanish. The name stuck and when the first concepts were presented in late 2003 of a high-speed, torpedo boat, the Ministry of Defense ate them up and assigned the name to the project. By late summer 2006, the first hull was ready for sea trials.

On this, early morning, she would put to sea for the first trial and for the first test. Its gray, low sitting hull sat quietly in port on the same island that centuries earlier was a home to pirates. Isla Tortuga was the perfect place, nestled between two Layartebian islands and surrounded by warships as the Tiburón class ship was about to head out, into the Caribbean Sea, to test its avionics and power.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/The%20Pirate%20of%20the%20Caribbean/tiburon-01.jpg

OOC: Lineart, full detailed write up, and more to come...

August 21, 2006
Isla Tortuga, Hispanola

"Alright gentlemen. I've read through the briefings about our new ship here but I'd rather hear it from your mouth Admiral."

"Yes sir." The Emperor, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Military, the Minister of Defense, and the Admiral in charge of the Caribbean Sea war department, were all seated high, in a tower, overlooking the island, its naval port, and the south, where Cuba and Hispanola drew close to each other. Two armed guards stood at the door, with drawn M80 Assault Rifles with others not far behind them. This tower was, effectively, closed. "Sir, we're dealing with a ship that is a submarines worst nightmare. Submarines sneaking into the Caribbean do not want to be heard and they do not want to be seen. Our ship will hear and it will see them. It will track them and, if necessary, destroy them."

"Well, certainly it can be engaged by the submarine it is hunting?"

"Of course sir. So can any vessel. The benefit we have is that said submarine, should it choose to engage, will already give up its position for ASW destroyers and aircraft, the same vessels it is trying to avoid. Should it fire a missile, our ship can effectively engage it. Should they fire a torpedo, we can outrun it in many circumstances."

"What is the top speed of this vessel?"

"It can sprint to 47 knots and sustain 42."

"Fast son of a bitch huh?"

"You've got that right sir. At 322 feet long, 90 feet wide, and 1,000 tons, she drafts just 11 feet 9 inches of water. That means we can go where submarines can't. Powered by four diesel engines and four waterjets, we can get up to full speed way before a submarine can. She'll go 2,650 nautical miles on her fuel and can easily be replenished at sea. Her helicopter deck can support one MH-60R Sea Hawk and we've got a hangar to house one Sea Hawk and one Fire Scout, a specially modified version of the later with a detachable tale and rotor, making it much more compact."

"Not too shabby." He smiled as the Tiburón began to back out of the docks. It moved slowly but so gracefully. "What about its weapon systems?"

"Well first and foremost, it is a high speed torpedo boat so it has four tubes with 36 Barracudas on board. We've modified it though to be slightly heavier giving 35% more range and 50% more depth. It has a main gun, a 76mm ETC cannon that is normally stowed on a platform and hidden beneath the top of the hull but it has a full 360° engagement circle and 200 rounds. There are three 12.7mm M91s on board, on aft, one port, one starboard. We've also shortened half of the hangar bay. Originally we invisioned two MH-60s but we only need one. The other bay, which is cut in half to accept a Fire Scout, houses four VLS modules for thirty-two cells. They can hold anything up to 22 feet. That means even an Imsdal, without the booster. Normal loads will call for a light load of ESSMs for air defense and then Relics and ASROCs for submarines. The Relics are for surfaced ones. CIWS is a single RAM launcher with 21 missiles and we found room to add a quad-launcher with AMESM missiles. There are also four MANPADs on board."

"Very good. I imagine its sensors are the same as our vessels?"

"Fine tuned but yes."

"What about crew?"

"Six officers and forty-eight regular crewmen. We've got twelve for the flight crew. We also have a pair of RHIBs inside and we can then hold up to forty-eight special forces soldiers."

"SOF?"

"Well sir. We invision a plan of capturing 'surfaced' submarines."

"SEALs?"

"No sir. Actually," the General of the Special Forces interrutped. "Actually sir. We've been thinking of a new force, small. We wouldn't need to have them trained in LRRPs and what not like many of our other forces. We need them to seize a boat or a submarine and hold it until proper forces can arrive. They'll have to be able to swim and dive, dismantle bombs, and use equipment found on submarines and ships, including their weapons systems. We feel confident though that we can have the first six teams of eight ready in just six months time. We'll recruit right out of current SOF." The Tiburón moved out of the dock and turned itself around in an impressive 180° maneuver that was the envy of any aircraft carrier captain. With a jolt, it bolted towards the open waters, speeding up towards 42 knots.

"Given these times," the Emperor looked at the men seated behind him. "I think it would be pertinent for these gentlemen to receive counter-terrorism training."

"Yes sir."

"I have a feeling that what happened on Grenada is not a single act of none to come."

"Understood sir." The Tiburón moved out of the port at lightning speed and skirted across the crystal blue waters to the south. They would have to use binoculars once it got into the open waters. From their perch, 100 feet in the air, they could see as far as 12 miles and the Tiburón was going to move 6 miles out of the harbor and conduct some exercises against aircraft and a mock submarine, a radio operated drone running on electric power, making it very quiet. A Verrazano Flight II class destroyer would be trailing it as best it could to observe.

"Gentlemen, I think we are too far away to do any good." The Emperor said as he put down the binoculars. "How far is the Verrazano trailing?"

"Less than a mile sir."

"What do you say we go aboard?"

"Sir?" The Admiral of the Navy stood with a tinge of worry. "Our ships are always in pristine order sir but I don't think they're ready for such a formal inspection."

"Admiral. Admiral. I'm not here to inspect. If I wanted a navy to march well, to always wear pefectly shined shoes, to always tuck their shirts in. If I wanted cooks to never had a spot of grease on them from the kitchen or mechanics to have greasy hands. If I wanted a ship that was in perfect display order I would have consigned to have three warships and none of them with weapons capabilities. I have no worries or doubts that any ship of the Imperial Layartebian Navy is in full combat order. I am sure that the men are filthy but I am also sure that they are disciplined and trained. I'd rather the latter than a pair of shined shoes. Let's go. Tell them to hold the exercise until we can get there but DO NOT inform the captain of either vessel why."

"Understood sir." The Emperor departed and the Joint Chiefs looked at each other in disbelief. Minutes later they were aboard an MH-60S Knight Hawk, flying out to sea. The helicopter deck of the Verrazano was empty, its single ASW helicopter inside of its hangar for maintenance. The helicopter was crowded and both BG. Delaney and his XO were sitting on the side, leaning out of the door because the room was so limited. His rifle was pointed down but he knew he'd have nothing to shoot at, not out there.

As the helicopter came in for landing on the deck of the Verrazano, the captain moved out onto the deck. "Who authorized a helicopter to land!" He yelled. "Who?"

"Sir the XO did. You were unreachable. It was an order from the Admiral of the Navy sir." A lowly seaman said as he watched the helicopter come down. "My guess is they're bringing aboard some test equipment or camera men."

"I hope so. I'm not in the mood for an inspection. These brass, all they want is shined shoes and perfectly painted walls they don't want a combat ship half of the times."

"You've got that right sir."

"Carry on. I'm going down there to find out what's going on." The captain moved down to the flight deck as the helicopter went into hover and set down on the stern of the premier ASW destroyer in the world and one of the few left that was dedicated to the task. "What's going on here?" The captain yelled when he got down to the deck.

"Don't know sir." The director said as he motioned for the helicopter to turn off its engines. That was when his face turned instantly serious. The men of Force Falcon stepped out, weapons in hand, loaded with gear and right away both of them knew that these men were not regular bodyguards but some elite special forces or even black forces unit. The Joint Chiefs stepped out next and the captain turned around to look towards the bow.

"FUCK!" He yelled but it was too noisy to be heard that far away. The Emperor and the Minister of Defense stepped out last and instantly, all of the men on the flight deck came to order and a salute. The captain moved over quickly with a salute. "Sir. It is an honor to have you aboard. I do wish that I had more time to prepare for your arrival."

"That's not important captain. I'm not here to see how well the mens' shoes are shined. This is a combat vessel, is it not?"

"It is sir. The finest in the navy."

"Good. And you are ready for combat?"

"We drill constantly sir."

"And what are the results of these drills?"

"Sir. My men are ready to find the enemy, hunt them down, sink them, and get back to port to kiss their children."

"Excellent. I'm satisified then. Where can we go to observe this test?"

"Sir. The observation deck above the bridge is normally used to spot submarines but it can be opened for our purposes here."

"That is where we shall go."

"Very well sir." The Joint Chiefs and Minister of Defense were completed shocked with the display of "normalcy" that the Emperor had. They heard him, many of times, talking about what a naval vessel should really be like but they always thought it was just nonsense uttered to keep him on the good side of the sailors. They never imagined that it might be true. They passed by over 100 infractions by the time they got to the observation deck but each and every sailor snapped to and saluted as the Emperor walked by. Some tried to hide the infractions, which were all minor, in retrospect, nothing that would lower the efficiency or capability of the ship to do its duty. "Sir. Here we are. Empty and abandoned for your purposes."

"Well. Not quite. Suppose a submarine comes out to play? We should have observers here. Is this post always manned?"

"It is sir."

"Very well. Then so shall it stay. Who amongst your watchers has the highest levels of clearance?"

"Just two sir. Out of six."

"Alright send them up. Who is in charge of the ship at the moment?"

"Right now sir I am but my XO shall be shortly."

"Very well. I'd like to invite you up here to watch this. Afterwards, we'll have some lunch, is that satisfactory?"

"Yes sir. What do you wish the cooks to prepare?"

"Whatever is on the menu today."

"Sir?"

"Nothing special captain." He said with a smile and the captain saluted and retired away, to get the final preparations in order. "When the captain returns. Begin the testing." That took just ten minutes.

The destroyer closed in on the Tiburón as they entered the exercise area. Less than 300 feet behind the Tiburon, the Verrazano class came to a halt as the Tiburón began to conduct its maneuvers. It went from its transit speed of 12 knots up to 47 knots very quickly and then, back down again, to 42 knots, sustaining the high dash speed. Observation ships were using their sensors to take readings on the Tiburón as it moved through the sleek waters of the Windward Passage.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/The%20Pirate%20of%20the%20Caribbean/tiburon-02.jpg

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/The%20Pirate%20of%20the%20Caribbean/tiburon-03.jpg

Sea trials would continue for three hours in total but the beginning was the only boring part. Small, radio controlled airplanes would be launched into the air as well to test its effectiveness at targetting and tracking them as they flew as high as 10,000 feet or as low as 10 feet. Each one had a tiny radar cross section but for the AODSSS was more powerful and capable than the AN/SPY-1 AEGIS, which had been retired so long ago because it was built around Synthetic aperture radar systems.

The AN/SPY-4, built as an advancement over the AN/SPY-1 AEGIS system offers a vastly different and superior system. The AN/SPY-1 was based off of a phased array concept that provided a full 3-dimensional tracking and engagement of mulitple targets in a full 360° view at ranges up to 200 nautical miles. Advanced versions of the AN/SPY-1 offered better tracking systems and better ranges, still using only 4 megawatts. However, with the advent of stealthier aircraft and missiles as well as much deadlier anti-ship missiles, the need for a more complex and better encompassing system became necessary. What spawned was the AN/SPY-4, built around a much different system with even more potential.

The AN/SPY-4 was built around a Synthetic aperture radar systems with the ability to perform inverse functions as well. The AN/SPY-4, codenamed "Hammer" provides surface-borne ships to detect, track, and engage targets at long ranges, including stealth aircraft. The AN/SPY-4 AODSSS is a system that runs on 6 megawatts of power but has the ability to operate some 500% more effectively than the AN/SPY-1 at 4 megawatts.

The AN/SPY-4 has a maximum detection range of bomber sized aircraft at 800 nautical miles, fighter sized aircraft at 600 nautical miles, and stealth aircraft at 500 nautical miles, depending on the radar cross section of the target. Using over-the-horizon targetting systems, the AN/SPY-4 can effective double and, in some cases, triple, its detection range. The AN/SPY-4 offers tracking and engagement ranges as far as detection ranges because of its use of multiple radars: two for detection, two for tracking, and two for engagement, providing the AN/SPY-4 with the ability to track some 400 targets.

The AN/SPY-4, as a major advantage over the AN/SPY-1, retains the ability to resist most, if not all types of jamming, and adds the ability to perform "rejamming," a new capability. The AN/SPY-4 detects jamming sources and emits a very high powered beam towards said target, which acts to confuse the electronics and jamming capabilities of an electronic warfare aircraft. Because of the ability of the AN/SPY-4 to fine tune to its environment, sea-state conditions do not affect the detection capabilities of the system.

The AN/SPY-4 has a massive array of capabilities in the form of datalinking and uplinking. Reconnaissance and imaging satellites, anti-stealth uplinks, missile and aircraft datalinks, and other ship uplinks can all enhance the capabilities of the AN/SPY-4 to plug a single system into a massive array of systems, creating a net, so to speak, of offensive and defensive capabilities.

The AN/SPY-4 also has the capability of enhanced surface search, meaning that targets previously flying below "radar coverage" cannot hide from the AN/SPY-4 as it projects a spherical detection system outward. The AN/SPY-4 has very limited capabilities detecting underwater targets by itself and is less effective at said task than high-frequency SONAR and other SONAR systems. The AN/SPY-4 also offers the capability to keep its emissions very passive, offering extremely high low-probability of intercept. Active sweeps cannot be detected very easily.

The AN/SPY-4 also offers unparalleled IFF capabilities, which allow the system to determine whether or not an aircraft is hostile or friendly based on the image generated from the detection of the target. In addition, the AN/SPY-4 offers a very complex and sophisticated passive detection system which is backed up with an imaging infrared search and track system, which can detect body heat at short ranges and the heat trails left by passing ships and aircraft.

The AN/SPY-4 is employed on all major surface combatants of the Imperial Layartebian Defense Forces and Navy.

The Tiburón carried the AN/SPY-4N, a specialized variant for use only to itself. The AN/SPY-4N is a specialized version of the AN/SPY-4M that offers limited surface-to-surface and surface-to-air capabilities but, instead, focuses on surface search for spotting of periscopes and other small targets on the ocean surface. It maintains air defense capabilities to 100 nautical miles, at higher altitudes and limits sensor emissions in the interests of stealth. Subsurface capaibilities of the AN/SPY-4N are highly focused to allow the vessel increased detection ability against submerged threats.

When the radio drones were launched, all 48 of them, the AODSSS tracked each of them and transmitted information to the crew of the Tiburón. Only six of them were going to be destroyed by missiles and others would be recovered to be used again. Inside the 32 VLS tubes of the Tiburón were three types of missiles. The first was the RIM-162 ESSM, quad-loaded into one full 4 x 2 module giving 32 missiles. There were also 12 RGM-193 Relic missiles and 12 RUM-139 VL-ASROC missiles.

As the Tiburón came about and locked up the six targets, the Emperor and the observers on board the Verrazano watched as its VLS doors opened up and fire and smoke filled them as their missiles tore into the sky at several times the speed of sound. The small drones were no match for the big missiles, which were guided to their targets by their own active systems or through datalinking from the AN/SPY-4. All six missiles hit and all six drones were blasted into bits. Four more were slated for targetting by the 76mm ETC cannon employed by the Tiburón and after several shots, all of them were downed just as well. The rest would be recovered.

Smaller drones, GQM-163 Coyotes, were launched as well. Supersonic missiles, they were not fitted with warheads and their guidance systems wouldn't bring them into impacts with the ship. Four of them were launched, however, to simulate a missile attack against the Tiburón. The RGM-193 Relic was based on the GQM-163 Coyote but was far more advanced. Moving at Mach 2.8 for a range of 60 nautical miles, the Coyotes came inbound from all four directions and it was up to the Tiburón to destroy them. Two were engaged immediately with RIM-162 ESSM missiles, which carried over the anti-missile capabilities left over from the Standard SM-1 and SM-2 missiles. They hit well and the other two were engaged with RIM-116 RAM missiles, fired from the ship as well though at much closer ranges. All four missiles were destroyed, sufficient for this test. Computer simulations showed though that the Tiburón could be overwhelmed quite easily since its focus was on undersea warfare rather than self-defense, especially from aircraft and missiles.

What followed now would be target shots against two surface ships, both destroyers of the Arleigh Burke class and against two submarines, both battery powered electric submarines that were moving very quietly through the Windward Passage. It would be up to the crew of the Tiburón to find them and destroy them with Mark 50 Mod 4 Barracuda-Tiburón torpedoes.