Questers
12-04-2007, 03:18
Hmm...
AJAX CLASS BATTLESHIP
Overview:
The Ajax Class Battleship is the mainstay of the slowly shrinking Questarian Battle Arm. In the face of an ever increasing Fleet Strike Arm with its carriers, the Fleet Battle Arm had to reconsider its battleship designs which were still based around a totally different principle. Now that the Fleet Strike Arm could provide real air cover for their battleships, the need for defensive missiles on capital ships was mostly eradicated. It had long been Questarian policy to mount large SAM arrays in vertical cells for their battleships - this was no longer. The Ajax class, given its size, has a capable missile battery in comparison to its main guns and compared to previous ships of a similar size. Much like the Kirov class, the Ajax class mounts its heavy offensive missiles in VL cells rather than relying on large numbers of smaller anti shipping missiles. Furthermore it mounted a large number of heavy guns that could fire supersonic combustion ramjet rounds if it wanted long range fire. Questarian doctrine had changed but in many ways it was the same - the battleship was still using its guns but now the offensive missiles were much more important as the Admiralty began to realise the the potential of the large anti shipping missile.
Furthermore, it holds much heavier armour than previous designs. Generally the ship is much larger and is of a much sturdier construction, now that speed was achieved by sheer horsepower and, although measures have been made in construction of the ship, more thought was put into armour and defending from heavy missiles. As such the armour system is not one, thick, layered composite like most foreign battleships but is tiered with plentiful use of void space and decapping layers to "disarm missiles." Behind the main belt there is a void space where the damage control is concentrated to neutralise the effect of a missile penetrating the belt. Behind that a layer of armour angled at 45 degrees that meets with the deck and runs alongside the deck means that even if a missile penetrates it may not actually damage the hull. This bends down and meets with the torpedo bulges. Remembering the effectiveness of air launched torpedoes in previous encounters with enemies, and the ever-increasing danger of submarine attack as submarines grow more and more capable, significant thought was put into bulge protection. While the most was done to resist any penetration of the hull through well placed WTCs and by excellent damage control the bulge was also significantly thick to stop any actual penetration. Behind the bulge the void space where water can be filled to assist damage control and behind that layers of watertight compartments meant that the ship was heavily resistant to torpedo attacks from stem to stern. The two rudders were also protected by being in a "funnel", that is by being covered over by more of the ships hull than is usual. They also had armour boxes around the directional gear to stop jamming. Flooding and pumping were advanced even for Questarian standards, as damage control is one of the Navy's specialities.
When it came to electronics the ship was designed for combat in mind, not command or EW. However it does have these and can lead battle squadrons and though its EW plays mostly a defensive role - the Navy realising that Questers lags behind other naval powers in terms of offensive EW - the electronic warfare systems are still potent at their job of assisting RADAR in burning through stealth and in defending the ship from electronic attack. Furthermore this is the first time the optical rangefinders had been abandoned, and this was somewhat of a shock to ship captains as Questers had always been well known for its excellent optics, both in the civilian and military market. The RADAR was also an improved model over previous RADARs and in general the electronics are of a world-class level, showing Questers desire in catching up to the other naval powers in this respect, which it has done in many ways and is continuing to do extensive research in the field to mantain a parity. There is rumour that cooperation between Questarian and Doomani scientists took place in development of the RADAR, the Doomanis knowing that ten of these ships would be lend-leased to them in the event of a war with another power.
The missiles were located in a 10x10 Block 1E Offensive Vertical Launch system. Each cell is 3 metres wide and 15 metres deep and the box itself is in an armoured wedge which severs it from the rest of the ship armour wise. These missiles were linked to the main RADAR and whichever missile was carried there was provision for guidance - GPS, RADAR, inertial, IR, you name it the RADAR could fit it. The size of these modular VLS meant that they could fit missiles like the Praetonian Lance or the Questarian AS8A. The RAM launchers around the ship are used in tandem with CIWS and are fairly new - very few heavy ships had used RAM before the Ajax and the Mk 323 performed above expected in tests in any case.
Image: Link (http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k250/IJNYamamoto/IQN%20SHIPS/AjaxClassBattleship.png)
Designation: Battleship
Length: 308.1m oa Beam: 37.3m Draught: 12.4m CB: .665
Displacement Full: 83,352.4 T
Armament: 4 x triple 18"/62 Model 1945 gun in AB, XY position, 4 x single 6"/54 Mark 54 DP guns, 11 x dual 6"/54 Mark 54 DP guns, 1x 10x10 Block 1E OVL system
Passive Protection: 19" KNC pattern belt tapering to 17" and 14.5", 6" KNC backing the belt, 7.5" KNC over the deck and 1.25" decapping layer, 21"-24" KNC anti torpedo bulkheads tapering to 14" KNC to the belt to provide underwater protection, 18" KNC turret faces and 21" KNC barbettes.
Active Protection: 15 x dual 22mm autocannons, 6 x Mk 91 decoys, 4 x 18 cell Mk 323 RAM launcher, 6 x 37mm CIWS
Propulsion: 4 Imperial Machinery Geared Turbines providing 299,000 SHP, through 4 boilers, through 4 shafts, via 4 Imperial Machinery pumpjets guided by a pair of rudders.
Cruise Speed: 18 kts Flank Speed: 24 kts Full Ahead: 31 kts
Electronics: Long range air and sea multiband (S/X) RADAR scan, GPS and satellite linkups, command and control facilities for battle squadrons and link capacity to larger vessels. LIDAR and LADAR for close-in guidance and AshM guidance. Infrared and RGB scanning, encoding and decrypting facilities, large EW arrays, defensive and offensive, RADAR guidance for the guns and long range RADAR search for the AShMs.
Aircraft: None.
Pricing:
READ THIS [B]CAREFULLY IF YOU ARE WANTING TO PURCHASE
Different shipyards take orders. You can see here that each competes and each can service you. If you're on a tighter budget you may want a ship that is produced with lower quality control standards, Harland and Wolff for example. Each has their own 'speciality' in general but remember you can't order from the Questarian Government, or the Navy - neither own any construction shipyards. While there are many more shipyards in Questers these are the ones that have invested in the production rights (available internally only) to this particular ship and as such are the only that can build them.
John Brown and Co (quality+price-speed): 12 BN USD
Kure Naval Yards (quality+speed-price): 14 BN USD
Harland and Wolff (speed+price-quality): 11 BN USD
Users:
Questers: 120 [30 pending funding]
Shakal: 13
St Samuel: 5
Asgarnieu: 25
Vetaka: 14
AJAX CLASS BATTLESHIP
Overview:
The Ajax Class Battleship is the mainstay of the slowly shrinking Questarian Battle Arm. In the face of an ever increasing Fleet Strike Arm with its carriers, the Fleet Battle Arm had to reconsider its battleship designs which were still based around a totally different principle. Now that the Fleet Strike Arm could provide real air cover for their battleships, the need for defensive missiles on capital ships was mostly eradicated. It had long been Questarian policy to mount large SAM arrays in vertical cells for their battleships - this was no longer. The Ajax class, given its size, has a capable missile battery in comparison to its main guns and compared to previous ships of a similar size. Much like the Kirov class, the Ajax class mounts its heavy offensive missiles in VL cells rather than relying on large numbers of smaller anti shipping missiles. Furthermore it mounted a large number of heavy guns that could fire supersonic combustion ramjet rounds if it wanted long range fire. Questarian doctrine had changed but in many ways it was the same - the battleship was still using its guns but now the offensive missiles were much more important as the Admiralty began to realise the the potential of the large anti shipping missile.
Furthermore, it holds much heavier armour than previous designs. Generally the ship is much larger and is of a much sturdier construction, now that speed was achieved by sheer horsepower and, although measures have been made in construction of the ship, more thought was put into armour and defending from heavy missiles. As such the armour system is not one, thick, layered composite like most foreign battleships but is tiered with plentiful use of void space and decapping layers to "disarm missiles." Behind the main belt there is a void space where the damage control is concentrated to neutralise the effect of a missile penetrating the belt. Behind that a layer of armour angled at 45 degrees that meets with the deck and runs alongside the deck means that even if a missile penetrates it may not actually damage the hull. This bends down and meets with the torpedo bulges. Remembering the effectiveness of air launched torpedoes in previous encounters with enemies, and the ever-increasing danger of submarine attack as submarines grow more and more capable, significant thought was put into bulge protection. While the most was done to resist any penetration of the hull through well placed WTCs and by excellent damage control the bulge was also significantly thick to stop any actual penetration. Behind the bulge the void space where water can be filled to assist damage control and behind that layers of watertight compartments meant that the ship was heavily resistant to torpedo attacks from stem to stern. The two rudders were also protected by being in a "funnel", that is by being covered over by more of the ships hull than is usual. They also had armour boxes around the directional gear to stop jamming. Flooding and pumping were advanced even for Questarian standards, as damage control is one of the Navy's specialities.
When it came to electronics the ship was designed for combat in mind, not command or EW. However it does have these and can lead battle squadrons and though its EW plays mostly a defensive role - the Navy realising that Questers lags behind other naval powers in terms of offensive EW - the electronic warfare systems are still potent at their job of assisting RADAR in burning through stealth and in defending the ship from electronic attack. Furthermore this is the first time the optical rangefinders had been abandoned, and this was somewhat of a shock to ship captains as Questers had always been well known for its excellent optics, both in the civilian and military market. The RADAR was also an improved model over previous RADARs and in general the electronics are of a world-class level, showing Questers desire in catching up to the other naval powers in this respect, which it has done in many ways and is continuing to do extensive research in the field to mantain a parity. There is rumour that cooperation between Questarian and Doomani scientists took place in development of the RADAR, the Doomanis knowing that ten of these ships would be lend-leased to them in the event of a war with another power.
The missiles were located in a 10x10 Block 1E Offensive Vertical Launch system. Each cell is 3 metres wide and 15 metres deep and the box itself is in an armoured wedge which severs it from the rest of the ship armour wise. These missiles were linked to the main RADAR and whichever missile was carried there was provision for guidance - GPS, RADAR, inertial, IR, you name it the RADAR could fit it. The size of these modular VLS meant that they could fit missiles like the Praetonian Lance or the Questarian AS8A. The RAM launchers around the ship are used in tandem with CIWS and are fairly new - very few heavy ships had used RAM before the Ajax and the Mk 323 performed above expected in tests in any case.
Image: Link (http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k250/IJNYamamoto/IQN%20SHIPS/AjaxClassBattleship.png)
Designation: Battleship
Length: 308.1m oa Beam: 37.3m Draught: 12.4m CB: .665
Displacement Full: 83,352.4 T
Armament: 4 x triple 18"/62 Model 1945 gun in AB, XY position, 4 x single 6"/54 Mark 54 DP guns, 11 x dual 6"/54 Mark 54 DP guns, 1x 10x10 Block 1E OVL system
Passive Protection: 19" KNC pattern belt tapering to 17" and 14.5", 6" KNC backing the belt, 7.5" KNC over the deck and 1.25" decapping layer, 21"-24" KNC anti torpedo bulkheads tapering to 14" KNC to the belt to provide underwater protection, 18" KNC turret faces and 21" KNC barbettes.
Active Protection: 15 x dual 22mm autocannons, 6 x Mk 91 decoys, 4 x 18 cell Mk 323 RAM launcher, 6 x 37mm CIWS
Propulsion: 4 Imperial Machinery Geared Turbines providing 299,000 SHP, through 4 boilers, through 4 shafts, via 4 Imperial Machinery pumpjets guided by a pair of rudders.
Cruise Speed: 18 kts Flank Speed: 24 kts Full Ahead: 31 kts
Electronics: Long range air and sea multiband (S/X) RADAR scan, GPS and satellite linkups, command and control facilities for battle squadrons and link capacity to larger vessels. LIDAR and LADAR for close-in guidance and AshM guidance. Infrared and RGB scanning, encoding and decrypting facilities, large EW arrays, defensive and offensive, RADAR guidance for the guns and long range RADAR search for the AShMs.
Aircraft: None.
Pricing:
READ THIS [B]CAREFULLY IF YOU ARE WANTING TO PURCHASE
Different shipyards take orders. You can see here that each competes and each can service you. If you're on a tighter budget you may want a ship that is produced with lower quality control standards, Harland and Wolff for example. Each has their own 'speciality' in general but remember you can't order from the Questarian Government, or the Navy - neither own any construction shipyards. While there are many more shipyards in Questers these are the ones that have invested in the production rights (available internally only) to this particular ship and as such are the only that can build them.
John Brown and Co (quality+price-speed): 12 BN USD
Kure Naval Yards (quality+speed-price): 14 BN USD
Harland and Wolff (speed+price-quality): 11 BN USD
Users:
Questers: 120 [30 pending funding]
Shakal: 13
St Samuel: 5
Asgarnieu: 25
Vetaka: 14