Lange-class railgun battleship

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160421-N-YE579-005 (26543438313).jpg
SMS Lange sailing in 2021.
Class overview
Name: Lange class
Operators:  Drambenburg
In commission: 15 October 2016
Planned: 32
Completed: 3
Cancelled: 29
Active: 2
General characteristics
Type: Railgun battleship
Displacement: 15,656 long tons (15,907 t)
Length: 610 ft (190 m)
Beam: 80.7 ft (24.6 m)
Draft: 27.6 ft (8.4 m)
Propulsion:
  • 2 × gas turbines (35.4 MW (47,500 hp) each)
  • 2 × RR4500 turbine generators (3.8 MW (5,100 hp) each)
  • 2 × propellers driven by electric motors
  • Total: 78 MW (105,000 shp)
Speed: 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement: 147 +28 in air detachment
Armament:
  • 20 × VLS modules, 4 cells per module, 80 launch cells total
    • 1 × Vertical Launch Anti-Submarine Missile (ASROC)
  • 2 × 155 mm (6 in)/62 caliber railguns
  • 1 × 30 mm (1.2 in) Mod 2 railgun
Aircraft carried:
  • 1 × helicopter
  • 3 × UAVs
Aviation facilities: Flight deck and enclosed hangar for up to two medium-lift helicopters

The Lange-class railgun battleship is a class of Drambenburgian warships in service with the Kreigsmarine, unique for being the only active warships in the world with a state-of-the-art railgun system. The Lange-class battleships are equipped with two state-of-art railgun turrets, with three railguns each, which fire kinetic projectiles precisely with ranges over 110 nautical miles. In addition to the railguns, the Lange-class has 12 88mm flak guns and several 40mm, 20mm, 12.5mm and .30 cal AA guns for air defense. Due the novelty, bulkiness, high energy demand, and complexity of the pulsed power supplies that are needed for electromagnetic launcher systems, as well as the extremely high cost to produce such weapons, the eight Lange-class ships in service are the only planned for the Drambenburgian military, after Chancellor Walde Herzog canceled further construction.

History

Development

Service

Design

Railgun

A diagram of how the railgun aboard the Lange-class works

Criticism