View source for Sistine-class aircraft carrier

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:Sistine-class.png|300px]] 
|Ship caption=''Sistine'', as in her 2006 deployment. 
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
|Name=
|Builders= Marchetti Shipyards Alexandria, {{Flag|Meridon}} 
|Operators= {{flag|Meridonian Navy}} 
|Class before= {{wpl|USS Enterprise (CVN-65)|''Atlantia''-class}}
|Class after=
|Subclasses=
|Cost= Classified
|Built range=  1990-2012
|In service range= 1996-present
|In commission range=  
|Total ships building= 
|Total ships planned= 
|Total ships completed= 11
|Total ships cancelled= 
|Total ships active= 11
|Total ships laid up=
|Total ships lost=
|Total ships retired=
|Total ships preserved=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption= 
|Ship class= '''Aircraft carrier'''
|Ship type= 
|Ship tonnage= 
|Ship displacement= 110,000 tons, full load
|Ship tons burthen=  
|Ship length= Overall: 330 meters 
|Ship beam= Overall: Around 74 meters
|Ship height= 
|Ship draught= 	11 meters
|Ship draft= 
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship ramps=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship power= 
|Ship propulsion= 2 × Central Electric RM-2 reactors <br> 4 × steam turbines, four shafts, 270,000 shp
|Ship sail plan=
|Ship speed= In excess of 30 knots
|Ship range= Unlimited
|Ship endurance= 
|Ship test depth=
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity= 
|Ship troops= 
|Ship complement= Around 5,200 including embarked airwing.
|accessdate=
|Ship crew= 
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors= 
* Broadlight SEA SENTINEL air tracking radar
* Broadlight S1620 3D air search radar
* Delta SM315 surface search radar
* Broadlight MCV-M1 air traffic control radar
* Matca AGS-101 landing aid radars
* Navigational radars
|Ship EW= 
* CEG AFSEE electronic warfare suite
* Nulka decoys
* Nixie decoys
|Ship armament= 
4x M21 [[Common Air Defense System|CADS]] Launching Mounts, 8x CADS-S missiles each
x3 Goalkeeper Mark 40 25mm CIWS<br>
''Kohaku'' subclass: <br>
4x 16-cell [[ANVIL Vertical Launching System#Variants|Type 1 VLS]], with capacity for:
-[[Common Air Defense System|CADS-S]]
-MSU-14 antisubmarine rocket-propelled torpedo 
3x Goalkeeper 40 25mm CIWS
|Ship armour= Kevlar over vital spaces
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft= 80 fixed wing and helicopter
|Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes=

}}
|}

The '''Sistine-class''' is a class of {{wpl|Nuclear propulsion|nuclear powered}} {{wpl|Aircraft carrier|aircraft carriers}} in service with the [[Meridonian Navy]]. The ships are named after large Meridonian cities, and are the largest warships ever built for the Meridonian navy. They succeeded the {{wpl|Forrestal-class aircraft carrier|Atlantia-class}} of aircraft carriers.  They were built starting in late 1990, and the first ship. ''Sistine'', was commissioned in 1996, with the final ship of the class, ''Saratosa'', set to commision in mid 2024.

Replacements for the aging ''Atlantia''-class carriers had been planned since at least the early 1980s, but were delayed a multitude of time due to a mixture of budget constraints and emerging design requirements- most notably the integration of the new [[Common Air Defense Missile]] system, which was replacing a medley of other air defense missile systems across the Navy by the early 2000s. The Liberal government of 1984 was planning on cancelling the project and replacing the carriers instead with large missile cruisers as the centerpiece capital ship of the Navy, which were seen as cheaper and an effective way to limit long-term military expenditures. This caused an uproar in both Navy command and public opinion when said plans were made public. When five senior admirals and half of the Chiefs of Defense Staff tendered their resignations over the issue and more conservative members of the coalition began to vacate it, the subsequent 1985 election saw the liberal government ousted and replaced by a Federal Party coalition, which immediately reinstated the general officers and the Sistine-class project.

Designed based on lessons learned with the Atlantia-class, the ''Sistine''-class carriers feature a number of new improvements. Most notable of these is an innovative two-island design, originally made to accommodate a separation of funnels when the ship was intended as a non-nuclear carrier, but ported over to the nuclear design due to their improvements in deck space usage, redundancy of systems and command, and operational efficiency. It features a state-of-the-art Broadlight air search radar developed for the [[Helena-class destroyer]]s, capable of tracking hundreds of targets in real time. It is the first Meridonian capital ship designed from the outset to be nuclear-powered, and features improved facilities for aircraft and munitions handling. Carriers from ''Kohaku'' onwards have the M21 CAD/S launching mounts replaced with 16-cell VLS tubes/The VLS tubes do allow for the integration of standoff anti-submarine rockets and theoretically allow for the integration of ship-based cruise and anti-ship missiles, however the integration of non-defensive ship-based weaponry aboard the ''Sistine''-class carriers has been rejected by the Navy. The ''Sistine''-class is expected to serve until the 2050s at the earliest. 

==Description==
===Design===
[[File:Kohaku_subclass.png|360px|thumb|right|MRS ''Kohaku'', the first of the ''Kohaku''-subclass, which primarily features the integration of 4 16-cell VLS systems in place of the CADS launcher mounts.]]
The design of the ''Sistine''-class carriers, due to a number of shifting requirements during its development, took a period of nearly ten years from conceptualization to construction. Key to its requirements from the design was the capability to meet or exceed the airwing size carried by the Atlantia-class, have a higher top speed, be capable of landing and launching aircraft simultaneously, and modularity to accomodate emerging technologies and aircraft. Sistine was originally designed to feature integrated electronics propulsion, but the design was altered to operate off of nuclear propulsion. 

One of the most recognizable features of the ''Sistine''-class is its dual-island configuration, which is primarily a holdover from the diesel-operated design. The forward island is responsible for ship operations, including navigation, defensive systems, radar operations, and other such functions, while the rear island conducts coordination of air operations, including launches, landings, air battle management, and airspace control. Both bridges are redundant and each bridge can conduct operations of both if one of the bridges is damaged. 

''Sistine'' is a {{wpl|CATOBAR}} carrier that features 4 steam catapults and 4 arresting wires on an angled flight deck. 

===Construction===
===Propulsion===
===Armament and protection===
===Carrier air wing===
As of 2020,  a normal air wing of a deployed ''Sistine''-class consists of the following:

* 2 squadrons of [[Gruening F5M Lynx|F5M6/F5M7 Lynx]] fighters (24 aircraft)
* 2 squadrons of {{wpl|Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet|F6M2 Wasp}} fighters (24 aircraft)
* 1 squadron of {{wpl|Boeing EA-18G Growler|E6M2 Backwave}} electronics warfare aircraft (8 aircraft)
* 1 detachment of [[Carrier Common Support Aircraft|S2M Siren]] airborne early warning aircraft (5 aircraft)
* 1 squadron of {{wpl|Sikorsky_SH-60_Seahawk|H50M5 Seahawk}} antisubmarine patrol helicopters (10-12 aircraft)
* 1 squadron of [[Carrier Common Support Aircraft|C2M Triton]] multirole aircraft (10-12 aircraft)
* 1-3 [[Carrier Common Support Aircraft|C2M Triton]] or 1-4 {{wpl|Boeing V-22 Osprey|C22M Adjutant}} transient carrier onboard delivery aircraft

===Flight deck and aircraft facilities===
===Strike groups===
===Design differences within the class===
All Sistine-class aircraft carriers are distinctly identified with the colored stripes at the rounddown, or the rearmost edge of the flight deck. This is a tradition carried over from carriers in the 1940s to assist aircraft in landing on the correct aircraft carrier, and to allow for a system of visual identification in the air. 
*''Sistine''- Red and white.
*''Kohina''- Gold and white.
*''Kohaku''- Blue and white.
*''Marin Bay''- Green and white.
*''Baymark''- Black and white.
*''Cordelia''- Purple and white.
*''Kaharoa''- Brown and white.
*''Marina''- Red and gold.
*''Enterprise''- White and silver. 
*''Saratosa''- Gold and black. 
*''Howland''-Orange and white. 

While ''Sistine'' and ''Kohina'' are armed with M21 CAD/S launcher mounts, carriers from ''Kohaku'' onwards are equipped with eight 8-cell VLS tubes in their places. This allows for the carrying of anti-submarine rocket torpedoes in addition to the standard complement of short range CAD/S missiles.

==Ships in class==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Ship
! Pennant number
! Laid down
! Launched
! Commissioned
|-
|-
| [[MRS Sistine|''Sistine'']]
| R10
| 2 December 1990
| 3 March 1996
| 1 December 1996
|-
| [[MRS Kohina|''Kohina'']]
| R11
| 11 April 1993
| 2 March 1998
| 1 March 1999 
|-
| [[MRS Kohaku|''Kohaku'']]
| R12
| 24 May 1996
| 12 August 2002
| 18 September 2003
|-
| [[MRS Marin Bay|''Marin Bay'']]
| R13
| 22 June 2002
| 4 October 2008
| 9 July 2009
|-
| [[MRS Baymark|''Baymark'']]
| R14
| 11 August 2005
| 2 December 2011
| 5 November 2012
|-
| [[MRS Cordelia|''Cordelia'']]
| R15
| 1 January 2007
| 5 August 2013
| 12 November 2013
|-
| [[MRS Kaharoa|''Kaharoa'']]
| R16
| 2 May 2009
| 13 March 2016
| 2 February 2017
|-
| [[MRS Marina|''Marina'']]
| R17
| 2 May 2012
| 11 June 2018
| 2 March 2019
|-
| [[MRS Enterprise (R18)|''Enterprise'']]
| R18
| 2 May 2014
| 13 June 2016
| 2 March 2021
|-
| [[MRS Saratosa (R19)|''Saratosa'']]
| R19
| 2 May 2014
| 14 August 2016
| 5 April 2021
|-
| [[MRS Howland (R20)|''Howland'']]
| R20
| 4 September 2018
| 3 July 2022
| 1 April 2024
|-
|}

{{Template:MeridonTopics}}
{{MeridonDefenseForce}}
[[Category:Meridon]]
[[Category:Meridonian military]]