Helena-class destroyer

Helena, the lead ship of her class.
Class overview
Builders:	Algiers Maritime Engineering, Smith Island, Meridon
Operators:	Meridonian Navy
Preceded by:	Otapara-class destroyer
Succeeded by:	Next-Generation Destroyer General Purpose
Built:	1991-2012
In service:	1994-present
Planned:	15
Completed:	15
Active:	15
General characteristics
Class and type:	Guided missile destroyer, air warfare destroyer
Displacement:	9,700 tons, full load
Length:	Overall: 520 ft
Beam:	Overall: Around 71ft
Draught:	24ft
Propulsion:	CODLAG 2 shafts integrated electric propulsion, 28,500 shp each
Speed:	In excess of 32 knots
Range:	In excess of 7,000 nm at 18kts
Complement:	204, with accomodations for up to 310.
Sensors and processing systems:	Broadlight SEA KEEPER air tracking radar Broadlight S1620 3D air search radar 2x MATCA combined AHRS/INS systems MATCA Command Navigation Program 2x Delta SM333 I Band surface search/navigational radar 1x Delta SM315 E/F Band surface search radar MATCA RAGOTS combined radar and optical gun tracking suite Matca R43 sonar suite
Electronic warfare & decoys:	MATCA SHREWD electronic warfare suite MATCA NGSEE signals exploitation suite Nulka decoys Advanced Counter-Torpedo Decoy System Offboard Float Decoy System Nixie decoys
Armament:	1x Type 42 4.5in naval gun 2x Type 318 30mm chaingun 2x 7.62 miniguns 6x 7.62 general purpose machine guns 2x 48-cell VLS, with capacity for: MSA-15 short-range anti-aircraft missile (up to 4x per cell) MSA-30 long-range anti-aircraft missile MSU-14 antisubmarine rocket-propelled torpedo MSS-18 cruise missile (fitted for but not with) 2x Goalkeeper 40 25mm CIWS 8x MSS-33 anti-ship missiles
Armour:	Kevlar over vital spaces
Aircraft carried:	1x H50M5 normally carried
Aviation facilities:	Enclosed hangar for up to 2x H50M5 Hawk

The Helena-class is a class of air warfare guided missile destroyers in service with the Meridonian Navy. Designed from the ground up as specialized air warfare escorts for the upcoming Sistine-class aircraft carriers using lessons learned in the 1980s, the Helena-class pioneered a number of new technology systems for the Navy. They are named after territories, districts, and large settlements. They were built starting in the early 1990s, and the first ship, Helena, was commissioned in 199X, with the last ship Caster Ridge commissioning in 201X.

The Helena-class was commissioned shortly after the Otapara-class destroyers began construction when naval planners realized that the Otapara-class would not be able to meet the anticipated fleet needs for a air defense platform, currently provided by the Mystere class of destroyers. Due to the Otapara's general purpose requirements of being capable of anti-air, anti-submarine, and surface warfare and the design of its hull it was determined the class would be better suited to a destroyer leader and multirole destroyer. This was critically important with the development of the Sistine-class aircraft carriers, who were to make up the core of the naval fleet into the 21st century. The Helena-class was also to be a testbed for technology critical to not only the coming carriers, but to the Defense Force as a whole with the advent of the Common Air Defense System, which serves as its principal armament.

The Helena-class is optimized for air defense and operates primarily as an escort destroyer, acting as the Carrier Task Group's principal anti-aircraft platform with supporting roles in anti-submarine warfare with MSU-14 antisubmarine rocket-propelled torpedoes and embarked anti-submarine helicopter, and anti-ship warfare with its eight MSS-33 anti-ship missiles. While capable of carrying land attack munitions in the form of the MSS-18, as reported by the Defense Department, the ship does not regularly carry these munitions. Its primary armament consists of a mix of MSA-15 and MSA-30 CADS interceptor missiles, which were designed to intercept maneuvering supersonic cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. Its powerful Broadlight air search and air targeting radars are capable instantaneously tracking over 2,000 targets and coordinate the flight of multiple missiles towards targets.

Description

Design

A rear view of Alexandria, showing her Broadlight air search and tracking radars. The radar set, and the integration of the Common Air Defense System, were the first implementations of a number of new naval systems first seen aboard Helena-class destroyers.

The Helena-class was designed from the outset as a dedicated air defense platform centered around the BROADLIGHT air radar suite system and the Common Air Defense System. The latter was a major tri-service effort to standardize a motley of air defense systems across the Defense Forces for standardized procurement, and would be its first employment aboard naval vessels after successful integration tests on land-based vehicles. The primary role of the class was to provide air defense escort for the Sistine-class aircraft carriers that the Otapara-class destroyer was too few in number and lacking in processing and armament capacity to effectively provide, allowing for the latter to be employed primarily as the lead ship of surface action groups and escort coordination in strike groups. This lead to the emergence of the semi-formal designation of the Helena-class as an "air warfare destroyer", with the Otapara-class labeled as "general purpose" destroyers.

Helena improved on the design plans from the previous class, further reducing the radar cross section and reducing the hull height and width while extending the length. The Helena-class' radar signature was able to be reduced by about 23% compared to the Otapara-class' using this method.

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 accommodate 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 CATOBAR carrier that features 4 steam catapults and 4 arresting wires on an angled flight deck.

Ships in class

Ship	Pennant number	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned
Sistine	R10	2 December 1990	3 March 1996	1 December 1996
Kohina	R11	11 April 1993	2 March 1998	1 March 1999
Kohaku	R12	24 May 1996	12 August 2002	18 September 2003
Marin Bay	R13	22 June 2002	4 October 2008	9 July 2009
Baymark	R14	11 August 2005	2 December 2011	5 November 2012