Akira-Class Cruiser

Rendering of the Akira-Class
Class overview
Builders:	Norfolk Naval Shipyards
Operators:	Seylosian Royal Navy
Cost:	ca. $1 billion
Built:	2021–present
In commission:	2023-present
Planned:	6
Building:	4
Completed:	1
Active:	1
General characteristics
Type:	Cruiser
Displacement:	13,290 tons
Length:	180 m (590 ft 7 in)
Beam:	21.2 m (69 ft 7 in)
Propulsion:	CODLAG 2 × 30 MW Singleton Electric DGT-89gas turbines 2 × 3 MW Timber 12V200 diesel generators 2 shafts integrated electric propulsion 2 x induction motors 30 MW each
Speed:	32 kn (59 km/h)
Range:	7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km)
Boats & landing craft carried:	WIP
Complement:	250 (Accommodation for 350)
Sensors and processing systems:	TRAIL multi-function air tracking radar ARLT 3-D air surveillance radar MS Integrated Bridge and Navigation System TRAIL-ASR Air Search Radar TRAIL-MT Fire Control Radar TRAIL-WV Surface Radar MSC-27 Active and Passive Sonar Suite Allied Intercommunications Sattelite Radio Array TRAIL-360 High Definition Optical Array
Electronic warfare & decoys:	Chaff and Infrared Naval Decoy Launchers NGEW Active Radio Jammer NGEW Radar Scanner and Receiver NGEW Active Radar Jammer NGEW Early Warning System NGEW Infrared Detector MSC Towed Torpedo Decoy
Armament:	Guns: 1 x 5 inch Mk9 Naval Gun 2 x 30 mm cannons 2 x Side Mounted Miniguns 6 x Side Mounted General Purpose Machineguns Close-In Weapon System: 1 × Jupiter CIWS Vertical-Launch Missiles: 2 x 32 Cell GIN Vertical Launching System Anti-ship missiles: 6 × RGM-220 Requiem anti-ship missiles (Flight I) 8 × RGM-220 Requiem anti-ship missiles (Flight II) Submarine & Mine Warfare 2 × Mark 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes Mine Countermeasures Module Non-Lethal: Water cannons (FFBNW)
Aircraft carried:	2 × helicopters
Aviation facilities:	Enclosed Hangar

The Akira Class is a Seylosian cruiser whose development first began in 2016. As Seylos began to rise in prominence both throughout Argis and Eurth, it was decided that Seylos would need a heavier ship class to be able to engage in possible large scale fleet battles. The Akira Class is considered a multi-role warship and was designed to support the force it was with in a multitude of ways, though it was primarily designed to fight other ships at sea.

History

Seylos's last cruiser vessel by class was the Montgomery Class, first built in 1959 as part of the Seylosian military's recovery post-Mandate. A total of six of these ships were constructed, with the last of these ships being decommissioned in 1993. During the 1990s, a series of budget cuts and economic difficulties forced lower spending within the military budget, and the older cruiser models were deemed the most expensive to maintain. By the early 2010s, the only new ship design to come from the Norfolk Naval Yards was the Eclipse-Class destroyer, and there was significant concern within the Royal Navy that Seylos was falling behind in naval technology and by 2013 a new commission had been started to figure out the next steps in Seylosian ship design.

This commission eventually settled on the Next Generation Naval Program, which included the request to design four new ships to meet the Royal Navy's needs in the future. This would include a frigate, corvette, an amphibious-cruiser hybrid and a cruiser: which would eventually become the Akira Class. In 2016 the Norfolk Naval Shipyard's Private/Public design partnerships had settled on the basic design of this new cruiser.

Design

The Adlantic Wave Simulator, the test site for all of the proposed Akira designs.

In 2016 planning and design had been moved to full speed. Several contractors: such as TRAIL, Military Standard Corporation (MSC), and Next Generation Electronics and Wireless (NGEW) began designing the new systems that would be aboard not only the Akira Class but others in the Next Generation Naval Program as well. Several beginning designs were tested at the Adlantic Wave Simulator, a large facility located in Dunblane that is capable of generating and simulating various types of waves, and the candidates were whittled down to a catamaran and a more traditional hull design. By the end of the year, the catamaran design was rejected on the basis of increased complexity and costs while delivering few, if any additional benefits for a ship of its size.

Initially the old Montgomery Class cruisers were used a basis for the hull design of the Akira. It was initially proposed because it had been widely considered the most "aesthetically pleasing hull that had the correct structural requirements". After many iterations, while the original Montgomery design is still present, significant changes occurred that make the ship visually distinct. One of the initial challenges was the Montgomery hull was too small to incorporate the major advances in technology that had occurred since it was originally created in 1959. Both the length and beam of the Akira had to be increased by a good amount in order to make sure its internal systems had sufficient room to exist alongside crew facilities. Flight deck facilities also did not exist on the old designs, which had to be included with a modern cruiser.

Prototype designs were sent to the the Norfolk Naval Shipyards and primary shipbuilding contractor E&W Hullworks to evaluate material costs. In 2019 a construction agreement was reached with E&W Hullworks for the various sections of the first Akira to be assembled in both north and south E&W locations in Norfolk.