Helena-class destroyer

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Helenaclass.png
Helena, the lead ship of her class.
Class overview
Builders: Algiers Maritime Engineering, Smith Island,  Meridon
Operators:  Meridonian Navy
Preceded by: Otapara-class
Succeeded by: Next-Generation Destroyer General Purpose
Built: 1990-2012
In service: 1996-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: 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:

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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 3x 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 CIWS

8x MSB-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.


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 1986 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, a snap 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 destroyers, capable of tracking hundreds of targets in real time. It is the first Meridonian capital ship 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 8-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

MRS Kohaku, the first of the Kohaku-subclass, which primarily features the integration of 4 8-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 CATOBAR carrier that features 4 steam catapults and 4 arresting wires on an angled flight deck.

Construction

Propulsion

Armament and protection

Flight deck and aircraft facilities

Strike groups

Design differences within the class

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