Project 11431 aircraft carrier
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: |
 Itayana |
| Built: | 1983-2013 |
| In commission: | 2019-present |
| Completed: | 1 |
| Active: | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Aircraft carrier |
| Displacement: | 50,500 tonns (full load) |
| Length: | 296 metres (971 ft) (overall) / 262 metres (860 ft) (waterline) |
| Beam: | 68 metres (223 ft) (overall) / 31 metres (102 ft) (waterline) |
| Draught: | 10.3 metres (34 ft) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | +30 knots (56 km/h) |
| Range: | +13,500 nautical miles (25,000 km) |
| Endurance: | 40 days |
| Complement: | 170 officers, 1000 sailors |
| Sensors and processing systems: | |
| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 24-36 aircraft (estimate): |
| Aviation facilities: |
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Project 11431 is the official designation of a redesign of Elatian Petro Antaŭdiro-class aircraft cruisers, operated by the Itayana Navy. The original design was conceived as a hybrid helicopter-carrying guided missile cruiser capable of a combined helicopter-guided missile first-strike from direct following as well as being a versatile flagship for the task forces of Elatian Navy. The second unfinished vessel was purchased by Itayana and rebuilt by an updated and advanced specifications, using available technical expertise and accompanied with various research and development initiatives. After a lengthy period of trials, the ship was commissioned and currently serves as the flagship of the Itayana Navy.
Development
The origins of the Project 11431 can be traced to the 1980s, when a series of sweeping reforms was carried out in the western Itayana by the Temple of Yanbango. Amongst other changes was the establishment of the Itayana Navy. While at first it was nothing but a green-water force operating second-hand vessels, the Captains' Council of the Navy, the predecessor to the Admiralty of Itayana, already determined the role of aircraft carriers as cornerstones of the ocean-going fleet. Their proposals were thought of as impractical in the '90s economic situation, but indirectly influenced shipbuilding industry development efforts of the 2000s. A few officers also studied the possibility of Itayana purchasing an older ship from Oxidentale powers as an experimental vessel, a proposal deemed only marginally more practical than building from keel up.
In that atmosphere of economic uncertainty and sweeping changes, the news of Itayana purchasing an unfinished Elatian helicopter cruiser, yard number 102, in May 1996 caught everyone by surprise. It was announced that Itayana will purchase the ship to rebuild it to updated specifications with foreign assistance on Elatian yards. At the time of purchase, Itayana Navy had no ships to form a carrier strike group, no planes to form a carrier air group, no personnel to crew a carrier, its naval engineering school was in its infancy and had no experience working on aircraft carriers, and there was no infrastructure to moor the vessel. Interviews with priests and admirals suggest personal involvement of the Supreme Priest of the Sun, who overruled the opposition in the Temple economy board and forced the deal.
The designers' work was plagued by the lack of experience, feature creep and progressively more ambitious demands from the growing industry of Itayana. Technical expertise gathered from Sante Reze and Zacapican aided in developing various aspects of the ship and its air group. Nevertheless, when the work on the ship began in 2003, most of the major systems that were to be installed were either in blueprints or in prototype stage. The conversion proceeded slowly over more than a decade, hampered by the lack of funding in addition to all previously faced development problems. The greatest change in the structure was adding a 20-meter hull extension in front of the engine rooms. In addition to that, the ship was completely re-cabled and internal strucutre was rearranged to meet requirements. The costs of extensive redesign and accompanying research and development were a notable factor contributing to budgetary problems of the late 2000s, culminating in the 2010 Itayana recession and eventually in the Central Itayana War, but the work carried on against the arguments of opposition in the Temple ranks.
The vessel was delivered for trials in April 2014 and those lasted intermittently for five years. During the later stages of trials, the ship was observed participating in maneuvers with the Rezese, Redisan and Zacapine navies, testing equipment under simulated quasi-combat conditions. The acceptance act was signed in September 2019.
Design
When delivered, Project 11431 differed from the original Elatian design of late 1970s but the overall architecture remained the same. The hull was enlarged with a 20-meter section in front of the engine rooms, increasing its length-to-width proportion from the original 7.8 to a more narrow 8.45. The island was shifted further starboard on a sponson, also serving as a flight deck extension, and redesigned to accommodate a different set of electronic equipment although the overall aesthetics remained in place. A pyramidal mast with electronic equipment was mounted astern of the rear aircraft elevator.
Armament
While the original design relied primarily on anti-ship missiles and several layers of anti-air defenses in combat, much of those weapons were dropped during the redesign. The carrier is only lightly armed for self-defense, relying on its aircraft and escorts for combat. Its main anti-aircraft defense are two twin HO-276A artillery systems installed at each end of the superstructure. Those artillery positions were maintained as legacy of the original design, replacing prospective single 100mm mounts. The 76mm cannon of Sante Reze origin can fire at the rate of 120 rounds per minute; its ordnance list includes programmed and flight-corrected munitions. The mount, derived from the original AK-726 mount, possesses a local fire-control suite including a computer, a fire-control radar and an optronic search-and-track.
In addition to 76mm mounts, four HO-630A CIWS are installed on sponsons at the corners of the extended flight deck. The cannon is a domestic upgrade of the Zacapine OT-630 CIWS with a localized fire control suite built around passive phased array X/Ku band fire-control radar and optronic search-and-track. Improved servos allow it to traverse horizontally at 90° per second.
Electronics
The modified ship accommodated electronic equipment designed by over 400 engineering teams. The overall system is designated Karu-11430 and consists of the ship management, navigation and communication suite, three-dimensional naval radar suite, electronic warfare suite, sonar suite, air group control suite and combat integration system.
The ship management suite serves to integrate data from non-combat systems of the ship, including propulsion, electrical management, air group facilities, damage control and others. Integrated data may be relayed to the ship's main bridge and terminals in relevant compartments of the ship. The navigation suite serves to maintain and update navigational information and support navigational decision-making. Its primary pieces of equipment are two navigational radars situated atop the navigational bridge and flight control bridge and a dedicated navigational computer located on the lower decks of the ship. The communication suite of several datalinks occupies parts of the island and much of the auxiliary mast.
The optronic subsystem is connected to the navigation and naval radar suites. It includes several optronic search-and-track units, of which four are located at the superstructure, and several television cameras located in different parts of the ship. It is likely that optronic data from the ships's artillery is integrated as well. Two units of a laser detection and suppression system are installed on the superstructure; they are likely a derivative from Zacapine systems.
The multipurpose naval radar system consists of a long-range VHF radar atop the island superstructure, on the cylindrical foundation forward of the exhaust funnel; two X band fire control radars to the front of the long-range radar and astern of the exhaust and four fixed active phased array radars on the sides of the island. Analysis suggests that two fire control radars were based on Oxidentalese radar developments; the VHF radar and fixed arrays, while similar in outward appearance to several existing suites, could not be conclusively traced. 360° scan and search and track of up to 1200 targets on distances of up to 400nmi are officially claimed. The electronic warfare suite consists of several threat warning receivers, active jammers and passive decoy launchers. Two sets of equipment are situated at the sides of the island, below the VHF radar and in front of the engine air intakes. Another set of emission detectors is located on the auxiliary mast. The decoy launchers are situated near CIWS systems. It is claimed that the system can jam S, X and Ku band radars.
Despite having no anti-submarine weaponry, the ship carries a sonar suite, consisting of a bow sonar and a towed sonar array. It is assumed that these systems are installed to complement those of the carrier battle group with additional arrays as well as more powerful signal processing equipment to coordinate and integrate sonar images received from the battle group, enhancing the overall anti-submarine capabilities of the squadron as a whole.
The air group control suite consists of a dedicated TACAN system, two approach radars and an optical landing system. It appears to be directly adapted from existing suites of Rezese and Zacapine carriers with minimal modifications. The TACAN system is installed in a cylindrical dome, also serving as a base for the VHF radar.
The combat integration system serves as the centerpiece of the carrier electronic equipment as a whole. It is designed to accumulate and integrate primary and processed data from all sensors of the ship and its battle group, relay data between ships of the battle group, integrate and manage weapon systems of the ship and its battle group, and serve as a support system for tactical and operational decision-making. It consists of two computing centers and several data links. The suite can also defer computation to ships of the battle group equipped with compatible systems. All information is viewed in the action information center (AICs) of the carrier located fore of the hangar. Through integration with the carrier management suite, certain data can be viewed on both of the ship's bridges as well.
A third-party analysis of the electronic systems done by Arthuristan and Belfrasian researchers indicated redundancy and over-engineering of the system as a whole and several of its parts, in particular the 3D radar suite. The system overall was described as "a hodgepodge of loosely-connected subsystems made by resource-hungry bureaus and cobbled together at the expense of economy, practicality and applicability outside the single ship of the class."
Propulsion
The original design was powered by geared steam turbines driving four shafts. Although Elatia possessed technology for making advanced high-pressure steam boilers, it was decided early in the development to replace the power plant with gas turbines purchased from Zacapican. Eight turbines were installed for an equivalent of total of 240 thousand HP. The four-shaft arrangement was retained, each shaft carrying a variable-pitch propeller of Zacapine origin, driven by two turbines. The maximal speed and range are unknown, but are estimated to be above 30 knots and 13,500 miles respectively.
In addition to the turbines, eight turbo alternators and eight diesel alternators generate 48 MW of electricity to power various systems installed on the ship.
Air group and facilities
The original design of the carrier relied on helicopters due to the limited size of the angle deck and the lack of a developed VTOL aircraft. Despite Zacapine Navy operating Tlo-35 Skua VTOL-capable fighters, the designers decided on conventional fighters in STOBAR configuration.
The exact number and capabilities of the air group are not known, and available estimates rely on geometric calculations of the hangar space and sightings on joint maneuvers with fleets of Oxidentale powers. It was estimated that the carrier can embark up to 36 aircraft of various types. Several aircraft were observed, primarily So-30M2 (A16S2) heavy fighters and MiK-28 (A14K4) light fighters. Three Tlo-50 fighters were observed as part of the air group in 2021 on maneuvers with the Zacapine fleet. No naval AEW&C planes have been observed on the carrier, and it is not known if the Itayana Navy has any at its disposal. No helicopters have been observed attached to the carrier air group either, although helicopters from the carrier group routinely use it for refueling.
The air group is serviced by two 30-ton deck elevators in front and astern of the superstructure and three arrestor wires. A 14-degree ski-jump is used for takeoff from two starting positions. A 40-ton crane is installed astern of the communication tower to aid the recovery efforts in case of emergency landings as well as to receive cargo from the carrier group supply ships.
Role and notable deployments
The official role of the ship is to serve as the flagship of the Itayana Navy. Its advanced electornic equipment enables it to coordinate battle groups the size of the entire surface fleet of the Autocracy. Its air group, while comparatively small, can perform long-range air reconnaissance in the interests of the fleet. The ship is thought to be a training ground for the Itayana carrier aviation, although analysts doubt that the country could afford a larger and more capable carrier in its stead.
The first deployments of the carrier were maneuvers during the later part of its trials, where it served as the command ship for the squadrons of the first generation of domestically designed ships. In May 2018, it was observed on maneuvers with the Zacapine Navy along with a Project 15350 frigate, three Project 12380 corvettes and two Project 04260 submarines. In June 2019 the carrier, five corvettes and a replenishment ship made a voyage in Amictlan towards Vespanian ocean, where two submarines were also sighted. In May 2020, it was accompanied by three frigates and a replenishment ship in the Makria ocean, passing around Zacapican; that deployment ended with a circumnavigation through Vespanian.
May 2021 saw the carrier, two frigates and three corvettes taking part in another joint training with the Zacapine fleet; three Tlo-50 fighters were observed in its air group. The vessel didn't venture outside of its home base in 2022 like most of the surface and submarine fleet.
Ships in class
| Navy | Name | Translation | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Itayana Navy
|
TBD | TBD | 28.12.1983 | 30.09.2013 | 27.09.2019 | Active |