Tlatlamani-class frigate
 ACZ Molotecatl
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Tlatlamani-class frigate |
| Builders: | Acalliquetzcan Ecatzacuili |
| Operators: |
 Zacapine Navy |
| Cost: | Undisclosed |
| In service: | 1968-Present |
| Planned: | 51 |
| Completed: | 48 |
| Cancelled: | 3 |
| Active: | 34 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Anti-submarine frigate |
| Length: | 124.5 meters |
| Beam: | 13.0 meters |
| Draft: | 7.3 meters |
| Propulsion: |
list error: <br /> list (help) Single-shaft CODAG ∟2x Oyetzec T21 diesel engines ∟ 1x Tlahqia CL10 gas turbine engine |
| Speed: |
list error: <br /> list (help) 28 knots maximum speed 15 knots cruising speed |
| Range: | 5,000 nautical miles (maximum range traveling at cruising speed) |
| Complement: | 153 |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 2x Itz-41 naval synchropter |
| Aviation facilities: | 1x aft aircraft hangar |
The Tlatlamani-class frigates are a series of anti-submarine warships built for the Zacapine Navy to address one of the principal vulnerabilities of the surface fleet and the merchant marine. The Tlatlamani frigates are the Zacapine Navy's premier anti-submarine vessel, produced in large numbers in order to maximize the number of anti-submarine platforms available for the Navy's needs. Because of the needs to produce the ships in large numbers, the Tlatlamani class was designed to be as cheap to built and operate as possible while maintaining effectiveness in detecting and destroying submarines, resulting in a highly specialized vessel with little versatility outside the role of anti-submarine warfare. Although armed with limited air defenses and naval guns to allow a Tlatlamani frigate to defend itself away from the fleet, the frigates are armed and equipped almost exclusively for engaging submarines, and are generally intended to operate in close coordination with other vessels that can protect them from the threat of enemy missiles, aircraft and surface combatants.
Armament
The main weapons of the Tlatlamani class are suited for engaging submerged targets under various conditions. The first element of the anti-submarine arsenal aboard the frigate are two Minacachalli-type missile launchers each with two missile tubes, allowing the vessel to load and fire up to four TlA-7 Pilotihuetzi anti-submarine missiles. The Pilotihuetzi missile system, a modification of an older generation of Zacapine anti-ship cruise missiles, is capable of engaging submerged targets at a range of as far as 80 kilometers by deploying a torpedo or depth-charge warhead over the target from above. The frigate is also capable of directly launching torpedoes with its two sets of three 533mm torpedo launchers. The effective range of the torpedoes varies from 10-45 kilometers depending on the variant being loaded. More advanced 533mm torpedoes are equipped with sonar systems and wake homing sensors to independently seek their targets, allowing the ship to engage multiple targets at once with torpedoes. At closer ranges, the Tlatlamani can employ its two ITTA anti-submarine rocket launchers, which fire unguided rocket-propelled depth charges with an effective range of 5,500 meters and effective depth of 500 meters.
In order to detect submarines, the Tlatlamani class is equipped with three types of sonar (Ayutonacaz, lit. "wet ears") sensor systems. The ship has two sonar domes in the hull, one fixed in place at the bow of the vessel and the other installed in a retractable configuration amidships. A towed sonar sensor is deployed from the aft to better isolate it from any interference coming from within the ship itself. In addition, the Tlatlamani class has an aft helicopter pad as is common for naval vessels of its sized and role, from which the ship's compliment of two Itz-41 synchropters can be deployed. Each Itz-41 also carries its own dipping sonar as well as sonobuoys that can be deployed to aid in submarine detection. When a target is spotted, the synchropters can report its position for the Tlatlamani to engage it with its onboard weapons, or it can engage the target directly by deploying depth charges through its rear clamshell doors.
The Tlatlamani frigates are armed against targets other than submarines because of the designers unwillingness to leave the frigates effectively defenseless against other threats, even though these added weapons would add to the unit cost of the vessel without improving its effectiveness in its specialist role. Most important of these is the Tlatlamani's SAM battery, a Tozan-type modernized short-range launcher with 12 missile cells. The Tozan SAMs are primarily intended to be use against attacking aircrafts but may also be used as an anti-missile defense system, although their effectiveness in this role has not been proven in real combat to date. Against the threat of missiles, the Tlatlamani is also armed with two 6-barrel 30mm rotary canons connected to the ship-board fire control system, which are capable of acting as CIWS point defense weapons to destroy incoming missiles in the moments before they strike the ship. In order to arm the vessel against enemy surface combatants and -in theory- ground targets, the Tlatlamani's designers also included a twin TC-120 12cm gun turret near the bow of the ship.