Akira-Class Cruiser
_SNA_2022.png) Rendering of the Akira-Class
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| 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: |
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| 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: |
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| Electronic warfare & decoys: |
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| Armament: |
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| 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
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 two traditional hull designs. 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. Many observers wondered how a catamaran style design even made it this far in the process, with most speculation revolving around the popularity of the UNS Revelation. The head of the cruiser commision was reported to have been confused and asked if this was somehow a joke.
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.
Meanwhile TRAIL, MSC, and NGEW had been tasked with devloping the new warfare systems that would be implemented not only in the Akira design, but throughout the Next Generation Naval Program. However other options were already being researched amongst other deployed systems throughout allied fleets that would be appropriate for deployment with the Akira hull. Like in the past, it was decided that whatever launching system was eventually decided on, Akira's armaments would be compatible with munitions produced by countries such as Iverica and Gallambria.
Additionally Lux Defense and Fortis Defense Electronics based in Iverica were partnered to help accelerate the timeline in regards to electronics warfare componenets and appropriate sourcing of future munitions.
Construction
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. Initially construction was working at a relatively slow pace, however in 2021, the Royal Government began injecting large amounts of money into all aspects of the Next Generation Naval Program. It was later revealed that sensing a coming conflict with Great Anglia and Dolchland, that ship construction was put on high priority. Additionally 3 more hulls were ordered as fears of war grew.
Production was paused briefly in 2022 when concerns over power generation aboard the ship became apparent. With existing engine designs, either a third gas turbine would need to be added or modification of an existing design would need to be done. Eventually a partnership between MSC and Aamotech South was developed and turbine designs produced from this process showed that the already planned space within the Akira hull would be sufficient and construction resumed on the ship.
An engineering accident occured in January of 2022 which resulted in a crack in the hull of one of the sections being built in E&W's north location. Construction was temporarily halted as the affected areas were repaired and reinspected.
By April of 2022 each of the sections of the first Akira were delivered to Drydock 4 at the Norkolk Naval Shipyards for assembly into the completed hull.
