Caracara Class Destroyer
 Caracara-Class Destroyer
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | IC-121 |
| Builders: | Marivál Sailing Co. |
| Operators: |
 Inyurstan Navy |
| In commission: | 29 June, 2004 |
| Completed: | 27 |
| Active: | 24 |
| Lost: | 2 |
| Retired: | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Destroyer |
| Displacement: | 6,000 - 6,800 Standard tons |
| Length: | 122 m (400 ft) - 139 m (456 ft) |
| Beam: | 18.2 m (60 ft) - 20.0 m (66 ft) |
| Draught: | 6.7 m (22 ft) |
| Installed power: | x3 33,500 hp (25,000 kW) gas turbines |
| Propulsion: | x2 five-bladed reversible controllable-pitch propeller; |
| Speed: | 35 knots (65 km/h) |
| Range: | Over 4,000 nautical miles |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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| Electronic warfare & decoys: |
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| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 1 light helicopter or 3 rotary UAV's |
| Aviation facilities: | 1 Landing pad |
The IC-121 Caracara Class is a warship in service with the Inyurstan Navy, tasked entirely with the mission of air-defense. It was classified as a "destroyer" by the Inyurstan Navy despite weighing considerably less than most foreign vessels of the type, and less than the D'Andalucia Class Destroyer. Doctrine behind the construction of the Caracara Class was "destroyer-tier sensors, destroyer-tier propulsion, frigate-tier weight". It achieves a lower weight due to less space needed for certain "multimission" armaments and lack of other systems such as a bow-mounted sonar.
Sensors
A tandem radar suite is the backbone of the Caracara's air-defense capability.
Block I:
For long-range, high-altitude targets, the V-43SM ultra-high frequency (UHF) radar is used, mounted closer to the deck of the ship. Medium distances and fire-control for the ADM-140 Liberator are controlled by the similar V-40s1 radar and its additional counterpart, the DV-10-S. The V-43 boasts a longer range than its cousin, the V-40 series, but at the cost of accuracy and resolution.
Block II: An upgraded V-43SMv2A is the main long-range radar of the Caracara Block II models. In initial models this worked largely as an "early warning" radar, but thanks to the addition of high digital computing power via space/time adaptive processing in the v2A/Block II upgrade, the V-43SMv2A gained significant target tracking and fire-control capabilities of targets out to 400km.
For medium to short range and low-altitude targets, the earlier adaptations of land-based radars have been replaced with the new-build, high-mast ESQ-G57-2 "Flashpack" dual-scanner radar, which serves as the primary targeting radar for a wide variety of targets, including fighters, drones and sea-skimming missiles. The Flashpack consists of 2 back-to-back multiband radar rotating while scanning, allowing for intense resolution and accurate fire control. By saving space and processing power with a singular radar for the medium range intercepts, the Block II modules are able to mount additional weapons systems and short-range sensors elsewhere.
According to Navayelle Systems, Inc, the Flashpack boasts a 33-50km detection envelope against sea-skimming missiles.
The SIREN short-range infrared tracking, targeting & awareness suite is also added with the Block II+ designs, allowing the ship to track and engage targets within visual range in environments with high clutter and/or high-jamming.
Block III:
It is estimated that power source & cooling improvements to the "Flashpack" radar increases the number of targets tracked to over 600 simultaneously tracked and over 100 engaged in a single salvo. Defense experts also surmise that the range against sea skimming missiles has been increased to 45-80km due to the higher positioning of the radar mast.
Armament
See: Variants
The main feature of this vessel is its frontal 8x4-cell and rear 2x4 SSU-10 (Mk-41-compatible) VLS (32 cells total), a system which contains all of its primary anti-air weaponry. 48 RIM-162 ESSM (Inyurstan reporting name: ADM-162 Fanatic) missiles are quad-packed into twelve VLS cells and used as the go-to ordinance for within visual range engagements. 20 indigenous ADM-40b Sea Liberator missiles are loaded singularly into cells and are ideal for long-range (out to 350km) and medium range (over 24km) engagements of enemy fighters, drones and incoming missiles. ADM-140b missiles can also be adjusted and guided with help from an AEW or AWACS aircraft to help eliminate effects of the horizon line.
From Block II onwards, a number of VLS cells were fitted with SyCMAT ABM missiles for integration in maritime missile shields and defense against anti-ship ballistic missiles.
An additional pair of arm-launched C-40M Caçador missiles give the ship redundancy coverage in both medium and within visual range interceptions. The C-40 arm launchers are located aft of the ship, and come with a reloading-cell of 22 additional missiles stored in a circular carousel bellow the mount. However, the arm-launcher can only fire two missiles at one time, and draws processing & tracking power from the ship's main fire control systems. In the Block III phase, the C-40 arm launcher is removed, and space cleared for other components. This move is due to the belief that modern targeting and tracking can give the ADM-140 improved performance against maneuvering, fighter-sized targets.
Caracara class destroyers also mount x3 ADM-113 Corsair missile CIWS; two are side-mounted with partial, though overlapping, coverage of the aft, while another is front-tower mounted, providing a 240° window of coverage. Combined, the coverage of the three batteries amounts to at least 360°, with areas of overlap. A key feature of the Corsair CIWS is that it can independently target incoming missiles without draining processing power from other shipborne radars, allowing the main fire control systems to engage other targets at or near maximum quantity. Further, using IR-targeting, the Corsair can also operate without emitting. Unlike VLS cell-based short-range and CIWS, the Corsair system can be manually reloaded by the crew.
As a last resort against missiles and drones, the Caracara mounts two RK-35 Disruptor CIWS. The Disruptor is comprised of a three-barrel rotary cannon and fires a x35mm round. Ammunition can be set to airburst to increase hit likelihood or kinetic shells to ensure destruction of a target; though in operation usually both ammunition types are loaded.
Counter-Measures
The main ECM system of the Caracara class is the ESM/SE-3 Vángarde, used for active deception and angle jamming of enemy warheads. This system also integrates with the ship-mounted decoy mortars which fires infrared flares and radar chafe into the air to help obscure the ship's signature. It also mounts the E-7 Decoy Launcher, which ejects a dummy missile emitting active signals to seduce incoming anti-ship missiles away from the vessel. The SHATSI (Soft & Hardkill Anti-Torpedo System Integration) Counter-Measure suit works with the SEA SENTOR passive array to detect incoming torpedoes and neutralize the incoming target with a combination of softkill (including 12 expendable decoys) and hardkill (including lightweight anti-torpedo munitions) systems.
Service
The Caracara class has seen service with the Inyurstan Navy worldwide. They were heavily involved in ship-to-ship combat in various stages of the Lolloh-Ruolnik War, and both ships sunk were done so in this conflict. However they proved effective at engaging and destroying sea-skimming missiles outside of visual when paired with the navy's E-2D Hawkeye AEWC aircraft, saving carrier groups from Lollohian AShM's on several occasions. Several Lollohian Yaeger Fighters were also engaged and destroyed.
Variants
Block I: Original commission model using primarily "ported" land-based radars.
Block I-E: Legacy upgrade model with V-43SMv2A implemented.
Block II: Major systems improvement capacity. Includes integration with the SyCMAT Anti-Ballistic Missile.
Block II-CU: "Anti-UAV" enhancements added, including removal of the arm-launcher C-40, and replacement with a pair of RK-23 rotary cannons and additional EW measures. Torpedo tubes also removed and replaced with hard-kill measures against both torpedoes and maritime UAVs.
Block III: In-development build, featuring lowered RCS surfaces and quieter propulsions systems. Removal of the arm-launcher C-40 and [X MANY] VLS cells, in exchange for anti-UAV measures and increased sensor output.