Federation-class carrier
 CV-32 L'Federación
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Manille Consolidated Maritime |
| Operators: | |
| Cost: | ca. $2 billion ADS |
| Built: | 2019–present |
| In commission: | 2023-present |
| Planned: | 5 |
| Building: | 3 |
| Completed: | 3 |
| Active: | 2 |
| Lost: | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Aircraft Carrier |
| Displacement: | 52,000 tonnes |
| Length: |
282.2 m (925 ft 10 in) (overall) 273.406 m (897 ft 0 in) (waterline) |
| Beam: |
45.4 m (148 ft 11 in) (overall) 32.1 m (105 ft 4 in) (waterline) |
| Height: |
54.9 m (180 ft 1 in) (overall) 41.1 m (134 ft 10 in) (radar) 24.3 m (79 ft 9 in) (deck) |
| Draft: |
8.6 m (28 ft 3 in) (nominal) 12 m (39 ft 4 in) (maximum ballast or load) |
| Installed power: | 3 THI diesel-alternators (15 MW each) + 1 Manille shipboard APU (3 MW) |
| Propulsion: | 2 Manille Triton 3N azimuth thrusters (2 × 15 MW), 2 five-bladed propellers * 2 × 1 MW bow thruster (FFBNW a total of 3 × bow thrusters) |
| Speed: | In excess of 26 kn (48 km/h), tested to 34 kn (63 km/h) |
| Range: | 11,800 kilometres (6,400 nmi) |
| Boats & landing craft carried: | 2 × 11 m (36 ft 1 in) RHIB, capable of more than 40 kn (74 km/h) |
| Capacity: | 10,000 tonnes of dry cargo |
| Complement: | 200-700 with space to berth 800 additional passengers |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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| Electronic warfare & decoys: |
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| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: |
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The Federation class is a class of aircraft carriers in service with the Iverican Navy. The lead ship of the class commemorates the 2019 unification of the Federated Commonwealth of New Iberium or "FedCom". A total of 5 ships were initially planned, with 2 delivered to the Iverican Navy in 2022 and subsequently commisioned in January 2023.
The Federation class was designed to be a sustainable solution to making power-projection available to other member states of the FedCom or the Tricontinental Defence Treaty Organisation (TRIDENT). The class was initially tendered upon solicitation by the Federated Commonwealth Defence Committee, to supply Verdense and Galician navies, which did not have the resources to acquire nor maintain currently available carriers. In need of a larger peacekeeping and anti-submarine warfare presence in regions outside of TRIDENT P-8 Poseidon coverage, the Iverican Navy ordered 2 ships which were to be equipped primarily for long-range patrol and ASW operations in low-intensity conflict zones.
Development
In 2019, the Federated Commonwealth Defence Committee approached Manille Consolidated Maritime with a request for proposal. The Committee required the submission of plans for an aircraft carrier costing an estimated $2-$2.5 billion Adapton Solidus to construct. Manille's Naval Engineering division, pressed to meet a short window for submission, tendered 3 proposals. Of the 3, the design entitled "Project Hoplite" was chosen. Other proposals called for the conversion of the Saragossa-class cruiser hulls into carrier hulls.
Project Hoplite was entered and accepted as the sole bid for the Federation class. During negotiations, Defence Committee requirements placed more liability on Manille should the bid be rejected in later stages. In response, Manille refused to proceed with the project unless it was granted rights to sell existing units or produce new units permit-free and tax-free from the Iverican Friendly Forces Development Office. The contract for 5 planned ships was signed in July, 2019.
The ships of the class were to be built from repurposed shock hardened steel, with as much metal and components sourced from the Iverican Navy's mothball fleet as possible. The class' lower hull design was based of the prolific Manille Stella Orientis class, a cruise ship. This allowed for both Manille's cruise ship building division and their defence division to work on the ships concurrently. The Stella Orientis class' existence as a prolific ship actively being built at present meant that Manille could leverage the tested and efficient build process, their present cruise ship building workforce, and their available infrastructure to build from a design tested with over 20 years of service. The carriers are currently laid and partially constructed in Manille Consolidated Maritime's Cruise Yards and then finished in Manille Naval Division's Arsenal Yard.
Another key consideration was mass. Manille chose to forgo having a propulsion train and instead opted to use Azimuth thrusters. A pair of Manille Triton 3, twin 5-bladed thruster nacelles were chosen. At the time, the Triton 3's were the second most powerful azimuth thrusters in the wurld, rated for 15 MW each. Apart from the reduction in mass, the absence of shafts and gearboxes also meant a reduction in maintenance costs over time. The Triton 3's were rebuilt for military service, becoming designated the Triton 3N. Coincidentally, the use of propulsion popular with civlian and commercial ships also meant that the Federation class' harmonics were fairly difficult to distinguish by passive sonar listening.
A STOBAR flight deck was chosen, eschewing the mass, cost, and maintenance strain of aircraft catapults. The flight deck is canted, and makes the most use of the Stella Orientis hull's 270 metre length. The class' deck was designed around a single long and continuous runway, with intersections for an auxiliary takeoff point so recovery and launch operations could be conducted at a faster pace. The Defence Committee encouraged the design to be as friendly to lesser trained naval aviators as possible and as forgiving for heavily laden aircraft. Without removing the arresting gear, the class would have more than 200 metres of takeoff length and was to be assisted by a ski-jump ramp angled at 8º. Though 12º was better suited, the 8º ramps were readily available from segments of the remains of the República B-class hull parts stored after its refit. It was later discovered that the Stella Orientis hulls were not conducive for the flexibility needed in laying out flight decks. The limitations and concerns were mostly over adding too much mass on the flight deck. If fully filled out, the Stella hulls could provide a wide rhombus of flight deck space while also requiring reinforcement that would put the class over the 60,000 tonne weight limit Despite the limitations. Manille determined the cost savings of using a ubiquitous and tested hull over creating a new purpose-built design and decided to simply not utilise all the upper deck space the hull implied. As a result, large swathes of the forward section present a gap where the port-side promenade deck is and where the starboard vertical launching systems are mounted.
At first, long island or 2-island designs were considered. However, Manille chose to pick a single compact design which shared space with a large equipment lift. All above-deck essentials including navigation, helm, radar mounting, communications antennae, and primary flight control would be conducted from the single island on the starboard waist of the ship. It was decided that larger island designs would not be needed for survivability or exhaust concerns. A single large stack provided exhaust for the ship's primary powerplant of 3 Toledo Heavy Industries diesel alternators. 2 large aircraft lifts were cut into the starboard to help balance the mass distribution. A third lift was added to the stern.
The interior of the Federation class ships are dominated by a single continuous bay for aircraft to maximise internal aircraft storage and to save on bulkhead weight. Load-bearing reinforcement was added below and around the bay.
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