Shipbucket

my only note would be that my username is spelled incorrect on the drawings (you might also use my recent (J.Scholtens) crediting line.)

_________________
Drawings are credited with J.Scholtens
I ask of you to prove me wrong. Not say I am wrong, but prove it, because then I will have learned something new.
Shipbucket Wiki admin

Next up are the 'Knight' and 'W' classes.




The Knights are replacements for the somewhat dilapidated remaining Brooke Class vessels. Delivered between 2008 and 2012 they lack the longer range fire-power of their predecessors and trade it for utility. They are frequently to be seen around the further north islands on policing and deterrence missions leaving larger and more capable vessels to operate unhindered in their intended roles.

The 'W' class are somewhat of a mixed bag in Avalonian service, not quite a frigate not quite an LPD they build on the experience General Dynamics and Austal have had with the Independence class LCS. Expanding upon the original specification towards the LCS international the W class feature a 32 cell distributed VLS and 76mm main gun compared to LCS-2 and her sisters. Whilst their official uses is to provide support and auxiliary landing capacity to the amphibious landing force they have found themselves routinely operating with TF-150 in the fight against piracy off the coast of Somalia.

More stuff on the way at some point...

~Mark.

_________________
AU Projects: | Banbha et al. | New England: The Divided States
Blood and Fire

The Knight class seems like a very reasonable design, but the CEAFAR installation looks really awkward and inelegant.
The bridge also seems somewhat tight. I'd extend the central part of it back to the main mast so it ends up being T-shaped.
Oh and I can't figure out where you're launching the torpedoes from.

_________________
“Close” only counts with horseshoes, hand grenades, and tactical nuclear weapons.
That which does not kill me has made a grave tactical error

Worklist

Source Materiel is always welcome.

The PF-4921 design the Knight class is based on has Harpoons on one corner of the aft deck and an SVTT on the other.

_________________
𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐍𝐄𝐓- 𝑻𝒐 𝑪𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆

_________________
AU Projects: | Banbha et al. | New England: The Divided States
Blood and Fire

Attractive.

In the case of the NSC-based frigate, I wonder about trying to fit some sort of longer-range air search suite, even if it's not a terribly capable one. Something as ancient as SPS-40 is nice for tracking big boring crap like smuggler DC-3s and the like, even if it's not an extremely exciting set in a modern warfare context. The CEA suite is great for short-ish range high-intensity duty, but it won't be as good at general utility work as even some ancient metric-band air-search radar. I don't know where I'd put it; above the funnel would be attractive if not for, you know, the fact that it's a funnel. Perhaps you could rearrange the systems atop the pilothouse and install a moderate search set there? SPS-58, or DA-08, or maybe just something scavenged from a previous generation of missile ships. I agree with the suggestion to extend the pilothouse aft inboard. The sonar dome on this drawing looks excellent, and I'd love to see others emulate it on drawings of similar domes.

On the LCS-based drawing, where is the main gas-turbine exhaust? I am also a little skeptical of the VLS installation, and I think I would exchange these side launchers with the Harpoons on the foredeck.

Re: NSC derivative - Considering they replace ancient Brooke / Garcia class vessels would the SPS-52 be worth salvaging? I think an extended pilothouse with a built up mount for a search set might be the way ahead then.

Re: LCS - As far as I can ascertain at least from GD's literature that's where they want to put them. Personally I'd think it would work better the other way around but hey ho GD must know something I don't...

_________________
AU Projects: | Banbha et al. | New England: The Divided States
Blood and Fire

I think SPS-52 might be overly heavy and short-range for such preservation; it would too closely mirror the strengths (and weaknesses!) of the CEA set.

Are there no non-missile frigates or destroyers from which you could scavenge SPS-40 or similar?

There is the possibility of nicking something off the Burk derivative predecessors. Or at least making an excuse to. Originally I had intended them to replace a fleet of Kidds but if I were to have a mixed bag of Kidds and Spru-cans that A: wear out and B: become surplus to requirements I could nab the SPS-40 sets off of the Spru-cans.

_________________
AU Projects: | Banbha et al. | New England: The Divided States
Blood and Fire

As I think I've said elsewhere recently, the USCG even saw fit to grab old SPS-40 sets and fit them on their larger cutters, so useful are they for regional air surveillance. There's an intrinsic dichotomy between a set that's good for precision tracking and weapons guidance (like CEA or SPS-52) and a set that's good for long-range search. A set that's good for one is almost universally not so good for the other (at least compared to other systems of its size and weight; SPY-1 is acceptable for long-range search, but a L/P-band rotating set of its weight and cost would be OMFGAMAZING).