Type 82 Air-Defence Destroyer
HMS Bristol June 1971
HMS Glasgow, June 1985
HMS Cardiff, July 1993
Eight ships commissioned:
HMS Bristol D23 June 1971
HMS Sheffield D24 July 1972
HMS Birmingham D25 March 1973
HMS Glasgow D26 July 1974
HMS Cardiff D27 June 1974
HMS Coventry D28 November 1974
HMS Newcastle D29 April 1976
HMS Liverpool D30 October 1975
Dimensions: 435ft 6in (oa) length; 55ft beam; 21ft draught (over sonar dome), 16ft (hull). Bigger than Type 42 Batch I but smaller than County, Type 82 and 42 Batch III.
Machinery: Two 24,000shp Olympus TM1 giving 48,000shp plus two 3,500shp Proteus 10M for cruising.
Speed: 30kts (deep and clean)
Displacement: 4,500-4,750 tons standard, my ball-park estimate
Armament:
1x2 3in L/70 Mk.8, in this scenario the RN keeps the 3in L/70 and fits it instead of the 4.5in Mk.6 in frigates. I have designed a 'Mk.2' mounting with an unmanned GRP mounting which should be lighter and would incorporate a few changes to boost reliability, not so good for the anti-ship role, but in her role as an air-defence ship they can knock-down incoming aircraft as an inner layer of defence. Control by Type 909 over forward arcs or the two MRS-3 GWS-22 directors aft which should have ok arcs forward and aft for a three-channel control.
2x1 20mm Orkileon, replaced by two 20mm GAM-BOI in the 1980s
1x2 Sea Dart SAM (38 missiles), fire-control by two Type 909
2x4 Sea Cat 2 SAM (36 missiles), fire-control by two MRS-3. The supersonic Sea Cat development goes ahead in this scenario as a cheap supersonic SAM which uses all the existing elements (launchers, fire-control) of the GWS-22 Sea Cat. Offers a good close-range SAM system to deal with leakers and is backed up by the 3in gun. Replaced by 2x 20mm Phalanx Block 1 CIWS during 1980s refits and then by Seastreak CIWS mounts during the early 1990s.
2x Westland Sea King or Wessex helicopters, replaced during the mid-1980s by Westland WG.34 Merlin helicopters. My Type 82 is not a general purpose design as such, she is not optimised for anti-submarine warfare to save money for Ikara equipped helicopters. Soviet SSNs and SSGs and SSGNs are the main threat, stand-off missiles can be dealt with by the SAMs and guns. Any ASW weapon needs range and speed, so the Sea King is the main ASW weapon. Superior to MATCH Wasp and Ikara won't fit on this hull. No Limbo, but in the 1980s A/S torpedo tubes added to give limited close-in protection.
Radars: Electronics as the real Type 82, except one change. An off-shoot of the NIGS programme the New Surveillance Radar, what this was in real-life is still an unknown. In my scenario its the culmination of the ASWE is a single-rotating array 3-D radar equivalent to the SPS-52. Small and lighter than Type 988 and probably more achievable too. During the 1980s the Type 992Q is replaced by a Type 1030 L-band STIR with UAA-1 ESM. Millpost jammers are also added in the 1980s, later the Type 675 anti-targeting jammers being removed. Type 184M is the only sonar fitted.
Next up is an anti-submarine frigate, the Type 19. Although a 'frigate' for economic reasons this in reality is a destroyer in size. I would expect at least 8-12 to be built around the same time as the Type 82 destroyers as a mixed force. All were designed for upgrading later on.
Type 19 as originally commissioned
Type 19 as upgraded in the late 1970s-early 1980s
8 ships commissioned:
HMS Antelope F85 February 1973
HMS Ardent F86 September 1972
HMS Apollo F87 July 1973
HMS Ariadne F88 March 1974
HMS Ambuscade June 1975
HMS Active April 1976
HMS Arrow November 1976
HMS Avenger May 1977
Dimensions: 408ft (oa) length; 47ft beam; 18ft 6in draught (over sonar domes), 14ft (hull).
Machinery: Two 27,500shp Olympus TM3B plus two 4,100shp Tyne RM1A for cruising.
Speed: 31kts (deep and clean)
Displacement: 3,900 tons standard
Armament:
1x2 3in L/70 Mk.8, fire-control by Ikara tracking radar over forward arcs or the MRS-3 GWS-22 director aft
2x1 20mm Orkileon
1x Ikara launcher (20 missiles), fire-control by Ikara tracking radar, can fire standard Ikara A/S missiles or Woomba ASM version of the GAF Turana drone with a radar seeker and 500lb warhead
1x4 Sea Cat 2 SAM (24 missiles), fire-control by one MRS-3 GWS-22 director, the supersonic Sea Cat 2 is a stand-in weapon as the ship is designed to hold 2x 8-cell VLS GWS-25 Confessor SAMs, these are retrofitted in the 1970s/80s upgrade along with double-end fire-control with two Type 910 directors.
2x 3 12.75in lightweight A/S torpedo tubes, added in 1970s/80s upgrade to give close-in A/S protection
2x Westland Wasp HAS.Mk.1 (MATCH), later two Westland Lynx HAS.Mk.1
Radars:
One Type 1006 surface search, one Type 992Q TIR, one Type 965M (for air picket duty), two Type 968 'Cooky' jammers, slightly updated Leander sonar fit. The 1970/80s upgrade includes Type 2008 and Type 2016 sonars, 965M is replaced by the 3-D NSR (New Surveillance Radar) to give much superior air defence capability and newer Type 980 'Heather' jammers fitted too.