God bless you, Thales, for finally putting numbers to my backup satcom requirements [
PDF WARNING].
I am well aware of how often vessels remain on station with various single-points-of-failure having failed, and I keep coming back to satcom (and more broadly, long-range comms) as a specific point of frustration. Well, we finally have serious honest-to-God VHF and UHF line-of-sight, HF skywave, UHF satcom, and X/Ku/Ka band satcom on the bow and stern, near emergency generators. The HF Rx capability is similarly improved, too, almost all of these gains coming from leveraging submarine-based retractable masts (indeed, the forward HF Rx is the only system not specifically designed for such!).
Final comms tally, for those keeping score at home:
Thales ICAS VHF/UHF LOS: 4x1 + 1x facing aft at helo control
Large multiband domed satcom (UHF/SHF/EHF): 2x
Small multiband domed satcom (UHF/SHF/EHF): 2x
OE-538 VLF/LF Rx, HF Tx/Rx, UHF+VHF LOS Tx/Rx, UHF satcom Tx/Rx, GPS Rx, IFF Tx/Rx: 3x
Thales Divesat satcom (SHF/EHF): 2x
AS-2537C/SR 35' HF whip Tx/Rx: 1x
AS-3771B/U 14' HF whip Tx/Rx: 1x
AS-2537C/SR 35' HF whip Rx: 3x
VMB-11512-N VHF/UHF Tx/Rx: 1x
I have also revised the mission bay and UNREP doors
yet ****ing again, continuing to try to minimize RCS. I think these are the best yet.
Nixie-legacy torpedo countermeasures and the towed array live on in the stern, but a new stern view of Zumwalt made me realize all of this ought to be submerged into the shell of the ship right aft.