First, I think I might just say a big thankyou to everyone for the warm welcomes and high appraisals! Thought I might just address some questions and points raised, so will probably be a slightly lengthy post...
I like the looks, but I'm curious, would would the 40mm be removed, it seems very useful, that or the Hamiltons are wasting a 76mm.
The customs variant is very much analogous to the Cape-class patrol boats used by Australian Border Force. Those are armed with only .50 cal's borrowed from the Navy, and I figured that I'd basically have my boats do the same (I somewhat imagined the Navy variant as a replacement for the Armidale class without going for something considerably larger as is likely in the real world). Really, the 40mm would be plain excessive for a customs vessel.
...is enough room for the T radar(X band navigation?) to rotate, or is there two of them one projected on each side? Is it Diesel powered, turbine, or some combination? I'm not super keen on modern armaments but, for anti air would it be feasible to mount some sort of box launcher over head like a SeaRam or (1 or 2)modified mk143 to quad pack RIM-162 and have 3 mission specific cells, or maybe even a mk48 based system tucked against the hanger sides...
Yeah, the navigation radar (Bridgemaster E in both X- and S-Band) is split and projected either side of the mast. I still haven't decided on a powerplant for her, but it would have to be diesel for sure. And in regards to SeaRam etc., missiles in general are (in my opinion) a big no-no for something like this (constabulary duties - fisheries protection and the like, don't need a missile to stop an FFV). However, the Thales RAPID SeaGuardian 40mm is technically classified as a CIWS (I think it was possibly being pitched as a possible Millennium Gun alternative at its announcement at Euronaval last year), and I imagine it wouldn't be too hard to refit the vessel with more capable weapons in a wartime situation.
erik_t wrote: * | April 22nd, 2017, 2:03 pm |
I think a 25mm would be a more likely primary armament than a 40mm.
I originally had it fitted with a Typhoon mount (similar to the Armidale class), but soon felt that it could do with a little more range, so picked the 40mm. In saying that, the gun that its based around is very distinct from other 40mm systems in that its more comparable to 30-35mm weapons in size, and fires cased telescoped ammunition, as its designed to be used on AFVs (its used in the UK's new SCOUT SV vehicles).
erik_t wrote: * | April 22nd, 2017, 2:03 pm |
I think a bow thruster would likely be further forward than you've drawn it, but this would require study of hull lines. As a point of comparison, small-scale bow thrusters tend to have an enclosed beam on the order of 1-1.5 times their diameter.
I'm not too good on details like this, but I simply put the thruster where it was on the hull design I based it off (Damen 1800 OPV, the graphic I used as a basis is on their website). Thanks for the tip, I'll have to keep it in mind in the future.