Family Snapshot...
Basic drawing of the class as they were in and around 1985
HMAtS Aufaniae depicted in the state she was in during the Falklands Conflict of 1982. For this deployment (along with HMAtS Andraste) she was hastily painted into a dazzle scheme in an attempt to confuse any Argentine pilots making a run at her. She also landed a good part of her air-group (mainly from the lower hangar) in order to get troops and their transport/equipment to the Falklands in as short a time as possible. (Andraste on the other hand maintained her full air group with the addition of some extra helicopters which were part dismantled and assembled on arrival in the Falklands) As you can probably see on the deck of Aufaniae there are a few types of helicopter. The largest of these are Bell 214STs which were quite new to Atlantia at the time of the conflict, the more recognizable (I hope) helicopters take the form of AB.205 (Huey) utility transports and AB.209J Sea Cobra gunships. Also if you look close enough you can probably see the air-assault soldiers in their transports...
HMAtS Andraste depicted as she was in 1985. Experience during the Falklands had shown that whilst the 76mm was a capable anti-aircraft weapon it's rate of fire was too slow to keep up with the speed that Argentinian aircraft were ingressing and egressing from the vicinity. It was noted however that the four twin 40mm mounts had proved much more successful in both damaging and deterring attacking aircraft by the sheer amount of flak they could throw into the vicinity of the attackers. Andraste was originally slated to receive an all 35mm armament replacing both the 40mm and 76mm weapons but this idea was shelved when 40mm twin mounts became available from ships being decommissioned.
Finally a much more fluid drawing in terms of updates and the like. This depicts the rolling concept and ideas of what these vessels will receive in terms of an MLU and SLEP around about now. As you can see the 76mm compacts have been replaced by four Strales mounts more suited to the job of AA than their predecessors (one hopes). The 40mm twins have been replaced by 35mm Gatling CIWS mounts in slightly enlarged sponsons (to accommodate the magazine and computer systems for them). The blank area below the FA-15 about to take off I'm not sure what to do with. I could fair it off in line with other parts of the overall sponson or I could mount a CISAM (RAM) launcher in there (both P&S). There is an AVLS2 replacing the Mk26 containing most of the SAMs and indeed decoys (the two munitions to the right of the set). Sensor wise I don't really know what to replace LW-08 with (if anything). Other sensor changes include the deletion of STIR and it's replacement by two new units for datalinking and missile illumination (for alternate firing modes on the Armaros missiles should they be required). There are SCOT directors (Ku and EO) for the 76mm mounts (when not using DART which is guided from the mount). The modules you see below them are LADAR CIWS targeting units linked with the 35mm CIWS providing alternate targeting from the on-board EO gimbals. The SLQ-32 has been replaced by it's Atlantian equivalent too. There are new and replacement countermeasure dispensers dotted around including; en-mass chaff and flare launchers, acoustic decoys and HarK launchers. From the perspective of the air group the Buccaneers would have been phased out and replaced by for the most part more FA-15Ns though due to cost this was cut short from the total number of airframes needed. (F/A-18As + Bs or Cs and Ds leased from the US would fill the gap whilst a new aircraft was debated in parliament). The F/A-18E/Fs you see are purely speculative but I imagine for lack of a better aircraft they are what will be selected eventually... The turbo trackers, traders and tracers are starting to show their age by now even though they are good for another 5-10 years their replacements are already starting to appear in the form of the MFD Prion. They replace their predecessors in all three roles with the exception of ASW with which the Prion has predominantly done away with in favour of generic MP (ASW is still carried out by helicopters). The AB.212s and 412s operated have been in recent years complemented and in some cases supplanted by WS70 Seahawks for both the ASW/MP and utility roles, whilst the former types will still serve it is thought that they may be relegated to crew training and domestic missions leaving the WS70 as the sole helicopter used by NAVCOM for shipboard deployment. I expect these 5 vessels to soldier on to between 2025 and 2030 depending on how quickly their successors are developed and built.
Enjoy, Mark.