M Class Frigate (Prizyetsa)
The M Class Frigate (Modular Class Frigate) is a Prizyetsi-built heavy multi-role guided missile frigate designed and built for the navy of The United Federation of Prizyetsa by Sverd Industries. The class is primarily designed for air-defense and anti-missile duties, however the M Class is also equipped to perform conventional and anti-submarine duties. As such, the ship is built around the advanced ISATS radar system which incorperates a number of systems into a streamlined housing. Linked to the central radar system, the ship has a variety of weapons at its disposal ranging from its multi-purpose deck gun to the helicopter it carries onboard.
Contents
History
The M Class of frigates were designed to replace aging classes in the Prizyetsi navy's inventory and to cater to the changing strategies of potential rival nations. Initial orders for the M Class were reported to be 50 units for the Prizyetsi navy to be delivered over 5 years, with an additional 5 units to be delivered to the Prizyetsi navy every year.
Development
The Prizyetsi Admiralty had sought to design a new frigate to replace its aging fleet with the technological means to make a competitive vessel that could effectively engage other contemporary military ships without taking unacceptable losses, as well as a platform that would prove popular on the export market. It was for this reason that the Prizyetsi Admiralty approached the Sverd Industries Marine Division, and placed the initial order.
Construction
The M Class class is built in a modular fashion, allowing the ships to be constructed quickly at multiple locations once the sections themselves are built. It was decided to use this method in order to meet the demands of the navy to produce a sufficient quantity of the class in a very short time, and to make maintenance easier. Construction of the ships, as well as sea-trials and the initial training of the first crews would all take place in Emira, with the Vosonje Shipworks winning contracts to build all vessels in the class.
The M class is split into 7 sections, A through G, and are prefabricated in a separate hall on-site. Sections A and B are stretch from the bow to the beginning of the ship’s bridge-structure. C, D and E comprise of the ship’s main superstructure, including the gas turbines and diesel engines. Finally, sections F and G comprise of the ship’s hangar and helipad. All sensor equipment and weapon systems are added to the complete hulls after their initial and final sea trials respectively.
Characteristics
The M Class is 124,6 meters long, with a beam of 17 meters and a draught of 4,3 meters, and increases to 5,2 meters with the ship’s bow sonar. Displacing 6,500 tonnes, the class is larger than most frigates and is closer to a destroyer in role. The ship’s hull was designed to minimize drag in the water making it fast for a ship its size, which is a testament to importance of using composite materials in its construction. Steering is controlled by 2 roll-stabilized rudders; the ships have a turning radius of 570 meters at combat-speed (32 knots). The frigates have a crew of 22 officers, 32 petty officers, and 80 enlisted sailors totaling at 134 sailors per ship. There are accommodations for an additional 15 sailors aboard the FFG-21 class vessels. Accommodations are present in the form of unisex crew quarters, although crew quarters are mixed in the Prizyetsi navy, though a version with separate crew quarters for both sexes can be built for foreign navies. The ships can remain at sea for up to 35 days at a time with standard provisions.
Propulsion
The M Class is fitted with brand-new CODLAG (Combined Diesel-Electric and Gas) type propulsion system. This, an upgrade from the older “Combined Diesel and Gas” systems, contains the same basic elements but will not allow simultaneous use of the alternative drive sources.
The system incorporates 4 diesel engines and a gas turbine to run electric motors, which in turn run the propeller shafts through gear boxes. The ships are driven by 2 propellers. The diesel engines are intended for use during general cruising, and the gas turbine is intended for use during combat-maneuvers. A major advantage of this system is that electricity for the ship’s systems can be directly supplied by the engines meaning that there is no need for extra engines to power the ship. Another advantage of the diesel-electric transmission is that without the need of a mechanical connection, the diesel generators can be decoupled acoustically from the hull of the ship, making it less noisy. This adds to the class’ stealth and aids in their combating of submarines.
Sensor Equipment
The M Class is outfitted with the integrated ISATS (Integrated Search, Acquisition, Targeting Systems) radar system. The original system was designed in the late 90's to collect all the sensors needed by a naval ship and to place it within a single tower to reduce the radar cross section of the vessel in question, and to make maintenance of the systems easier as they would be in a single location. Initially, the radar systems included only had a short range as the systems had to be compacted to fit within the shell, however after two and a half decades of research and upgrades, the sensors' capabilities make it one of, if not the most advanced system in the world. The ship’s systems have enough sensor power to actively track over 350 targets, and up to 450 targets passively.
From top to bottom, the modules of the ISATS system as as follows from top to bottom.
- LASeR (Long-Range Air Search Radar), which rotates at a speed of 1,5 rotations per second. Each rotation updates the radar's search results in every direction.
- Yatta Surface Search Radar.
- RAAPR, also called "reaper", stands for Rotation Air-Search Active Phased-Array Radar and operates on the L-band. (Replacing SMART+L)
- APAR, or Active Phased Array Radar.
- Gatekeeper is a detection device used to scan the horizon for targets such as ships, low flying helicopters, aircraft, missiles and other objects which stand out against the horizon.
In 2009, Sverd Industries was contracted to develop the NEWS system. NEWS, or Naval Electronic Warfare Suite, ecorperates an impressive array of jammers covering various bands.
In addition, the ship also carries a passive radar system, which when used together with other ships also equipped with similar systems allows for the detection of stealth enabled aircraft and missiles.
The ship boasts Prizyetsa's newest sonar unit which is fitted onto the bow and forward flanks of the ship.
A new addition to the ship is the FAST (Fleet Assisted Strategy Tool) Suite which allows commanders to quickly view the assets of a flotilla through an secure integrated server system which is shared between ships in the fleet. This was contracted following the Napadanie conflict as it was realized that coordinating the weapons from several squadrons of ships proved to be a significant challenge.
Weapon Systems
The M Class Frigate is one of the most well armed frigates in the Ixnay region, sporting enough firepower and sensor capacity to fight a small battle on its own. The ship is equipped with a 48-cell VLS (Vertical Launch System) located fore of the bridge structure and a 76mm rapid fire deck gun located fore of the VLS. Above the ship’s midsection, there are 8 launchers for the SS-99 “Zee-Vos” surface-to-surface anti ship missile. The ship is armed with 2 CIWS (Close In Weapon System) for close in defense for missiles, should the medium-bracket missile defense system fail.
The weapon systems onboard the M Class are controlled from a centrally located armored control-center. The control-center also features duplicates of all bridge controls and radar system displays, as well as a database of charts and navigational aides.
Below is a list of weapon systems compatible with the ISATS radar and targeting systems.
Forward VLS (Mix of up to 48* missiles.)
- SA-10 (Short Range Surface to Air Missile)(Packed in series of 2 per launcher.)
- SA-30 (Medium Range Surface to Air Missile)
- SA-50A (Long Range Surface to Air Missile)
- SA-50B (Surface to Air Anti-Ballistic Missile)
Amidship Tube-Launchers (8 missiles)
- SS-10 (Medium Range Surface to Surface Anti-Ship Missile)
Guns
- 76mm rapid fire deck gun (Stealth Housing)(The 76mm deck gun can also be electronically operated from the bridge, weapon control center, or manually.)
- 2 x 30mm CIWS
Other
- Helideck
- Hangar space for one helicopter***
- SDS (”Splash” Decoy System)
- TDDS (Torpedo Decoy Defense System)
- Various communication and jamming systems
