Difference between revisions of "Gemstone class destroyer"

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m (Anti-Air warfare)
m (Guns)
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===Guns===
 
===Guns===
====Different Guns For Different Roles====
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====Main Gun====
The Tranche 1 and 1A Gemstones being orientated towards anti-aircraft and anti-missile warfare are equipped with a fast-firing Oto Melara 76mm gun (recently upgraded to fire DART and VULCANO guided munitions). The Tranche 2 and 3 Gemstones are equipped with a larger and more general purpose Oto Melara 127mm gun more suited to the naval gunfire support role. (again recently upgraded to fire VULCANO)
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All vessels built thus far have been equipped with variants of the {{wp|54_caliber_Mark_45_gun|Mk 45}} 127mm gun, initially in its 54-calibre form, and more recently its 62-calibre one. Those vessels initially fitted with a 54-calibre gun have been retrofitted with the longer gun during light refits.
====Tranches Compared====
+
====CIWS====
*'''Tranches 1 and 1A''': 1x Oto Melara 76mm/62 Strales [HE-PD, HE-PFF (FREMEN Fuze), Vulcano and DART]
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All vessels built thus far have been equipped with the 30mm {{wp|Type_730_CIWS|SAMOS}} gun/missile CIWS. Batch 2 and 3 vessels were initially completed with only one mount atop their hangar due to budgetary constraints but have since been fitted with their forward mounts. The SAMOS mounts themselves have undergone considerable changes since entering service including, improvements to their fire-control sensors and improvements to their guns. They have been qualified to fire {{wp|Starstreak}}, {{wp|Starburst_(missile)|Starburst}} and {{wp|Lightweight_Multirole_Missile|Martlet}} with qualification of a 70mm MHTK derivative under-way.
*'''Tranches 2 and 3''': 1x Oto Melera 127mm/64 LW [HE-PD, HE-PFF (FREMEN Fuze)and Vulcano]
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====Batches Compared====
*'''All tranches''': 2x Rheinmetall Millennium 35mm CIWS, 2x MSI Seahawk Lightweight RWS (27mm)and 2x Kongsberg Sea Protector RWS(12.7mm)
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*'''Batches 1 through 4''': 1x Mk 45 Mod 4 (HE-PD, HE-PFF (FREMEN 127 Fuze), Excalibur N5 and HVP)
 +
*'''Batches 1 through 4''': 2x SAMOS gun/missile CIWS, 4x MSI Seahawk Lightweight RWS (20mm)
 +
 
 
===Aviation===
 
===Aviation===
 
====On-board Facilities====
 
====On-board Facilities====

Revision as of 21:12, 11 March 2018

Gemstone-class destroyer
D-9050 HMGS Alexandrite (2006).png
Outboard profile of D-9050 Alexandrite
Class overview
Name Gemstone-class destroyer
Builders Federal Shipbuilding, Lynch & Murphy
Operators  Tol Galen Royal Galenic Navy
Cost ± $1,100,000 (2018)
Planned 34
Built 34
Active 34 (Tol Galen)
General Characteristics
Type Guided missile destroyer
Displacement 7,100 tonnes (7,000 long tons; 7,800 short tons) (full load)
Length 155 metres (509 ft) (overall)
Beam 20 metres (66 ft)
Draught 5.3 metres (17 ft) (mean)
Propulsion CODLOG
Power 70,000 shaft horsepower (52 MW)
Speed >30 knots (56 km/h)
Range 5,850 nautical miles (10,830 km) at 20 knots
Endurance 60 days
Capacity 250 permanent berths
Complement 25 Officers, 150 ratings (core crew)
SensorsSAMPSON MFR (Batches 1-3)
• CEAFAR 2 MFR (Batch 4)
• SMART-L VSR (Batches 1 + 1A)
• Sharpeye navigation radar
• CEAMOUNT FCR (Batches 1-3)
• ARTEMIS IRST
Sonar • UMS-4110 (Batches 1, 1A, 3 and 4)
• SQQ-90 (Batch2)
• CAPTAS-4 towed-array (Batch 2)
ECM • NOLQ-2-derived ECM/ESM system
• AAR-54-derived MAWS
• CIRCM-derived optical-countermeasures
• 2x Chemring Centurion dispensers
Armament Guns:
• 1x Mk45 127mm/62 gun
• 1-2x SAMOS CIWS
• 4x Seahawk LW 20mm RWS
Missiles:
1x 64-cell Mk41 vertical launch system
SM2-MR
•SM-2ER
SM-3
SM-6
•HyStrike
Sea Lance
1x 16-cell Mk41 vertical launch system
ESSM
Nulka
2x Seastreak LML sextuple launchers
Torpedoes:
4x 400mm tubes lined to 324mm
Aviation &
Flight Deck
Helicopters 1x Strikehawk (Batches 1A and 1B)
2x Wildcat (Batches 2, 3 and 4)


The Gemstone-class destroyer is a type of guided missile destroyer designed and manufactured in Tol Galen to replace a variety of ageing classes. Whilst the class is orientated towards the role of anti-aircraft warfare and missile defence, there are distinct variations within the class such as, the Batch 2 boats which are dedicated anti-submarine warfare platforms or the Batch 3 and 4 boats that are operated as flotilla leaders.
The Gemstones were built to replace the a variety of ageing classes of destroyers and frigates, initially it was intended for there to be forty vessels constructed, this was however reduced to thirty on the basis of quality over quantity. There have been four follow-on vessels constructed which form Batch 4, these vessels differ from earlier vessels with the substitution of SAMPSON for CEAFAR as well as minor structural improvements.


Origins

The initial origins of what would become the Gemstone family started at a time of heightened tensions with the FSR. Tol Galen had sought to procure a new class of destroyers in collaboration with several other GA nations under the GFR-90 project; however, the varying requirements of the different countries led to the project being abandoned in the early 1990s. Tol Galen then joined New Tyran, France and Italy in the development of the Horizon-class frigate; however, the souring of relations between the Global Alliance and Able Vigil Accords as well as differing requirements to those of New Tyran, led to the both Tol Galen and New Tyran withdrawing on 26 April 1999 and starting their own own projects. Initially Tol Galen had partnered with New Tyran to procure what would end up as the Type 45, disagreements over work-share and technology transfer led to the partnership dissolving in mid-2001. Several companies tendered designs between 2002 and 2004 with Lynch & Murphy offering a modified version of an existing design that they had been offering to various nations since the late 1990s. It would be this design that the Galenic Government chose for what would come to be known as the Gemstone-class.

Characteristics

The Gemstones are 155m in length, with a beam of 20m, a draught of 5.3m and a displacement of approximately 7,100tonnes. This makes them significantly larger in all dimensions than any of their predecessors. The design of the Gemstone-class brought with it higher levels of radar and infra-red signature reduction to the Royal Galenic Navy. Deck equipment and life rafts were concealed behind the ship's superstructure panels and panelled railings where possible leading to a very "clean" look when compared to previous vessels.

The Gemstones are noteworthy for being as far as feasibly possible gender-neutral with living spaces tailored to accommodate both male and female crew members. Communal sanitary facilities have given way to individual cubicles, cabins for junior ratings are now far more flexible enabling the accommodation of a mixture of male and female sailors.

Capabilities

Anti-Air warfare

PAAMS

The Batch 1 and 1A Gemstones are equipped with a variant of the PAAMS system (SAMPSON and S-1850M), unlike the existing PAAMS system the system used by the Royal Galenic Navy utilises CEAMOUNT phased-array directors to provide guidance for Sea Sparrow and Standard missiles.

LAMS

The Batch 2 and 3 Gemstones are equipped with a scaled back air-defence system more suited for the local and self-defence role. Like the Batch 1 and 1A vessels they utilise SAMPSON and CEAMOUNT but unlike the Batch 1 and 1A vessels they lack the volume-search radar.

GAAWS

The Batch 4 Gemstones are equipped with an octagonal mast structure bristling with arrays for the CEAFAR family of radars, they feature arrays in X, S and L-band as well as a VHF/UHF communications system, ESM and surveillance systems. The Batch 4 vessels are seen as being mid-way in capability between the Batch 1 and Batch 3 vessels with greater anti-aircraft warfare capabilities than those vessels lacking the large volume-search radar but still somewhat behind those equipped with it.

Batches Compared

  • Batch 1 and 1A: SAMPSON Multi-Function Radar (MFR) and S-1850M Volume Search Radar (VSR).
  • Batch 2 and 3: SAMPSON Multi-Function Radar (MFR).
  • Batches 1 through 3: Sharpeye S navigation, surface-search and helicopter-control radar.
  • Batch 4: CEAFAR2-X, CEAFAR2-S, CEAFAR2-L Multi-Function Radars (MFR)

Guns

Main Gun

All vessels built thus far have been equipped with variants of the Mk 45 127mm gun, initially in its 54-calibre form, and more recently its 62-calibre one. Those vessels initially fitted with a 54-calibre gun have been retrofitted with the longer gun during light refits.

CIWS

All vessels built thus far have been equipped with the 30mm SAMOS gun/missile CIWS. Batch 2 and 3 vessels were initially completed with only one mount atop their hangar due to budgetary constraints but have since been fitted with their forward mounts. The SAMOS mounts themselves have undergone considerable changes since entering service including, improvements to their fire-control sensors and improvements to their guns. They have been qualified to fire Starstreak, Starburst and Martlet with qualification of a 70mm MHTK derivative under-way.

Batches Compared

  • Batches 1 through 4: 1x Mk 45 Mod 4 (HE-PD, HE-PFF (FREMEN 127 Fuze), Excalibur N5 and HVP)
  • Batches 1 through 4: 2x SAMOS gun/missile CIWS, 4x MSI Seahawk Lightweight RWS (20mm)

Aviation

On-board Facilities

Both the tranche 1 and 1a vessels have hangar and maintenance spaces suited to the operation of a single helicopter plus a flexible number of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) whilst the more general-purpose Tranche 2 and 3 vessels feature a revised hangar layout capable of accommodating a pair of small to medium helicopters plus UAS. The flight-deck is equipped with an Aircraft Ship Integrated Secure and Traverse (ASIST) system for safer recoveries with tramlines to the hangar bay. All vessels feature a workshop to carry out basic level maintenance on their embarked aircraft.

Helicopters

The Gemstones usually can be found operating with one of two types of helicopter. The AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin or the AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat. The Tranche 1 and 1A vessels can embark one of either type whilst the Tranche 2 and 3 vessels can embark either one Merlin or two Wildcats. Other types are qualified to operate from the Gemstones with some degree of integration, those most often employed are the helicopters of the Royal Galenic Marines which comprise of suitably equipped AW101s and AW159s.

UAVs

Unmanned systems are still on the rise both worldwide and in Tol Galen. The Gemstones were always envisaged to be capable of operating some form of unmanned systems although at the time of their construction no such system had been procured. Currently there are a few systems able to be employed from the Gemstone class (all tranches), these are:

  • Boeing Insitu ScanEagle long-endurance surveillance UAS
  • Schiebel Camcopter S-100 rotary-wing surveillance UAS
  • Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout (Development ongoing on a local system using the same architecture based on a Bell 407T - Twin Engine Helicopter)

Sensors

All of the Gemstone-class are equipped with a myriad of sensors, both optical and infrared.

Optical

  • 4x Thales Gatekeeper EO Surveillance systems
  • 2x Thales Mirador EO Fire-Control Systems
  • 2x FLIR Systems SeaFLIR 380-HLD Fire-Control Systems, (laser-designation of Griffon etc).
  • 1x FLIR Systems SEAFLIR 230 for helicopter operations

Anti-Ship - Anti-Submarine and Land-Attack

All Gemstone-class are always to be found with at-least eight Tsetse Fly missiles which form the staple anti-shipping and land-attack capability. Between the various tranches there are a variety of different systems in use to fulfil the requirements of Anti-Ship - Anti-Submarine and Land-Attack warfare.

Usual Missile Complements

Tranche 1:

  • 8x Tsetse Fly
  • 32x GL-SDB or Sea-SPEAR Bombardment Rockets / Glide Bombs

Tranche 1A:

  • 8x Tsetse Fly

Tranche 2:

  • 8x Tsetse Fly
  • 64x GL-SDB or Sea-SPEAR Bombardment Rockets / Glide Bombs
  • 16x Fire Shadow Loitering Munitions
  • 32x Griffin C-ER Short-Range Surface-to-Surface Missiles
  • 8x Sea Lance Standoff Anti-Submarine Weapons

Tranche 3:

  • 24x Long-Range Conventional Standoff Weapons
  • 24x Tsetse Fly / Gadfly / Sandfly
  • 16x Fire Shadow Loitering Munitions

Countermeasures

Countermeasure Dispensers

All the Gemstones are equipped with a pair of Chemring Centurion revolving countermeasure dispensers capable of deploying a variety of both countermeasures and weapons. They are usually equipped with three to four types of decoy / countermeasures which are:

  • CHIMERA Mk.4 (Dual-Mode IR/RF Decoy)
  • Seagnat 214 (RF Seduction Decoy)
  • TALOS (Infrared and EO/Laser Decoy)
  • PIRATE (Infrared Seduction Decoys)

The Centurion as mentioned is also capable of deploying offensive systems, those currently in use include Griffin, and CRV7-PG.

Electronic Countermeasures

All of the gemstones are also equipped with a pair of twin-face SLY-2 type EW/ECM systems capable of both ELINT as well as defensive jamming.

Communications and Other Systems

The Gemstones are all fitted with a Selex Fully Integrated Communications System (FICS) with:

  • Tactical Data Links: TCDL, Link 11, Link 22 and Link 16
  • Satellite Communications: 2x Fixed EHF SATCOM antennae, 2x Inmarsat SATCOM antennae, 2x L-Band (Galileo), 2x S-Band (METOC + COMMS) and 2x X-Band (Skynet)
  • Whips + Verticals: 4x AS-5085/SR HF whips and 2x OE-538 multi-band masts, 4x generic UHF whips and 2x generic VHF whips

Additional Capabilities

Flagship Capabilities

The Tranche 3 vessels are outfitted with extra command facilities to operate as flotilla or task group leaders. Usually this means that they are paired off with CVGNs or LPHs.

Embarked Military Force

All Gemstones are capable of embarking a platoon (30-40) of Royal Galenic Marines for VBSS and coastal-assault operations.

Intelligence Gathering

The Tranche 1 and 1A vessels are equipped with Thales's Vigile system (400) a six-faced arrangement for ELINT/SIGINT, the Tranche 2 and 3 vessels add to this with an 18-40GhZ antenna atop the hangar structure. Additionally the SLY-2 EW systems have an ELINT/SIGINT capability which is factored into the system.

Variants

Batch 1

D-9050 HMGS Alexandrite (2006).png

Batch 2

D-9066 HMGS Moonstone (2010).png

Batch 3

D-9074 HMGS Sapphire (2012).png

Batch 4

D-9080 HMGS Tantalite (2014).png


Ships in Class

Pennant Number Name Builder Commissioned Status
Batch 1
D-9050 Alexandrite Lynch & Murphy 1st July 2006 Active
D-9051 Amazonite Federal Shipbuilding 29th September 2006 Active
D-9052 Amethyst Lynch & Murphy 28th December 2006 Active
D-9053 Aquamarine Federal Shipbuilding 28th March 2007 Active
D-9054 Azurite Lynch & Murphy 26th June 2007 Active
D-9055 Bloodstone Federal Shipbuilding 24th September 2007 Active
D-9056 Cinnabar Lynch & Murphy 23th December 2007 Active
D-9057 Citrine Federal Shipbuilding 22th March 2008 Active
Batch 1A
D-9058 Corundum Lynch & Murphy 29th August 2008 Active
D-9059 Crystal Lynch & Murphy 27th November 2008 Active
D-9060 Diamond Lynch & Murphy 25th February 2009 Active
D-9061 Emerald Federal Shipbuilding 26th May 2009 Active
D-9062 Heliodor Lynch & Murphy 23rd August 2009 Active
D-9063 Haematite Federal Shipbuilding 22nd November 2009 Active
D-9064 Lodestone Lynch & Murphy 20th February 2010 Active
D-9065 Malachite Federal Shipbuilding 21st May 2010 Active
Batch 2
D-9066 Moonstone Lynch & Murphy 18th October 2010 Active
D-9067 Morganite Federal Shipbuilding 16th January 2011 Active
D-9068 Nephrite Lynch & Murphy 16th April 2011 Active
D-9069 Neptunite Federal Shipbuilding 15th July 2011 Active
D-9070 Onyx Federal Shipbuilding 13th October 2011 Active
D-9071 Peridot Lynch & Murphy 11th January 2012 Active
D-9072 Rhodolite Lynch & Murphy 10th April 2012 Active
D-9073 Ruby Federal Shipbuilding 9th July 2012 Active
Batch 3
D-9074 Sapphire Federal Shipbuilding 7th October 2012 Active
D-9075 Sardonyx Lynch & Murphy 5th January 2013 Active
D-9076 Sérandite Federal Shipbuilding 5th April 2013 Active
D-9077 Sunstone Federal Shipbuilding 4th July 2013 Active
Batch 4
D-9078 Tantalite Lynch & Murphy 5th October 2014 Active
D-9079 Thulite Federal Shipbuilding 31st December 2014 Active
D-9080 Tigereye Federal Shipbuilding 26th March 2015 Active
D-9081 Titanite Lynch & Murphy 24th June 2015 Active
D-9082 Tourmaline Federal Shipbuilding 22nd September 2015 Active
D-9083 Turquoise Lynch & Murphy 21st December 2015 Active

Operators

See Also

List of active Royal Galenic Navy ships