It's not really all that different, just a clean-sheet that incorporates a lot of things I'd pondered. Overall, the previous drawing seemed overloaded once I started building a front view. Like.... way overloaded. AESAs are heavy. On the drawing side of things, perhaps the most visually notable change is that I've gone to a Zumwalt-like set of rapidly extensible/retractable railings on the helo deck, based on what I understand to be the solution used on DDG-1000. This allows us to eliminate the obnoxious gallery half-deck solution I'd previously employed. Beartrap accommodation is now a faired extrusion above the flight deck, which is better in every way.
Other notable design changes:
- After deep thought, I have abandoned the MEADS-based L-band family. 18' AMDR-S SPY+20dB is pretty much awesome. We have L-band air search radar based on the 'dorito' V-22 AEW concept, which also serves as IFF. These arrays are much less grunty than the giant L-band units envisioned previously, but are probably capable enough to force adversaries to consider L-band LO in their planning.
- The SQS-60 MF sonar is gone. In its place, we have a humongous conformal LF set. To hell with STEALTH BATTLESHIP ATTACKS UNDER COVER OF DAYLIGHT. LF is the way, the truth, and the life in serious blue-water ASW. If we're in brownwater environs, that's why we have 1) helos 2) an ability to deploy 11m daughter craft. SQS-61 remains, because to hell with Kingfisher.
- The primary diesel gensets are gone. We now ship two RR4500 SSGTGs, for a total of about 10MW electrical. These are underneath the forward SHF satcom dome. I envision that restarting a fusion plant might require a lot of surplus power (enforcing lots of powerful EM fields, things of that nature), so a gutsier backup plant is desirable. Four Cat C18 emergency generators provide 550kWe each, two forward and two aft. I have in my notes that these are the emergency generators used on Zumwalt... I can't source that, though.
- We've abandoned Mk 57 PVLS in favor of cold eject launch systems like Northrup-Grumman has been pimping. This gives us the equivalent of 96 Mk 57 cells, or 120 Mk 41 cells, or 72 36" (!!!!) cells, or some combination thereof.
- Tonnage, too, is basically that of Zumwalt. We've traded one big gun for more VLS, better radar, and more helo facilities. If anything, I think this hull is still a bit overloaded.
- Built-in daughter craft remain as 11m RIB aft and 7m abandon-ship boat in the port superstructure. We still fit a max of four AW101 equivalent helos, or four MH-60 and 4-6 TEUs, etc etc.
- Other armament and sensors remain unchanged. 90 reloadable XM501L cells, 3x2 50mm Bushmaster, a several-hundred-KW solid-state laser, 8' AMDR-X aloft with 2' arrays aft for 360deg casualty coverage, MX-10MS (four, now) for EO/IR duties...
(pay no attention to the thread title)