As of 2023, the Raptor class carrier is the most formidable sub-carrier platform in the world deployed as a 'mainstay' unit. (That is to say, excluding consideration of the Reverence and Vanquisher class Dreadnoughts - these are not considered part of a standard order of battle.) With upwards of 80 subcraft, this dedicated-carrier represents a very serious force to be reckoned with on a field of battle; able to disgorge more fighter forces than any other ship in a standard order of battle, with the capability of achieving total marine-superiority in just a matter of hours, over an incredibly large area of responsibility. In contrast to the RIRN's "hybrid" carriers which combine the weapons of a battlecruiser with fighter-carrying capability, the Raptor represents the first truly dedicated class of submarine fighter carrier in the world; giving over much of its hull and internal structure to vast hangar and flight deck facilities.
Development history and class background...
Perspective...
Since 2002, the Military of the Rhydin Hegemony has been on a steady increase in power, capability and flexibility. Once only concerned with coastal defence and border watch, the needs of the Imperial Republic's military expanded a hundred fold with the advent of maritime colonization. The emergence of pirates, rival powers and the rapidly expanding economies of its new colonies demanded a force that was capable of defending these new holdings. And so it was that the Rhydin Hegemony began its military expansion in the wake of the apparent inability to defend these fledgling colony city-states that it possessed.
Advent of the Subcarrier...
The origins of submarine fighter carriers go back as far as 1987, with the idea of large submarines capable of carrying the then drawing board created sub-fighters to far reaching colonial outposts. In the mid 1990's, the sub-fighter began its steady rise to dominance beneath the waves. Several designs failed to win an important contract within the HQLT/AST that would see the creation of the "SF-1" class subfighter, the privately-built, shark-inspired prototype that would go on to become the Tempest, which would go on to remain one of the most dominant classes of submarine fighter for the next eighteen years.
Overnight, the concept of naval warfare dramatically changed as these high-speed, highly capable submarines rendered every defence of the world's surface fleets redundant. Early wargames and exercises were frighteningly effective; with many HQLT/AST Tempests able to easily and swiftly penetrate the defence perimeter of even the HQLT/AST carrier battlegroups to 'sink' the giant surface behemoths. Never before had such capability been available to the world's navies, and very quickly, the subfighter became the weapon of choice for countless navies across the world; most especially for those nations which were unable to afford the giant battle-subs being designed by HQLT - RIRN.
In 2001, the HQLT/AST Aleus was completed in the shipyards of Fa anira laail(literally, land by the sea), marking the introduction of the world's first dedicated submarine carrier. Dozens of these submarines would be built over the ensuing years, serving alongside a mainstay fleet of Orion class attack submarines which would form the backbone of RIRN power for the next decade, and these submarines would ensure that Rhydinian territory would only expand in years to come, with the Aleus class offering unprecedented mobility of subfighter forces across the entire home region.
The Submarine "Super Carrier"...
With subfighters proving to be the dominant force in naval warfare throughout the 2000s, the major powers were quick to capitalize on their respective subcarrier designs. While the RIRN focused on larger, more powerful vessels, but still struggled to maintain a defendable ratio in subfighter forces. In January 2002, the keels of the RIRN Poseidon class carriers Hebdohi, Fusdyha and Mdeh were laid down, and in an extraordinary display of industrial strength, were completed and operational by January of 2004. Unbelievably, three of these vessels were completed every year for the next five years, the last Poseidon class carrier being the RIRN Myctuih, commissioned in 2009 as SCVN-75, and the 35th vessel of the class; a reflection of the highly volatile cold war which reigned in the Rhydin region for over a decade.
Technically speaking, the Poseidon could be considered the 'first' of the supercarriers, but with capabilities purely dedicated to maintaining a wing of subfighters; up to 60 in total. (Typically, it is rare that Poseidon will go to sea with or operate this many subfighters at once with an average of about 36 fighters for every carrier) The Poseidon would remain the principle carrier in RIRN fleets for many years to come... but it was in 2007 that they began to seriously consider larger, more powerful designs.
The Raptor is the HQLT/AST largest submarine carrier ever created; displacing in excess of 40,000 tonnes and having the capacity to maintain and deploy over 70 subfighters; practically twice what any carrier at the time its keel was laid, routinely carried.
Construction & Deployment:
Class: Raptor Class Fleet Submarine Carrier (CVSN)
Keel Laid: Raptor CVSN-01 – 2005
Launched: Raptor CVSN-01 – 2008
Commissioned: Raptor CVSN-01 – 2008
General:
Crew Complement: 500 officers and crew.
Speed: 38 knots
Double Titanium Hull. Reinforced with ceramic composite armour.
Crush Depth: 3,414 meters.
Submerged Displacement: 40,200 tonnes
Computer System: Mark-XII-A Fiber Optic Computer Network
Dimensions:
Length: 260.0m
Beam: 124.0m
Height: 50.0m
Reactor:
Type: HQLT/AST-CCGCR VI
The Raptor is powered by two Closed Cycle Gaseous Core Reactors. The design is working off of the Tokamak principles of fusion energy design and processing. In the open cycle, the propellant, most likely hydrogen, is fed to the reactor, heated up by the nuclear reaction in the reactor, and exits out the other end. Unfortunately, the propellant will be contaminated by fuel and fission products, and although the problem can be mitigated by engineering the hydrodynamics within the reactor, it renders the design completely unsuitable for use. However, by utilizing a closed cycle, the reaction is entirely shielded from the propellant. The reaction is contained in a quartz vessel and the propellant merely flows outside of it, being heated in an indirect fashion. The closed cycle avoids contamination because the propellant can't enter the reactor itself.
For energy production purposes, a container located inside a solenoid is used. The container is filled with gaseous uranium hexafluoride, where the uranium is enriched, to a level just short of criticality. Afterward, the uranium hexafluoride is compressed by external means, thus initiating a nuclear chain reaction and a great amount of heat, which in turn causes an expansion of the uranium hexafluoride. Since the UF6 is contained within the vessel, it can't escape and thus compresses elsewhere. The result is a plasma wave moving in the container, and the solenoid converts some of its energy into electricity at an efficiency level of about 20%. In addition, the container must be cooled, and one can extract energy from the coolant by passing it through a heat exchanger and turbine system as in an ordinary thermal power plant.
This energy is used to power the vessel and in return, the six HQLT/AST Aqua-Return (Caterpillar) Propulsion Drives.
Sensors:
Internal: Hypersonar; active and passive sensor suites
Effective Range : Approximately 120 nautical miles
Armament:
8 auto-loading 21" torpedo tubes
4 Minotaur Heavy Cavitation Anti-Ship Cannons
10 VLS tubes mounting Griffon-II Hypersonic Cruise Missiles (nuclear or conventional payload) (mounted midships)
Armament:
Torpedo Type: Luth'ol (Spear)
The Luth'ol (Spear) is the heavy torpedo used by the submarines of the RIRN It can be guided by wire or by autonomous active or passive sonar, and provides both anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and anti-surface ship warfare (ASuW) capability. The Luth'ol is intended to catch high-speed, deep-diving threats such as the Chiana-class submarines which was used as a testbed. The weapon is driven by a pump-jet coupled to an HQLT/AST-GTE(Gas Turbine Engine) Type III using Otto fuel II and hydroxyl ammonium perchlorate as oxidiser. A microprocessor aboard the weapon provides the ability to make autonomous tactical decisions during the attack. The torpedo has a powerful blast warhead, triggered by either contact detonation (against a submarine hull) or an acoustic proximity fuze (for under-keel detonation against ships).
[6] auto-loading 21" torpedo tubes (bow)
[2] auto-loading 21" torpedo tubes (stern)
Amount of Torpedoes: 30
Specifications
Weight: 1,850 kg (4,075 lb)
Length: 7 m (23 ft)
Diameter: 533 mm (21 in)
Maximum range: 54 km (30 nm) at low speed, 23 km (12.5 nm) at high speed
Warhead: Aluminised PBX explosive
Warhead weight: 300 kg (660 lb)
Detonation mechanism: Proximity or contact detonation
Engine: HQLT/AST-GTE(Gas Turbine Engine) Type III with pump-jet
Propellant: Otto fuel II
Speed: 80 knots (150 km/h)
Guidance system: Wire-guided with autonomous active terminal homing sonar
Defensive systems:
Intercept Torpedo
Type: Kulggen (Shield) Light Torpedo
Among its many features, the Kulggen (Shield) is capable against any current or perceived threat, including a bottomed stationary mini-submarine, known versions of anechoic coatings and various decoys. It is also capable of launch speeds up to 400 knots, allowing it to be dropped from maritime patrol aircraft flying at high speeds, or rocket-assist launchers. Powered by an electric pump-jet, it can be run at "silent" speeds to avoid giving its location away to the submarine, or "dash" at speeds over 50 km/h. It uses a shaped charge warhead that can penetrate any known submarine hull, especially double hull designs, while remaining just as deadly in shallow waters where conventional warheads are less effective.
Atypically the Raptor Class carries a load out of twenty-five of these weapons.
Specifications
Weight: 304 kg
Length: 2850 mm
Diameter: 323.7 mm
Warhead: PBX shaped charge warhead
Warhead weight: 32.7 kg
Engine: pump-jet electric
Operational range: 10 km at max. speed, 25 km at min. speed
Maximum depth: 550 m
Speed: 29 to >50 knots
Super-Cavitation Anti-Ship Cannons
The Type II-C "Minotaur" Supercavitating Anti-Ship Cannons aboard the Raptor class bear many similarities to the much older 'Phalanx' CIWS (close-in weapons systems) found on surface naval vessels. Its durable and effective design had proven to be lethally effective against aircraft and missiles, and if it could be engineered, the same could be done against torpedoes and sub-fighters. The RIRN pioneered this technology first.
The shells of a Type II-C "Minotaur" cannon eschew traditional explosive primers, and are instead accelerated by a set of electromagnetic rails to speeds well in excess of traditional firearms. At this speed, supercavitation occurs: a physical process in which the vapor pressure of water drops to a point where the shell is enveloped by a pocket of gas as it travels, essentially removing the forces of drag that would usually cripple such a weapon.
The weapon that came from this project would, in the simplest terms, use the raw kinetic energy of its projectiles to rip through metal like as the underwater rifle quickly got up to muzzle velocities in excess of 5,800 feet per second. (Tests this extreme generally resulted in the complete destruction of the prototype gun and its housing. The power of the weapon was eventually governed in the production-models produced since then.)
The Raptor class which mounts four of these weapon systems. Two alongst the right and left flanks of the dorsal spine, and belly with spacing provided to both cover and clear the other turrets.
Type: Type II-C "Minotaur" Supercavitating Anti-Ship Cannon
Power source: HQLT/AST Type II-C NSASC
Barrels: 3
Caliber: 55mm
Feed: Hydraulic, link-fed belt ammunition
Firing Mechanism:
2 megawatt pre-fire particle laser (primary stage)
3x200cm tungsten magnetic rails (second stage)
Maximum Rate of Fire: 4,500 Rounds per Minute (Maximum – Depends on barrel RPM acceleration and muzzle velocity)
Effective Range : 500 meters
Muzzle Velocity: 2,000 feet/second (609.6 meters/second)
Cannon weight: 1150 kilograms
Barrel length: 12.36 meters
Ammunition weight: (100 rounds; 3210 kilograms)
Counter Measures:
Type: AST-CMT-B/VII
The CMT-B/VII is an anti-torpedo countermeasure system for the HQLT/AST Submarine classes, designed to counter attacks of acoustic homing torpedoes, active / passive, lightweight and heavyweight, wire and non wire-guided, through the use of expendable low-cost, lightweight, high-performance stationary jammers and mobile target emulators. The submarine deploys such devices during the course of pre-determined evasive counter-manoeuvres, to maximize the submarine survivability against modern torpedo attacks.
The CMT-B/VII consists of:
The effectors: mobile target emulators and stationary jammers
Launching system: mounted externally on the pressure hull of the submarine and below the submarine super-structure
Control computer: fitted with a man machine interface and connected with the torpedo detection system or with the combat management system, which controls the launch of the countermeasures
EVA Assets:
70-80 subcraft of varying types, including Mark 1 Seafire Subfighters.
Carries shuttles and maintenance craft of varying size.
To procure this product, please visit HQLT
This is apart of the product list acquired from AST