Beag-class Aircraft Carrier

### Sensors and Processing Systems

2x Air/Surface Search Radars, 2x Digital Carrier Surveillance Radars, 4x Fire Control Radars, Navigation Radar, Type 900 Datalink

### Electronic Warfare

Artio Battlespace Network (Mark III-C), Full ECM-Suite, Full ESM-Suite, Full EP-Suite

### Decoys

Multi-ammunition softkill system, 2x Chaff launchers, Torpedo Decoy Launcher

### Armament

2x 30mm CIWS, 2x 23-cell RAMs, 4x 40mm AA-guns

### Aircraft carried

Up to 50 fixed wing aircraft, VTOLs and helicopters, depending on type and size.

### Aviation Facilities

Flight deck, 2 catapults, 2 aircraft lifts, 2 ammunition lifts, hangar beneath flight deck.

The **Beag-class Aircraft Carrier** is a light, nuclear powered fleetcarrier designed and produced by Silverport Dockyards Limited, once the largest ship in our entire catalogue, replacing the Sealgaire-class Helicopter Carrier and the Glorium-class Command Ship in that function.

The term *Beag* means "little" or "small" and is the name of the current Envoy of Lodan Lir.

## Design

The Beag-class Aircraft Carrier is a classical monohull design, 260.8 meter in length overall, with a beam of 50.3 meters including flight deck and a draught of eight meters. in standard configuration, one vessel displaces 21,500 tons, while the loaded displacement is at 31,150 tons. The island, housing the bridge, staff rooms, radars and similar installations on the starboard side.

The Beag-class Aircraft Carrier is a nuclear powered vessel, having four reliable and tested Ga-17 Mark II Nuclear Reactors, further developed from the Ga-17 Nuclear Reactors in use aboard the Caorthann-class Polar Research Vessel. This further development mostly concerned the cooling systems, making it less reliant on the outer water and more on the primary and secondary cooling cycles, which work quite well.

Ships equipped with the Ga-17 Mark II produce 75 megawatts with each reactor, which basically work like nuclear reactors on land do as well: Heating water to produce steam, which power steam turbines to produce electrical power. The feed water, which is turned to steam, is pumped aboard, demineralised, and used.

90% enriched Uranium Fuel Cells need to be loaded as power cells. We also recommend employing experienced nuclear reactor technicians.

These nuclear reactors provide the power for all of the ships systems, from the engines to the radar to the catapults to the radios.

The vessel is driven by two shafts with controllable pitch propellers for more energy efficiency.

The Beag-class Aircraft Carrier is a conventional Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery Carrier (CATOBAR for short) and has no ski-jump. Concept studies for a variation with a ski-jump are in the works.

### Electronic Warfare

The Beag-class Aircraft Carrier is equipped with full suites for Electronic Countermeasures (ECM), Electronic Support Measures (ESM) and Electronic Protection (EP).

Electronic Countermeasures, or ECM for short, are used to deceive and trick enemy means of detection and ultimately not having a guided missile slam into the ship's side. Be they sonar decoys or radar jammers (Rasberry Jammers is the system we usually use), active ECM measures confuse the enemy's sensors, while passive measures include for example the jamming of the guidance systems of enemy missiles.

Electronic Support Measures meanwhile detect, intercept, identify, locate, record and analyze sources of radiated electromagnetic energy (for example radar) for threat recognition and other purposes, amongst them intelligence information. With these information, a commander can make the tactical and, if necessary, strategic decisions needed. It also provides the means necessary to gather information about the Electronic Warfare Systems of the enemy either in order to avoid an attack or to attack more effectively.

With Electronic Protection (EP), or Electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM), the ship is hardened against every kind of electronic attack, for example against scrambling and jamming. This allows to attack the enemy even when he feels safe with his jammers in place and activated.

### Sensors and Processing Systems

The Beag-class Aircraft Carrier is equipped with a multitude of radars and sensors to ensure ideal operative capabilities of the carrier as a carrier. Chiefly amongst the radars of the Beag-class Aircraft Carrier are the two Nuacht N-13 Mark II Air/Surface Search Radars. As a combined radar, it combines an air-surveillance and a surface search radar into one. Despite being originally developed for the use on far smaller ships, it quickly prooved to be as effective on large ships as it is on smaller ones.

While the Beag-class Aircraft Carrier also has four N-38 Fire Control Radars and one N-4 Navigation Radar for finding the way, the other core of the radar suite are the two Digital Carrier Surveillance Radars. Secondary mode as weather surveillance radars, triple redundant systems,

### Decoys

In order to defend itself against threats without the need for usiing up ammunition, the Beag-class Aircraft Carrier is equipped with a multitude of defensive systems, namely a Multi-Ammunition Softkill System or MASS and two chaff-launchers, as well as two torpedo decoy launchers.

The MASS is connected to the sensor systems, mainly radar, and uses the data to launch radar decoys operating on all relevant wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum, confusing advanced, sensor-guided missiles. It can either be operated by a person or operate autonomously.
For the less advanced radar-guided missiles, the Beag-class Aircraft Carrier is equipped with two chaff launchers, sending out far more primitive radar decoys, which will not only confuse the missile's radar, but also the enemy's radar as well.

To counter torpedoes, especially those of the acoustic-homing variety, the Beag-class Aircraft Carrier has a Torpedo Decoy Launcher, which send out something, which makes a lot of noise, which, in return, directs the torpedo into the decoy and not into the ship.

### Aviation Facilities

The Beag-class Aircraft Carrier is, due to its nature as an aircraft carrier, without superstructure safe for the island, but has a long flight deck. Angled off of the ship's axis by eight degrees, the 166 meters long by 29 meters wide flight deck is the core of any and all capabilities of the Beag-class Aircraft Carrier.

The flight deck has two catapults, both being 30 meters long Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch Systems (EMALS for short), which provide a more reliable, easier to maintain and operate way of launching aircraft then steam catapults, which is far more energy efficient then the predecessors. The forward catapult is to port on the bow, while the other is on the angled landing deck.

The Beag-class Aircraft Carrier has four elevators, two for aircraft and two for ammunition and equipment, one of each paired together. The forward elevator is to starboard, while the rear elevator is positioned on the edge of the deck to safe space in the hangar underneath. The flight deck is capable of handling VTOLs of any variety, fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.
Said hangar's dimensions are 155 meters by 20 to 24 meters with a height of seven meters.

### Weapons Systems

The Beag-class Aircraft Carrier is heavily armed for self-defense, making the vessel capable of defending itself if push should come to shove, but we still recommend having the vessel escorted by a battlegroup (see, for examples, the Bundles below).
The defensive systems, mostly focussing on the defense against air threats like aircraft or missiles, are grouped in three layers:

First layer: ECM and Decoys.
The first layer is the most technologically sophisticated layer, relying on tricking and deceit of the enemy's missiles for defense, saving both ammunition and lifes as these systems stop incoming missiles before they can even be a threat.
Second Layer: Four Ceantar C-44 Mark II 40mm AA-guns
The second layer are the guns with the most range, C-44 Mark II 40mm AA-guns, although the term 'AA-gun' is a slight misnomer: Although the C-44 Mark I was a dedicated AA-gun, the Mark II is a multipurpose gun, which can be used against aircraft, incoming missiles and small watercraft. The four guns and their turrets, two each on port and starboard, are designed to be controlled by external fire control systems, like for example the Nuacht N-38 Fire Control Radar, and linked to these via the Type 900 Datalink, which provides the target data needed to adjust the gun at its target. While it is a fully automatic system, the gun can be controlled manually by an external operator using the mounted camera as his 'scope'. He (or she) would then release a 40mm shell onto his target by the tap of a button.
Third Layer: Two Ceantar C-84 Mark II 30mm CIWS and two Ceantar C-78 Mark II 23-cell RAMs
The last and third layer are two C-84 Mark II CIWS and two C-78 Mark II 23-cell RAMs. The Ceantar C-84 Mark II is the first system of this layer, a semi-autonomous missile defense system spewing 30mm shells at any incomiing missile or any aircraft coming too close for it's own comfort. The Ceantar C-78 Mark II is a Rolling Airframe Missile System, basically responsible for the same thing, but longer ranged and with more power behind the shot, capable of destroying most incoming Anti-Ship Missiles in one shot. This system is controlled and aimed by the onboard computers, using data from the larger radars, provided, again, by the Type 900 Datalink.
### Air Group

The Beag-class Aircraft Carrier has facilities to handle up to fifty aircraft at any given time, but the exact number of aircraft depend on their type and size. These aircraft can be fixed-wing aircraft, VTOLs and helicopters, which makes the Beag-class Aircraft Carrier capable of supporting amphibious assaults more directly.

Thanks to the EMALS Catapults, the Beag-class Light Aircraft Carrier can launch larger and heavier aircraft then their size would lead on, as well as drones of varying sizes.

## History

The SDF-Navy had a long tradition of naval aviation, equipping their larger ships with floatplanes in 1931 and building a seaplane tender, the SDFS Faoileán. She was rebuild as a helicopter carrier in 1954 and decommissed in 1974 - with only land-based aircraft and ship-based helicopters, the SDF-Navy was a bit ill-prepared for modern naval combat, more focussing on operations in home waters then overseas.

There were plans to acquire an aircraft carrier, popping up every once in a while, but while some went indeed into the design-phase, nothing really came from it.

Then came the Battle of Marley Bay and the desastrous results of the Halfblakistani Expedition in general, after which the SDF-Navy realized, that they were going to need a ship capable of projecting naval air power, if they were to represent the Free Land's interests abroad.

Planning began for mighty fleet carriers, helicopter carriers and light fleet carriers - one proposal became the Sealgaire-class Helicopter Carrier.

Due to budget constraints, the SDF-Navy decided to acquire the Sealgaire-class Helicopter Carrier, while SDY continued the AC-6, by now the Beag-class Aircraft Carrier, on their own. In 2015, a shore-mockup was commissioned to test the EMALS-Catapults and a few aircraft of domestic design, amongst them the Stuama-Prototypes.

In 2016, the Beag-class Aircraft Carrier was cleared for export and was offered to customers.