Talk:AFOH/@comment-14850713-20151226131000

IC:

The ongoing Battle of Tenelapis against the Sith and their Interdictors came with the realization that aside from the FBW-N/T hypersonic missiles, the AFOH aerospace fleet lacks a weapon that can reach beyond 2,000 km like the turbo-lasers, MACs and long-range rail guns of other navies. While the fleet has always placed its faith in its fast ships, highly-accurate RAGPs and most of all in its vaunted "Cobra swarm", the fact that other navies can score hits long before they can be reached by the venerable strike craft is a fatal weakness. Couple this with the fact that the FBWs can only be launched by the Fantome strategic bomber and the Paladin heavy space fighter (the missile having saved the career of this heavily armed and armored but cumbersome craft), then the danger to the fleet of the new and improved aerospace weapons other navies are fielding are now of paramount concern.

While lasers are not new to the fleet, they are of short-range and used for defensive purposes (ex. the main armament of the Dark Wolf aerospace fighter, the "energy cannons" mounted on the improved Interceptor surface heavy cruisers). The High Command has thus directed DORAD to develop a heavy laser weapon that will arm a new generation of aerospace ships. The Mark 100 laser cannon, 4 of which (in 2 dual turrets) will be mounted on the yet experimental Fregate Aerospatiale Multi-mission (FAMM) aerospace frigate is the first such weapon. Because of the shortened development time, the Mark 100 will just match the 800 - 1,000 km range of the fleet's heaviest guns (the 46 cm rail gun and the 46 cm conventional gun firing RAGPs). The FAMM will instead have as its main extended-range weapon the Mk 16 240 cm rail gun (a modified version of the Mk 8 mounted on Normandie anti-aerospace battle cruisers and land installations). Two fixed, forward-firing Mk 16s will be mounted on the ship's Combat Module (the forward part of the ship with the gaping "mouth" at the end). It is envisioned that the first batch of FAMMs (Flight I) will be in this configuration. The definitive weapon will be the longer-ranged Mk 112 dual laser cannon, which can reach beyond 2,000 km and will be installed in FAMM Flight II ships. These units will no longer use the Mk 16 but will instead have hangar facilities for 24 Vautours in the Combat Module.

The aerospace frigate itself is envisioned to be a very fast, agile and lethal escort. It will be faster than all current classes, with forward swept wings and canards helping to provide lift and improved maneuverability in atmospheric flight, ideal for anti-surface warfare. But the heart of its capability is the long-range Tiger Arc radar with multiple transceivers in the deckhouse and in the wings, making the FAMM the aerospace fleet's equivalent of the La Motte-Picquet surface anti-air warfare cruisers, with the capability to detect, track and destroy multiple aerospace threats. To complete its weapons suite, it will also carry 8 FBW missiles in conformal weapons pods (CWP) attached to the underside of the wings.