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Simmies Old Stories

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simmie:
Hi there.

This thread is intended to be a home for all my old storylines that where posted previously on the 'other place'.  Some of you may remember the later creations.

I have a number of new story lines awaiting posting, mostly consisting of a collection of What-if type histories.  But they are need of their artwork any volunteers??

Simmie

simmie:
1st

Alt Observers Aircraft

Panavia Tornado GR4M


C of a : UK, FDR, Italy

Type: 2 seat ship-board multi-role aircraft

Powerplant: 2x 8500lb (3855kg) dry, 15600lb (6800kg) reheat Turbo Union RB 199-34R-4 Mk 101 turbo fans.


Performance: Max Speed (Clean) 840 mph (1350 km/h) at 500ft (150m) or Mach 1.1; 1385 mph (2230 km/h) at 36000ft (11000m) or Mach 2.1: tactical radius (lo-Lo-Lo) with external stores, 450mls (725km); (hi-lo-hi) with external stores 750 Mls (1200km); Max ferry range, 3000mls+ (4830km+)

Weight: 29000lb (13100kg) empty, 41000lb (18600kg) loaded, 56000lbs (25460kg) MTO

Armament: 2x 27mm Mauser cannon with 125 rpg, various ordnance combinations on 7 (3 fixed and 4 swivelling) external stores stations

Status:1st land based prototypes flown 14 Aug 1974
           1st Naval trials (touch and goes) P.03 winter 1977
           1st Naval prototype P.17 flown 15 July 1979
           1st operation al Squadron (700g Sqn) 23 Aug 1981

History: After exemplary service in the Falklands 700g Sqn renumbered 800 Sqn, joined by 801 and 802 Sqn.  Fleet now being upgrade to GR4M specification.  Major differences to RAF aircraft being, reinforced rear fuselage and stronger arrestor hook; reinforced undercarriage with nose leg extending; vertical fin folding to port to reduce height.

Dims: Span max 45ft 8.25ins (13.90M), Min 28ft 2.5in (8.59M), Length 54ft 9.5ins (16.7M), Height 18ft 8.5ins (5.70M), Wing Area 286.3 sq ft (26.6 SqM)

simmie:
2nd

Alt Observers warships

Type; Aircraft Carrier

Class: Queen Elizabeth (R07)

Country of Origin: U.K

Builders: John Browns LTD

Displacement: (Standard) 50,000 Tons (50,800 Tonnes)
                        (Full load) 54,500 Tons (55,372 Tonnes)

Dimensions: Overall length 963ft; Beam 122ft; Deck width 234ft

Speed: 30 kts

Compliment: 3250

Air Group:(Initial) 50 Aircraft
                McDonnell Douglas F4K Phantom FRS Mk.1   x18
                Blackburn Buccaneer S.2            x18
                Fairey Gannet AEW.3               x4
                Westland Sea King HAS.1            x5
                Westland Wessex HAS.1               x2

                (Current) 47 Aircraft
                Panavia Tornado GR.4M               x18
                Panavia Tornado F.3M               x18
                Pilatus Brittan Norman BN-2TN AEW.2      x4
                EH Industries Merlin HAS.1            x7

Armament SAM 1x2 Sea Dart GWS.30 mod 0 (40 missiles); 2x 30mm Phalanx CIWS

Propulsion: 6 Admiralty Boilers; 3 Parsons Steam Turbines, 135,000 shp, 3 shafts

Sensors: 1x Type 965m Long Range Search; 1x Type 922 Low Level Air and Surface Search radar; 1x type 982 Fighter Control; 1x Type 983 Height Finding/Air Direction; 2x type 909 Sea Dart Fire Control; 1x Type 974 Navigation

History; Laid Down 23 September 1967; Commissioned 23 December 1973 Refits 83/84 - added phalanx and improved ESM and battle management computers.

Service:
Following the Falkland War the lack of AEW, since the retirement of the Gannets in 1979, was thrown in to sharp focus.  The stop-gap purchase of 2 turbo islanders fitted with the Searchwater radar, in 1984 proved a great success and a further 10 were purchased in 1986 forming 849Sqn in 1987.

The recent deployment of the Merlin Helicopter to replace the aging Sea kings, as well as the upgrade of the strike Tornados to GR4M, means that "Big Lizie" should continue to provide excellent service till her replacement is available, currently projected to be around 2012.

simmie:
3rd

Alt- Wikipedia H.M.S Queen Elizabeth (R07)

By the late 1950’s the Royal navy’s carrier fleet amounted to 5 vessels, Ark Royal, Eagle, Hermes, and Centaur.  Albion and Bulwark were earmarked for conversion to assault ship.

In 1959 work was begun on formulating proposals for a new generation of vessels which would replace what were essentially Second World War designs.

The result of this was an aircraft carrier that was of a radical design.  The fully angled flight deck concept was abandoned in favour of a “3 lane” layout which provided a landing area, at 3 1/2 degrees, on the port side, taking up about half the flight deck width, and a 2 way marshalling/taxiing area to starboard split amidships by the island (200ft * 18ft) with access tunnels for deck vehicles and personnel.  2 * 250ft catapults, on the bow and at the waist were fitted, with a centre line lift amidships and a deck edge lift aft of the starboard side.  A fantail opened from the 650ftt * 80ft hanger to permit engine running without impinging upon flight deck operations.  This area was also the home of the single Sea Dart launcher.

The superstructure was, for its day, of a novel lightweight contraction, which led to the ship being referred to as a ‘furniture van’.  The 3 shaft layout was chosen as it was felt the 2 shafts would not be able to transmit the required power, in addition it allowed one shaft to be shut down for maintenance and a high speed was still able to be maintained on the others.  The Steam plant was also novel; it operates at 1000psi at 1000F.  The electrical distribution grid operates at 3.3 KV with step down transformers through out the ship.  The catapults were the longest in the fleet at the time of their construction requiring as much steam as the propulsion plant.  Thus bigger boilers were used.  The arrester gear was a new hydraulic system and the lifts are of the scissor type, as subsequently used on H.M.S Invincible.

It was at the now infamous Defence Review of 14 February 1966 that almost resulted in the cancellation of H.M.S Queen Elizabeth.  This was the meeting from which the Minister of Defence for the Navy, the Right Honourable Christopher Mayhew M.P, and the First Sea Lord, Sir Richard Luce, were barred from by the then Defence Secretary the Right Honourable Dennis Healey M.P, so that they could not present the navy’s revised proposal.  Mayhew and Luce stormed in and demanded that the Royal navy’s case for the new carrier be heard.  Prime Minster Harold Wilson allow this, perhaps on the basis’s that it wouldn’t change anything anyway.  But the cabinet was swung round and voted to authorise a single carrier, CVA-01 as it was then know.  Healey stormed out of the meeting, that he had tried to orchestrate, and out of government with his resignation following soon after.

The ship was laid down at John Browns yard on the Clyde on the 23rd September 1967 after the way had been cleared by it previous occupant, appropriately enough, the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth 2.  Launched by Queen, H.M.S Queen Elizabeth went down the ways 14th July 1970 and was subsequently commissioned on the 23rd December 1973, beginning nearly 40 years distinguished service.

Air Group
The initial air group that was deployed aboard was that which had been operation of H.M.S Ark royal upon her decommissioning.  This consisted of McDonnell Douglas F4 Phantoms, Blackburn Buccaneer S2B’s and Fairey Gannet AEW.Mk.3’s.  There had been plans to replace the Gannets with a completely new aircraft, the Hawker Siddeley (Blackburn) P.137B, but this was sacrificed in the belt tightening that was required to get the ship built.  Also lost were the Hawker Siddeley P.1152 supersonic VSTOL fighter and 3 of the planned 4 escort cruisers, only H.M.S Bristol was built.

With the new Tory government of Margaret Thatcher taking power in 1979 came a new round of defence cuts, the Gannets were sacrificed so as to keep the carrier going.  For a while this was a seen as an acceptable gamble until April 1982.  The war in the Falklands exposed the lack of AEW cover for the fleet with the loss of 4 warships.  After the war, many lessons were learned and some of those were incorporated in the major refit and overhaul that the ship under went in 1983-84 at Rosyth Naval Dockyard.  Improved battle management computers, better ESM and countermeasure systems were fitted in addition to 2 Phalanx Close In Defence Systems offering enhanced anti-missile defence.

The Falklands also marked the beginning of the change over to new aircraft, with the first Tornado GR1M Squadron, 700g, joining the ship in place of the Buccaneers.  The Tornado’s performance was extemporary with them causing severe damage to the Argentine carrier the Vindicio de Mayo and to several Argentine Air Force airfields on the mainland.  The interim AEW aircraft that entered service in 1985, the Pilatus Britten-Norman Sea Defender AEW Mk.1, was a controversial one.  Many had expected the Grumman Hawkeye to get the nod, but again costs were to play there part in the decision.  In the event the selection proved to be a good one as the Sea Defender has proved to be highly effective platform and the Thorn EMI Sky master radar is a very powerful system.

Recently it was announced that the replacement for the Queen Elizabeth is to be ordered, and with it will likely come the definitive AEW solution.  The Naval Airborne Early Warning and Control Aircraft competition (NAEWCA) is currently out to tender with confirmed bids based upon the Canadair Challenger or Gulfstream airframes, with others rumoured to be in the works.  It will also field the winner of the Next Generation Naval Fighter competition (NGNF).  This ‘fly off’ competition will be fought out between the Eurofighter Sea Typhoon FGA.1, currently carrying out initial company flight trials, and the Bae/SAAB JAS39 Sea Gripen FGA.1.  Both having carried out stage 1 carrier trials in the summer of 2006 this being ‘bolters’ with land based aircraft.  The full carrier trials will take place when navalised prototypes are delivered to the A&AEE Boscombe Down.

Future
Looking back over the service career of H.M.S Queen Elizabeth, she has successfully provided the fleet with continued excellent service, proving to be a highly capable and adaptable platform, and with expected slippage of the CVF programme, and the possibility of another refit, her life span could see her in to the 2020’s.

simmie:
4th

Janes All Alt-world Aircraft 87-88

The requirement for a carrier based AEW, to provide cover for the fleet was borne out the lessons of the Falklands conflict.  When it was announced that it was to be met by the purchase of the Pilatus Britten –Norman Sea Defender AEW Mk.1 was something of a shock to a great number of observers, many of whom had backed the purchase of the Grumman E.2 Hawkeye.

The initial batch of 2 aircraft were ordered in 1984, with delivery being in mid 1985.  These were put through extensive trial with the fleet and proved such a success that a second batch of 10 was ordered in 1986, initial deliveries being to 849 NAS at RNAS Yeovilton.

The aircraft carry the Thorn-EMI Skymaster radar system within the bulbous nose.  This system being developed from the successful Searchwater system used in the RAF Nimrod patrol aircraft.

In the AEW role this long range radar, using Pulse-Doppler processing, can acquire and track automatically large numbers of targets flying at all altitudes against a sea or land background.  For Maritime reconnaissance the operator selects a non-coherent, frequency agile mode of operation, optimising the system for the detection of small surface targets in high sea states out to the radar horizon.

The STOL capabilities of the Defender airframe enable the easy operation off the flight deck of H.M.S Queen Elizabeth (R07) as well as forward unprepared strips.  In the air, the aircraft’s low radar cross section aids it’s survivability in a modern air combat environment.

The first 2 aircraft were delivered as Mk.1’s, with subsequent deliveries being to the Mk.1A standard.  They are fitted with a second console to increase the operational flexibility and the ability to handle the targeting role.  An air-to-Air and Air-to-ground datalink (JTIDS), ESM, IFF and navigation equipment are fully integrated with the radar display and control system.  The initial deliveries will be brought up to this standard when the 2nd batch is complete.

Future developments will include a border surveillance role, with the radar optimised for the detection of moving targets at long range.  A synthetic aperture mode will provide high resolution mapping video, which will be linked to provide ground commanders with an all-weather real-time display showing enemy dispositions and movements.  This is proving of great interest to the British Army, with further orders a possibility being actively considered.

Performance (AEW Sea Defender at 3629 Kg; 8000lb T-O weight. A ISA; B ISA+23C):
Max rate of climb at S/L: A - 320 m (1050 ft)/min
B - 305 m (1000 ft)/min
T-O to 15 m (50 ft): A - 404 m (1325 ft)
B - 436 m (1430 ft)
Landing from 15 m (50 ft):A - 381 m (1250 ft)
B - 402 m (1320 ft)
Endurance with max fuel, no reserves 6 h 30 min

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