LHDN-II Africa class Multi Role Amphibious Assault Ships:
After the war for South Africa it became clear that, like much of the Royal Navy equipment, the
aging Ocean helicopter assault ship and the two Albion class landing dock ships were near the end of
their lifespan. A Mega Damage conversion for these ships was briefly considered, but this would only
add about fifteen years to the life of the ships. Thus it was clear that a new class of ships had to
be built.
New demands now placed on Great Brittain after its re-emergence as a colonial superpower meant
that the Royal Navy had to have the capacity to transport a full division of troops and equipment to
any part of its empire in a short time. This meant that the new ships had to have a significantly larger
troop carrying capacity than the classes that they would replace. For a while attention was focussed on
a modified Wasp design, to be purchased from the United States, but it was found that these ships would be
too large for the job required, had a undesired capacity for flight operations with fighters (the RN did
not need a Sea Control Ship) and that redesigning them as Mega Damage ships would not be as easy as first
proposed by the Americans.
The design put forward by BAE (a company whose name was sometimes seen as a abbreviation for "Battle,
Annihilation and Extinction" due to its extensive military division) was much more suited to the needs of
the Royal Navy, and also featured a rather original layout. Since there was no need for a long flightdeck
for fighterplanes, the Africa class has its main helicopter (and later VTOL) hangar in the middle of the deck,
effectively splitting the flight deck in half. The hangar could hold up to twenty craft, and a hangar
under deck could hold another twelve aircraft. On top of the hangar were two levels holding both the bridge,
the command and control room, and most of the electronics for the ship.
The superstructure was was also designed with some stealth characteristics, as was the rest of the ship.
Yet the vessel was not as stealthy as many other designs for the Royal Navy. Like all new Royal Navy ships
the Africa class had a Fusion plant for its power source. This power system had become economical and the power
plant could produce enough power to propel the vessel at 30 knots.
The weapons fit was mostly designed for self defense, and consisted of four manually operated 30 mm cannons mounted below the flight deck on its corners, two Sea RAM CIWS rocket launchers on opposite corners of the superstructure, two Goalkeepers on the other corners of the superstructure, and two 16 cell MK-41 VLS launchers integrated into the sides of the superstructure. The VLS cells were usually loaded with four Medium Range missiles each, and were used only for defensive purposes. The ship carried a Sampson phased array radar which was identical to the system carried on most of the Royal Navies frigate designs. Because the ship might have been required to act in a anti-submarine warfare role, the vessel carried a hull sonar but did not carry a towed array sonar.
Initially, an upgraded version of the STOL version of the Join Strike Fighter was carried on the vessel together with Tiger helicopters and upgraded versions of the Osprey as the ship's air wing but they were replaced by more advanced designs as time went on. By the time that the Rifts arrived, the Bucanneer (A variant of the USA made Sea Hawk) was carried as the main fighter, and the Kingfisher support VTOL was also embarked. The Royal Navy operated their own Seawolf assault helicopters from the Africa class, variants of the British armies Wolf class assault helicopter. For transporting troops and light equipment the Africa usually carried up to fourteen tilt rotor craft.
These ships had a huge amount of space for vehicles other than aircraft. These ships carry about 200 power armors, including forty Glitter Boy Power Armors, in their normal assault role. The ship was designed to carry four hovercraft that can carry troops or vehicles to the shoreline. These craft were the USA made LCAC-854 "Crab", with only minor differences in equipment. Unlike the previous classes, the hovercraft are carried on a dry deck. This dry deck enables the ship to carry other vehicles in place of the hover craft. The ship carried 10 heavy tanks, 25 armored personnel carriers, 10 missile batteries, and 50 support vehicles as a normal compliment but this could be varied per mission requirements. Unlike the US Marines the British Marines used mostly army equipment, and their Main Battle Tank of choise was therefore the exellent German built "Tiger" tank. The ship was designed with troop support as one of its primary purposes and had the capacity for 400 patients and also had a full operating room. Half of the medical department was part of the crew and the other half was part of the marine compliment. Like most ships built at the time, the ship has a large amount of automation to reduce crew requirements.
When the Rifts came the Africa had just undergone a refit, and had taken on a complete regiment of Royal Marines.
Having just taken on the pilot that was to guide the Africa into the harbor of Portsmouth where she was to join
forces with the Temeraire and the rest of the battlegroup, she was less than half a kilometre away from the mouth of the
harbor when she was locked away by the druidic seal that closed off Portsmouth and the nearly complete battlegroup.
The Africa in her final guise is represented in this writeup.
Model Type: LHDN-II Africa class Multi Role Amphibious Assault Ships
Vehicle Type: Ocean, Assault Vessel
Crew: 420 (30 officers, 50 chief petty officers, 340 enlisted [Has a high degree of automation])
Troops: 220 pilots for X-10 Power Armor, 50 pilots for Glitterboy Power Armor, 160 Aircraft Pilots,
300 vehicle crew members, and 1,600 soldiers.
Robots, Power Armors, and Vehicles (Standard):
Power Armors:
| 160 | X-10A Predator Power Armors | |
| 40 | USA-G10 Glitterboys? |
| 8 | EV-84A General Cargo / Search and Rescue | |
| 4 | EVS-84A Anti-Submarine Warfare | |
| 4 | EVE-84A Electronics Warfare | |
| 6 | S-14 Bucanneer VTOL Jet Fighters | |
| 6 | IE-15AH Sea Wolf Attack Helicopters | |
| 14 | Utility Tilt Rotors |
| 4 | LCAC-854 "Crab" |
| 10 | Pzkw XI Tiger MBT | |
| 20 | USA-M-8 Maverick IFV ? | |
| 10 | USA-M-9 Morgan Missile Vehicle ? | |
| 50 | Support Vehicles |
M.D.C. by location:
| [1] Elevators (2): | 400 each | |
| Hanger Doors (2): | 400 each | |
| [2] Flight Deck (2) | 2,000 each | |
| Rear Vehicle Doors: | 600 | |
| [3] Main Bridge / Superstructure: | 2,000 | |
| [4] Sampson Active Phased Array Radar System: | 500 | |
| 30 mm cannon (4): | 50 each | |
| 30 mm Goalkeeper CIWS (2): | 130 each | |
| Sea RAM CIWS (2): | 100 each | |
| MK-41 Tactical length 16 cell VLS (2, sides of superstructure) | 100 each | |
| Chaff Launchers (4, Superstructure): | 10 each | |
| [5] Main Body: | 10,000 |
Notes:
[1] If all two elevators are destroyed, no aircraft can be moved from the hangars to the main flight deck.
[2] If both flight decks are destroyed, only VTOL aircraft can be launched or land. VTOL aircraft are at -15%
to piloting.
[3] If Bridge / Superstructure is destroyed, the ship can still be piloted from engineering but with a -15%
to piloting rolls. Communication and sensor equipment are not concentrated on the bridge to reduce the
effectiveness of bridge hits.
[4] Destroying the Sampson Array will destroy the ship's fire control systems but all systems have
backup control systems. All Bonuses are lost if the Sampson Array is destroyed.
[5] Destroying the main body destroys propulsion and power systems, disabling the ship. The ship is fitted
with advanced polymer armors that allow the ship to withstand up to -2000 MDC before losing structural integrity
and sinking. There are enough life preservers and inflatable life boats to accommodate everyone on the ship including
marines.
Speed:
Surface: 34.5 mph (30 knots/ 55.6 kph)
Range: Unlimited due to fusion engines (needs to refuel every20 years and requires maintenance as well).
Ship carries six months of supplies on board.
Statistical Data:
Length: 850 feet (259.1 meters)
Draft: 27.5 feet (8.4 meters)
Width: 145 feet (44.2 meters)
Displacement: 36,200 tons standard and 42,500 tons fully loaded
Cargo: 5000 tons of nonessential equipment and supplies (Increase to 12,000 tons without vehicles.)
Each enlisted crew member has a smalllocker for personal items and uniforms. Ships officers have more space
for personal items. Most of the ship's spaces are taken up by extra ammo, armor, troops, weapons, and engines.
Power System: 4 Fusion Reactors, average life span is 20 years
Market Cost: Not for Sale but costs around 800 million credits to construct. If found and sold
on the black market would probably cost 2 to 4 billion credits
WEAPON SYSTEMS:
Special Systems:
The ship has all systems standard on a robot vehicle plus the following special features:
[Golden Age Weaponsmiths and Triax are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]
[ Rifts® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc.]
By Mischa (E-Mail Mischa).
Copyright 2001 Mischa. All rights reserved.
