Fleet Air Defence and Strike

The Ardent-class destroyer was conceptualised as a replacement for the smaller destroyers that had previously served the Saltwater Navy in its escort groups, that provided air defence cover to the Minerva-class frigates that screened the fleet from surface and submarine threats.

The vessel evolved into a much heavier warship over time, with the planned vertical launch system count growing from 80 cells to 128, with a bulkier aft superstructure to accommodate a pair of medium-lift helicopters and unmanned vehicles that were to service the flotillas of frigates the warship was expected to escort.

Each destroyer was further fitted with up to twenty-four Harpoon anti-ship missiles, with the express purpose of finishing off disabled enemy combatants without wasting the more capable and expensive vertically-launched munitions better suited to striking defended targets. Aft of this armament, four boat bays can accommodate either one seaboat or one unmanned surface vessel, usually carrying two of each overall, with the latter assets capable of a range of tasks that include remote sensing, mine detection, and direct attack on hostile watercraft.

Central of all, however, are the large active electronically-scanned radar arrays that sit atop the large superstructure of the Ardent-class, capable of detecting low-observable threats out to far greater distances than the smaller and lower-set arrays present on the Minerva-class they escort.

The Ardent-class would not last long in Saltee service, however, with most decommissioned following the anti-Lisbonite revolution that saw the Saltee monarchy forced from the Iberian peninsular, with a second series of vessels later commissioned to serve the Federation of the Three Kingdoms in their naval element, leading frigate fleets as intended.

Each vessel was constructed for an average cost of $2.2 billion, displacing 11,000 tons and with an unrefuelled range of 9,100 kilometres at 18 knots.

Instructions:
AG1+TRIM+VTOL controls the main gun.
AG2+TRIM+VTOL controls the point-defence missile launcher.
AG3+TRIM+VTOL controls the crewed machine guns.
THROTTLE+YAW controls movement.

Gallery