FFHN-1 Vandalia Class

• FFHN-1 Vandalia Class
• Type: frigate
• Year of commissioning: 1980
• Displacement: 4500 metric tons (full load)
• L*B*D: 121m * 14m * 8,5m
• Length oa: 131m6
• Beam oa: 15m
• Draft: 4m
• Freeboard: 4,5m
• Block coefficient: 0,66
• Propulsion: CONAG (COmbined Nuclear And Gas)
• 1 x Westinghouse LWNP, generating 25000 SHP
• 1 x General Electric LM-2500-30 generating 21,500 SHP
• 4 x diesel generator
• Speed: cruising speed 20 kts, top speed 30 knots
• Range: practically unlimited at 20kts, but 1000nm 30 knots time. Patrol range limited only by crew, diesel and helicopter fuel.
• Complement: 200
• Sensor and processing systems: radar: mk 23 TAS air search, SPS-76 surface search, heli control radar. Directors: 2 x mk 95 NSSM director. Sonar: SQS-56, SQR-19 Towed Array
• Electronic warfare and Decoy systems: SLQ-32(V)2, AN/SLQ-25 Nixie
• Arnament: vertical loading 155 mm gun with the ability to fire depth charges and sonobouys
• Mk 29 NSSM launch system
• Phalanx
• 2 x Mk 32 triple torpedo tubes
• Aircraft carried: 2 x SH-3 Sea King ASW helicopters.

The ships would have most likely taken part of the place of the Spruances. (some of) the Spruances would be converted to Kidd types, as was originally planned. These ships are ideal for keeping an large area of ocean covered with relatively few ships. I designed them along the lines of the Perry class, as I had done a lot of research on those. This ship came out entirely different though, as you can see. An drawback of the propulsion system is the cost. The only way to cut cost…. Was to cut other systems then the engines. In this case: the radars. This makes the ship unable to do any other role then ASW. For the same reason I chose the perry’s sonar.