French Verdun class Multi Role Amphibious Assault Ship:
Because the French government had not upgraded much of its military during the first half of the Twenty-First century, the state of their forces dropped to deplorable levels. The majority of their equipment was old, worn-out, and outdated. The resurgence of colonial Britain in 2055 "woke up" the French government and made them realize that they had lost their status as a world power. To make up on lost ground, the French government funded and enormous military build-up program to re-equip its military in all areas. The army, navy, and air force all received funding for projects, especially those dedicated to colonial expansion and enhancing global presence.
During the French evacuation of the Congo embassy in 2068, the aircraft carrier Bretagne did an admirable job in supporting the airborne and marine forces that were deployed to defend the evacuation. However, it quickly became apparent that the ship was not designed to support marine operations in shallow waters. There was insufficient personnel stowage for the marines' equipment and weapons near their bunks. The carrier was never designed to operate in shallow coastal waters. The Mistral class dock landing ships, Mistral and Tonnerre, had reached the end of their useful lives and were to be retired by 2070. With the retirement of the older Foudre and Siroco in the mid 2040's, this would have left the French Navy/Marine force without any sort of replacement. What was required was an amphibious assault ship on par with the American Tripoli, British Africa, and Soviet Borodino class vessels.
Like the Bretagne class aircraft carriers, the new Verdun amphibious assault ship design was to be significantly larger than their British rivals. This was due to two reasons. The first was that the French were an incredibly prideful people and wanted their ships to be larger and more majestic then those designs of the Royal Navy. Secondly, and more importantly, the limited resources of the French fleet did not always allow for either the carriers Bretagne or Provence to be on hand to support any amphibious operations. The Verdun and Bearn could have had to carry out an assault with only a few destroyers, frigates, and submarines as support. They therefore needed to be able to carry significantly more fighters and fighter-bombers than traditional assault carriers. The ships were also to be capable of transporting an entire marine regiment without additional amphibious transports. As such, they were to fill the role of an amphibious command ship as well. All in all, the ships were to be nearly as complex as the Soviet Borodino amphibious multi-role command ships. They would not have to full the role of gunfire support as the new Jean Bart amphibious support cruisers would be in direct support of the Verdun and Bearn. Nor were they intended to support mine counter-measures operations or actively conduct anti-submarine warfare. They were intended to be simply, although extremely large, amphibious assault ships.
As stated, the amphibious assault ships were very large, they were actually larger than the older Charles de Gaulle class aircraft carriers and were the largest amphibious vessels save for the American Ticonderoga SCVN and proposed Inchon SLVN. Outwardly, they followed the same lines as the Charles de Gaulle class aircraft carriers, though with a larger island. The ship had a dual flight deck with a ski-jump located at the bow of the ship. Normal operations had the fixed wing assets utilizing the bow and ski-jump for launches while the angled deck was used primarily for launching helicopters. Of course, the angled deck was required for landing the fixed-wing assets like the Aigle STOLs, and required that helicopter operations were either suspended or moved to the straight portion of the flightdeck. Although this seemed cumbersome to many naval designers, the French navy made it work nearly flawlessly. Five transport hovercraft were carried in an internal dry deck rather than a well-deck. This dry deck enables the ship to carry other vehicles in place of the hovercraft.
The amphibious vessels had fusion power as their main power source from the onset, and power plants could produce enough power to propel the vessel at 30 knots. The plants were the same fitted to all of the new designs coming into the French navy and allowed for ease of maintenance and good efficiency. The ship carried variable pitch propellers which makes the propulsion system both more efficient and allows from crash stops. The hull and superstructure were designed with a reduced radar cross signature but the vessel is not as stealthy as many other designs. These ships were designed with a heavy point defense array with vertical launch missile systems and four railgun CIWS mounts. The ship carried the same sensor suite as the Bretagne class aircraft carriers to ensure excellent air operations as well as detection and tracking of hostile threats.
Two of these ships were constructed for the French Navy. The Verdun was completed 2079 and the Bearn was laid down in 2075 and completed in 2081. They gave an excellent account of themselves over the course of their lives. Both ships were at sea, supported by the amphibious support cruisers Lorraine in the Mediterranean and Jean Bart near the Horn of Africa respectively. It is known if either survived the Great Cataclysm; however their super strong hulls could have helped them remain intact.
Model Type: Verdun class Multi Role Amphibious Assault Ship
Vehicle Type: Ocean, Assault Vessel
Crew: 650 (50 officers, 75 chief petty officers, 525 enlisted
[Has a high degree of automation])
Troops: 2900 (300 pilots for Lafayette Power Armor, 400 aircraft
crew members, 200 vehicle crew members, and 2000 soldiers)
Robots, Power Armors, and Vehicles (Standard):
Power Armors:
| 200 | Lafayette Power Armor |
| 22 | Mirage VIII-N VSTOL Fighter/Bomber | |
| 6 | Épée VSTOL Fighter | |
| 3 | Aigle Airborne Radar Support VSTOL Aircraft | |
| 3 | Aigle ASW Support VSTOL Aircraft | |
| 6 | Panthère NH110 ASW Helicopter | |
| 22 | Panthère NH110 Transport Helicopter |
| 5 | Air Cushion Landing Craft |
| 7 | Chevillon Light Tank | |
| 17 | Lemonnier IFV | |
| 4 | Weygand Missile Vehicle | |
| 4 | Hering Anti-Aircraft Tack | |
| 24 | Support Vehicles |
M.D.C. by location:
| [1] Elevators (3): | 400 each | |
| Hanger Doors (3): | 400 each | |
| [2] Main Flight Deck | 2,000 | |
| Rear Vehicle Doors: | 500 | |
| [3] Main Bridge / Superstructure: | 1,500 | |
| [4] SPS-88 Active Phased Array Radar System: | 160 | |
| Combination Anti-Missile Defense System (4, Flight Deck): | 200 each | |
| Chaff Launchers (4, Superstructure): | 10 each | |
| [5] Main Body: | 7,000 |
Notes:
[1] If both elevators are destroyed, no aircraft can be moved from
the hangers to the main flight deck.
[2] If the flight deck is 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 Phase Array radar will destroy the ship's fire control
systems but secondary systems have backup systems and panels can compensate
for each other. All Bonuses are lost if panels are 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 every
20 years and requires maintenance as well). Ship carries six months of
supplies on board.
Statistical Data:
Length: 885.6 feet (270 meters) waterline and 935 feet (285
meters) overall
Draft: 36.1 feet (11 meters)
Width: 114.8 feet (35 meters) waterline and 1246 feet (75 meters)
overall
Displacement: 44,000 tons standard and 55,000 tons fully loaded
Cargo: 6000 tons of nonessential equipment and supplies (Increase
to 11,000 tons without vehicles.) Each enlisted crew member has a small
locker 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 1.5 billion credits
to construct. If found and sold on the black market would probably cost
3 to 6 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 Kamikazi (kamikazi_gm@hotmail.com).
Copyright © 2004, Kamikazi. All rights reserved.
