Swordfish-class Escort Destroyer

The Swordfish-class is a vessel in Vekllei.

The Swordfish-class escort destroyer is a multi-role escort destroyer of the Marine Services of Vekllei. The class consolidates the earlier Baker-class design into a single improved platform designed to provide comprehensive escort capabilities for Commonwealth fleets, with balanced air defense, anti-submarine warfare, and surface combat capabilities.

Three missile arms on two launchers at the fore and centre decks are capable of firing No. 3 Rackham missiles sequentially. This is a common and versatile missile platform in Vekllei, and can carry specialised payloads including nuclear armament. These missiles are about 10 meters tall, and are fed into the launchers via automatic magazines in the armoured hull of the destroyer. They have a reliable air interception range of about 300km. The system is complemented by No. 6 Shemozzle anti-ship and anti-submarine missile launchers.

There are two 76mm “Vanguard” guns at the bow and aft, and two 40mm point-defence canons on the flanks. The class is powered by the Vampire marine nuclear power plant, with improvements to hydrodynamics allowing sustained speeds of up to 33 knots. The crew size is 310, reduced from earlier designs through increased automation in various ship systems. In total the ships have a displacement of 9,000 tons and a length of 165 meters, and are home stationed in Naval Station Mira.

The Swordfish-class is also fitted with improved sensor and electronic warfare systems under a Master and Auxiliary Automatic Asset Command computer. These updates were made to counter American improvements to chaff detection in their anti-ship missiles.