R3 :  Federal Shipyards Federal Ship - RINKHAL


     
   

RINKHAL : Multi-role Frigate

The Federal Navy might soon be decommissioning some of their light-cruiser and destroyer class craft once they take delivery of the new 'Rinkhal'. Designed, developed and constructed by R3 Shipyards over the last 2 years, this Frigate class craft has raised eyebrows all over the system during the four month long testing period! Take a good look because this ship is exclusive to the Federal Navy and may not be available to the public for another 50-60 years.

   
     

       
   





General Information

The craft was designated as Frigate class by the Federal Navy and given the description "Multi-Role Frigate". The Federal Navy has placed an order for 350 ships, which is to be completed within the next 2 years, making this a very worthwhile venture indeed for R3 Shipyards!

The most noticeable thing about the Rinkhal on first sight is the delta-wing configuration. This is to give the ship optimum stability when in VTOL mode, which it does effortlessly. The class IV military drive ensures that there is always more than enough power for the craft to operate at optimum peak performance, 100% of the time.

Although the Rinkhal is slightly heavier than the ship it is designed to replace (Asp Explorer) it can accelerate faster and out-manoeuvre its rival with ease. An added bonus of the Rinkhal is the top mounted turret gun (fitted with a 1MW beam laser) which can be operated manually or automatically. In auto mode the turret can be fired independently of the main forward (or rear) gun. Automation of the turret is controlled by computer where all target acquisition, gun arming and firing is decided in automatic mode. The front and rear guns (fitted with a 4MW beam laser) are always operated manually and the Rinkhal comes with a retractable front gun, which is housed in the upper nose section of the ship. The front gun port opens and the barrel extends automatically when there has been a proximity alert, which also activates the top turret. This is all controlled by the onboard combat computer. The front gun can also be activated manually. This craft is also fitted with no less than 6 missile pylons to further complement the already adequate array of armament. The newly designed NN800 navy missile is scheduled to fill these pylons.

Many special electronic features are incorporated in the Rinkhal, some not seen in any other Federal Navy craft! A new planet and satellite based gas monitor system for detecting nuclear missiles on approaching ships has proved such a success with the Navy that they have now requested that the system be made mobile. We believe there would be no better craft with which to fulfil this than the Rinkhal. Other electronic systems include an enhanced radar and scanner with system-wide SSR capabilities, updated hyperspace cloud analysis equipment and a brand new state-of-the-art combat computer which gives the Rinkhal a defining edge over every other ship it may come up against in battle.

A very important change on this craft is to the landing gear. As the gear is never deployed in zero-G conditions the extension of the gear is operated by gravity from an electric relay. Once the gear is fully extended a mechanism locks it in place so it will not retract. Retraction of the gear on take-off is achieved by electric motor. In case of malfunction there is always the manual override winch, which never fails. If the pilot forgets to lift the gear it is retracted automatically as soon as the craft reaches an altitude of 7,000 meters.

The Rinkhal is designed to be fast, responsive and reliable and as the end of a four month testing period drew to a close it was obvious that what we had built was something extraordinary, something very special. The agility of the Rinkhal is unbelievable and can send a seasoned pilot into blackout (within a planets atmosphere) very easily! The skin of the craft is also a new concept in design. The exterior of the ship is made from a heat-shielding alloy, eradicating the need to fit atmospheric shielding and also solving some of the problems caused by heat exchange while flying through a planets atmosphere.

The R3 Shipyard expects to be delivering the first order of Rinkhals to the Federal Navy by the back end of this year, if not sooner.

 

 

   
       

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