Alicorn (nuclear submarine)

The Alicorn was a large nuclear submarine and the only known member of the Alicorn class of submersible aviation cruisers. [2]

The Alicorn carried numerous weapons designed for mass destruction, including railguns that can fire shells equipped with nuclear warheads.[2] As the successor to the Scinfaxi class of submarines, the Alicorn also featured a runway and landing strip to support squadrons of fighter aircraft.[3]

The Alicorn was captained by Matias Torres, a radical member of the Erusean Navy. Torres wished to use the Alicorn to kill millions of civilians in Oured in order to horrify both sides into ending the Lighthouse War, which he believed would take ten million lives.[2]

Vessel
"The sub's force projection capabilities are equivalent to a carrier strike group." ― David North

The Alicorn featured a larger and more ambitious design than the Scinfaxi and Hrimfaxi before it. The Alicorn was 495 m (1,624 ft) in length with a long airstrip running down the middle of the submarine,[2] whereas the Scinfaxi was reported to exceed 300 m (980 ft) in length[6] and had a small vertical takeoff platform at the rear of the vessel.[7]

The Alicorn was a trimaran design - amidships, the vessel divides into three stern sections: the central airstrip and two large auxiliary hulls used for propulsion that contain its powerful arsenal. Underneath the airstrip, the Alicorn carries two nuclear reactors that power the entire vessel.[2] The Alicorn also features the ability to generate oxygen underwater, allowing crew members to survive when the sub is submerged even in the case of an accident.[3]

The Alicorn's specifications are as follows:

Length (submerged): 495 m (1,624 ft) Beam (submerged): 116 m (381 ft) Height (submerged): 54 m (177 ft) Displacement Submerged: 810,000 metric tons (800,000 long tons; 890,000 short tons) Surfaced: 650,000 metric tons (640,000 long tons; 720,000 short tons) Propulsion: Two nuclear geared turbines/turbo-electric mixed flow pump jets with conductive internal flow magnetohydrodynamics units Power: 300,000 horsepower (220,000 kilowatts) per jet Engine: Two liquid metal-cooled nuclear reactors Propellers: Seven forward-skewed propellers (estimated) Speed Submerged: 42 knots (78 km/h; 48 mph) Surfaced: 37 knots (69 km/h; 43 mph) Crew: 270–350 Company: 150 Air wing: 120–200 (20–30 aircraft) Force projection capability: 400 kilometers (250 mi)

Weaponry
48 Vertical Launch System missile launchers are placed within both hulls. These VLS launchers support various short-range[2] and long-range missiles, including SLBMs. The SLBMs can carry various warheads, including 200 kt nuclear warheads.[3] Additionally, the Alicorn carries heavy anti-air armaments along its bow and stern, including CIWS and RAM missile launchers that are deployed from hatches within the hull. [8]

The Alicorn also carries two large electromagnetic railguns, one on each auxiliary hull, placed in front of the VLS launchers. Each railgun can fire 80 rounds per minute. The sabot in each railgun is 200 mm with a barrel length of 6.5 mm (33 caliber) and the capacity to support 155 mm projectiles, guided by GPS/INS. The projectiles range from Armor-Piercing Composite Rigid (APCR) shells to High-Explosive Anti-Ship (HEAS) shells

In addition to the two side railguns, the Alicorn is also fitted with a far more powerful 600mm/128 caliber rail cannon hidden underneath the carrier deck used for long-range attacks. Its estimated energy output is at least 500 megajoules. When it fires at minimum-energy trajectory, its effective range is over 3,000 kilometers (1,900 mi). The railgun's projectiles can change their flight paths using terminal guidance provided by an SLUAV. However, should the SLUAV be destroyed, a fail-safe forces the projectiles to immediately self-destruct.[9] It can even load specialized nuclear shells. These 1 kiloton-yield projectiles are capable of killing anyone within a 400 meters (1,300 ft) radius around the impact site instantaneously.[2]

Finally, the Alicorn features a small jamming unit atop the superstructure used to produce ECM.

Aircraft
The Alicorn has a large carrier deck for full carrier aircraft integration. Additionally, 8 large bays on each side of the superstructure house launch ports for SLUAVs[10] and Barrier drones, which can be used even underwater.[11] The Alicorn can carry at least 20 and at most 30 manned aircraft, depending on the type of aircraft and the number of crew required to maintain them. The Alicorn supports five distinct aircraft configurations:[2]

20 Su-33 Flanker-Ds 22 F/A-18F Super Hornets 24 MiG-29Ks 30 Rafale Ms   An unknown number of SLUAVs An unknown number of barrier drones