Okay. So I posted my new Rangers a little while back, and I have just not been satisfied with them. I've been trying to work them out to where I like them, but I decided to try a different tack.
I've been toying with an idea of what if the RNFN used light frigates or corvettes in place of larger ships in an attempt to save money and manpower. So this is my new-new class of mid-cold war escorts.
Designed as light ASW escorts, the
Rangers were intended to operate in the waters of Newfoundland and Labrador, specifically the Grand Banks, as well as the Canadian coast and serve as light escorts to convoys in the event of war. Their main ASW system was their embarked helicopters, but they also carried two boxed Ikara missiles and a pair of torpedo launchers for direct engagements. To give them a more rounded armament, they were fitted with two quad-Sea Cats. They were short-legged and could not operate on long range operations without tanker support.
After their MLU. Main radar upgraded and the Sea Cats replaced with the Short Super Seacats. While the RNFN wanted to utilize the Sea Wolf missile after the upgrade, the standard system was found to be too heavy to use, and the lightweight systems were years away. The Ikaras were replaced with two twin Harpoon launchers, carrying two Harpoons and two Narwhal ASW missiles. These ships would serve from the 70's into the early 2000's before their replacements were completed.
The main guns, if you hadn't noticed, are a little different. I've loved Rowdy's idea on his patrol boats of using a main gun that was an adoption of the 105mm L118 artillery system. And I've blatantly stolen the idea, and will be using his designed turret as my modern version on the next-gen corvettes that I'm a few days from posting. So these are my take on a older looking system, with a boxier turret and visual guidance system. I've really liked the idea of using a standard caliber system for both the Army and Navy for my AU, and as envisioned the L118 as being the likely artillery piece for my small AU Army, a 4.1" or 105mm gun just seemed like a nice little fit for these smaller-scale escorts.