Quote:
Originally Posted by Lady Jane
Educate me Larry: What is the difference between a cruiser, frigate, destroyer etc...  |
Let me use two Royal Australian Navy ships as an illustration:
-- The RAN has three fairly new AEGIS "Air Warfare Destroyers" based on a Spanish design. They displace 7,700 tons at full load and are armed with Standard missiles, a longer-range anti-air weapon, as well as Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile Systems (ESSMS), a helicopter, a 5-inch gun, etc. Very capable ships with a crew of 202. The Spanish Navy calls them guided-missile frigates, despite similar capabilities. I suspect these ships could be given anti-ballistic missile capabilities if Australia desired. (The other contender for this contract was the U.S. design AEGIS destroyer -- 9,000+ tons and far more expensive.)
-- The RAN has eight helicopter-capable frigates (the same FFH designation used by the RCN's Halifax class FFHs). They displace 4,000 tons at full load. They are a bit older -- built in the 1990s -- but have been updated more recently. They do not have AEGIS and cannot fire the Standard missiles. They do have the same 5-inch gun and helicopter facilities and can fire shorter-range ESSMS. They embark a crew of 179.