Proteus Class Strike Cruiser

The Proteus (C-99) class strike cruiser is a historic class of double-ended, flush deck, nuclear-powered, guided missile strike cruiser (CSGN) which had previously formed the backbone of Etoile Arcture's carrier fleet screening force. The class was based on a modified SCB 169 (Long Beach) hull form in turn modified from 1930s fast cruiser hull lines, and was fitted out with a then state-of-the-art second generation D2G naval nuclar reactor to provide electricity generation and propulsion with nuclear fuel equivalent to 3 million barrels of oil. Their equipment fit included the first-generation Aegis combat direction system, the Standard Missile 2 (SM-2) weapon system, Tomahawk cruise missiles, SQQ-89(V) sonar suite and SQR-19B towed-array passive sonar. They were amongst the oldest class of vessels remaining in service with the Etoile Arcture Maritime Forces at the time of their decomissioning, having in many cases outlived the nuclear-powered aircraft carriers they had been originally designed to escort.

Description

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Conceived in the late 1970s and designed, built and commissioned during the 1980s they retained many legacy systems into the 2000s including their pressurised water-cooled reactors, SPY-1 radars and Aegis combat system, manpower-intensive single-arm MK 13 and double-ended twin-arm MK 26 automated missile launchers, and a single 8-inch gun mount, all of which would have proven too uneconomical to replace. Built with a steel double hull and superstructure rated to 48 kPa (7 psi) overpressure air blast protection, the ships also incorporated Kevlar armour in vital spaces and a nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) partial-collective overpressure protection system in a gas-tight citadel. A two-bay hangar and two-spot flight deck was mounted amidships for high stability in heavy seas to support helicopter operations.
During the latter part of their life the class was often criticised for their obsolete systems, poor stealth levels, lack of automation, vast operating expense, high manning requirements, dwindling repair parts supply, and maintenance-intensive nuclear reactors that needed to be refuelled every 15 years. Its flag facilities (computing processing, display systems, etc) had become entirely obsolete by the late-1990s and their role increasingly taken over by the more austere and affordable gas turbine-powered Cygnus class battlegroup destroyer. Nonetheless, these ageing ships still offered unparalleled high-speed performance and unlimited endurance in support of the surface fleet. Their roles were expanded over the years to include crisis response (in support of pre-positioned maritime forces) and naval gunfire support using modern extended-range guided munitions (ERGM) fired from the 8-inch gun.

Upgrades

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Most strike cruisers at the midway point of their 30 year service lives were refuelled and overhauled at least once to bring the entire fleet up to a Flight IA standard. During their mid-life overhauls the ships received a number of backfits including:

• Fitting of the Recovery Assist Secure and Traversing (RAST) helicopter-hauldown system and Helicopter Inflight Refuelling (HIFR) system on to the flight deck;

• Replacement of the original complement of four MK 15 Phalanx close-in weapon systems (CWIS) with more capable SGE-30 Goalkeeper (mounted fore and aft) CWIS and MK 15 Mod 31 SeaRAM inner-layer missile systems (mounted port and starboard);

• Deletion of the two 40 mm saluting guns and fitting of two remote-operated MK 38 Mod 0 Machine Gun Systems armed with M242 Bushmaster 25 mm/87 chain guns, and six pintle mounted manually trained M2HB 12.7 mm/50 (0.5 inch) heavy machine guns. Weapon lockers also store MK 19 Mod 3 40 mm Grenade Machine Guns and FIM-92E Stinger shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles;

• Installation of modernized AN/SPY-1B(V) phased-array multi-function radars fore and aft and a AN/SPQ-9B fire control radar capable of detecting sea-skimming threats;

• Aegis Combat System MK 7 Baseline 5 hardware upgrades including replacing the ageing AN/UYK-7 32-bit but 1960s-era computer processing architecture with AN/UYK-44 16-bit and AN/UYK-43 'Low Boy' 32-bit microprocessor-based computers with Open Systems Module (OSM) six-slot VMEbus backplanes for 6U form factor processor cards, and replacing the CRT-based AN/UYA-4 video displays and AN/UYQ-21(V) shipboard display systems with new AN/UYQ-70(V) digital crew workstations with single-board 6U VME RISC processors and 19-inch LCD displays;

• Integration of MK 141 Harpoon launchers and MK 143 Tomahawk armoured box launchers along with new weapon control systems to coordinate them;

• Upgrade of Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System (LAMPS) shipboard anti-submarine warfare helicopters from LAMPS I standard (Kaman SH-2F Seasprite) to LAMPS III standard (Sikorsky SH-60B Seahawk) with additional anti-ship capability;

• Addition of LAMPS III, JTIDS and Link 11 real-time datalinks and UHF satcom terminals for interoperability with more modern task force vessels and aircraft;

• Modernized AN/SLQ-32A(V)3 Electronic Warfare Suite incorporating dual active jammers with Electronic Attack (EA) capability against terminal guidance radars;

• AN/SQQ-89(V)4 Anti-Submarine Warfare/Undersea Warfare Combat System and MK 116 Mod 7 Anti-Submarine Weapon Control System integrated by Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network local area network, 32-bit signal processor upgrades and installation of AN/SQS-53C(V)4 hull-mounted sonar with Kingfisher mine detection system, and AN/SQR-19B TACTAS towed array sonar;

• Fitting of short-range mortars firing MK 36 SRBOC (Super Rapid Blooming Offboard Chaff), MK 53 Nulka active decoys, Sea Gnat and TORCH infra-red flare decoys, and launchers for the AN/SLQ-49 "Rubber Duck" inflatable chaff buoy decoy to protect against missile attack;

• Integration of the AN/SLQ-25B Nixie towed electro-acoustic torpedo countermeasure system.

Decommissioning

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With production ended in 1990 and no further updates planned, cannibalization of spare parts from decommissioned ships allowed a cadre of 90 vessels to be kept in service through 2019 before a final decision was made to scrap or sell the remaining ships. The fate of stricken ships ranged from being expended as targets during sink exercises (SINKEX) to test new anti-ship missiles and torpedoes, disposal by scrapping and dismantling to remove hazardous radioactive material, and even sunk as artificial reefs (in the case of two incomplete hulls that had never been fitted with a nuclear reactor compartment). The class leader EAS Proteus (C-99) was itself stricken in 2012 and is currently preserved as a museum ship at Air/Naval Station Segni Bay in Etoile Arcture.