Kirishima-class cruiser

Though officially classed by the Imperial Navy as a heavy cruiser, the class has also been described as battlecruisers due to their strong armament, particularly the composite beam laser arrays.

Description
The Kirishima-class are an evolution of the Fujishima-class cruiser, with an increase in size and armament and inclusion of the Kusanagi Integrated Combat System. Unlike the Fujishima-class, the Kirishima-class is specifically designed for multi-role operations. With the installed Kusanagi Combat System, they are able to provide networking and screening support for other vessels in the fleet, as well as act as command ships for other vessels. Heavy firepower and armour give the Kirishima-class potent staying power, enabling them to be placed both on the main battle line as well as to carry out fast flanking maneuvers on enemy formations. The vessels are also able to carry out long-range solo patrols.

Considered heavily armed for their size and class, the Kirishima-class cruisers boast a weapons battery comprising of a mixture of missiles, directed-energy weapons, and railguns. Each cruiser carries up to 52 Type-90 long-range anti-ship missiles on board for long-range combat, as well as a Kusanagi-integrated ITANO multipurpose missile system with 640 cells spread across the ship's dorsal and ventral decks for light anti-fighter missiles (packed four missiles per cell), short-range anti-ship missiles, space-to-surface missiles, and others.

Four Ichiro Class-7 Composite Beam Laser Arrays are mounted on the left and right flanks for a total of eight composite beam lasers, an unprecedentedly heavy energy weapon complement more typical of battleship-sized vessels that has led to the Kirishima-class occasionally being referred to as battlecruisers. These weapons use the E-KON energy capacitor system which allows for six consecutive full-powered shots each, with six hours of charging from the main reactor required for the E-KON capacitors to reach full charge. Each composite beam laser array is capable of highly accurate long-range anti-ship directed energy fire.

The main gun battery on the Kirishima-class consists of nine dual turrets of 360 mm railguns and 10 quadruple turrets of 152 mm railguns, with a secondary battery of 26 dual turrets of 76 mm railguns. These guns are positioned on both the dorsal and ventral decks, though there is a higher concentration of weapons on the dorsal deck. For close-in defence against enemy ordnance and aerospacecraft, 57 Kirino Dynamics Yamabushi-5 CIWS units are deployed at strategic locations across the hull, with 25 on the dorsal deck and command superstructure and 32 on the ventral deck, with full 360-degree coverage and overlapping fields of fire.

Each Kirishima-class cruiser has a crew of 2,770 personnel, with amenities ranging from a large mess hall, a sports hall, enlisted and officers' mess, and a small traditional garden for the command staff and receiving VIPs. Typical of Imperial warship design, a prominent superstructure culminating in a command tower is built up on the dorsal deck. Topped with two geodesic multipurpose sensor domes, the command tower features the main command bridge, communications, and navigation departments. The combat information centre and fire control centre are buried deep within the command tower beneath layers of armour and are shielded against electronic warfare attacks.

There are hangar bays on the Kirishima-class, with a small VIP hangar located on the rear of the command bridge and a larger general-purpose hangar on the ventral deck. A typical aerospacecraft complement includes two Egusa-class shuttles for VIP transportation and four Karito-class shuttles for general personnel and cargo transfer purposes.

History
The Kirishima-class was first conceived in 255 as a replacement for the older Fujishima-class cruisers. A key requirement by Imperial Navy high command was to incorporate the new Kusanagi Integrated Combat System, which was to be introduced on the new Asashio-class destroyer and was already being added to the Akagi-class battleships in a mid-life upgrade. The development team was led by then-Captain Furukawa Mirin from the Imperial Navy Tactical Warfare Development Centre. Shinomiya Heavy Engineering was awarded the manufacturing contract in 276.

The first Kirishima-class ships were laid down at the Onogoro Kurezora Orbital Shipyards in Shigatsu 276. Production of the Kirishima-class was initially confined to Onogoro, though later vessels would also be built at the Shirada Imperial Shipyards. With the outbreak of the Empire-Hierarchy War in 277, construction was rushed on the first two Kirishima-class ships, Kirishima and Notojima, and both ships underwent secret deep-space trials before they were commissioned in Junigatsu 277, just one month before the end of the war. Both Kirishima and Notojima were immediately sent to the front as part of the 4th Combat Group, under the 3rd Fleet.

In combat with the Hierarchy's Aerospace Force, the Kirishima-class vessels destroyed three capital ship equivalents and disabled five other capital ship equivalents, as well as several smaller vessels, with minimal damage. Deemed a success, plans were accelerated to adopt the Kirishima-class as the new primary cruiser class of the Imperial Navy.

Subsequently, the Kirishima-class saw action during the 287 Empire-Union War.

In 295, with the retirement of the last Fujishima-class cruiser Kohama, the Kirishima-class became the primary combat cruiser class of the Imperial Navy.