Asashio-class destroyer (FT)

Designed as multimission destroyers, the Asashio-class is capable of fulfilling all missions required by the Imperial Navy, including the space-to-surface strike role; anti-craft screening role; anti-stealth warfare role; and standard ship-to-ship warfare. The hull and superstructure are designed to have a reduced sensor cross-section.

Characteristics
Asashio-class destroyers have a wedge-shaped, 325 metre-long hull protected by the standard Imperial nanocrystal titanium-3 external plating and layered ceramic-carbon-nanotube composite plating. The command tower is located on the dorsal deck towards the rear of the vessel, which is topped by the command bridge and primary communications suites. The combat information centre and the centralised data centre are located directly beneath the command tower, protected by the thickest armour sections. The Asashio-class has a single small hangar bay on the underside of the vessel which is typically used to carry a single Karito-class shuttle for personnel and cargo transfer purposes.

Equipped for all-range combat, the primary ship-to-ship weapon of the Asashio-class are 12 Type-90 supercruising anti-ship missiles. A 96-cell Kanazawa Type-41 VLS system provides the Asashio-class with flexible armament options including anti-craft missiles, medium anti-ship missiles, space-to-surface missiles, and others. The Asashio-class has a gun battery of four quadruple-mount dual-purpose Kirino Dynamics Type-70 120m railguns, with two turrets each on the dorsal and ventral decks. In addition to these, twelve Kirino Dynamics Yamabushi-5 CIWS systems are positioned strategically across the hull to provide defence against enemy missiles and small craft.

The Asashio-class was the first class of Imperial vessels to be built around the Kusanagi Integrated Combat System, which was first introduced on the Akagi-class battleships in a mid-life upgrade during the 260s. combines the new SuRe-12ho multifunction three-dimensional spacial sensor system with an AI-assisted battlefield networking and coordination system. The Kusanagi Integrated Combat System enables Asashio-class destroyers to rapidly react to changing battlefield conditons, and well as to assist formation operations through provide targeting information and coordinating the fires of other vessels in the fleet connected to the data link network, amongst other capabilities.

Operational history
The Asashio-class first saw combat during the Second Hyperpower War, facing off with their direct counterparts, the Descansito-class. Only two out of twenty operational Asashio-class vessels were lost during the war, and the design was considered a major success in destroyer design.

Subsequently, the Asashio-class also saw combat in the Second Empire-Hierarchy War of 240.

Asashio-class ships are used to patrol the Coreward Frontier to this day in safety of passage patrols throughout the lawless region.

Takashio-class
Main article: Takashio-class destroyer

Radical redesign to create a complementary class. Expanded hangar bay and fighter-launch capabilities. Less guns. Faster with better engines.

Marishio-class
Designed in the period immediately after the Second Hyperpower War, the Marishio-class was created in an effort to increase the number of close-range combatant ships in the Imperial Navy. Combat experience during the Second Hyperpower War showed that despite being well-equipped for close-range ship-to-ship combat, the Imperial Navy was still at a statistical disadvantage when combat shifted into gun range. Furthermore, it was believed that in the post-War period, a dedicated gun-platform vessel could more efficiently carry out long-range patrols against pirates and other outlaw elements that were almost always engaged in close-range and did not pose a long-range missile threat to the vessels anyway.

Dedicated gunship to provide heavy screening capabilities in a single package, rather than relying on multiple destroyers.

Guns. Lots of guns. Intended to go in for ship-to-ship gunfights as for long-range solo patrol. Uses the engines from the Takashio-class.

At the cost of missiles and also the entire hangar bay.