Khan Class Missile

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Khan Class Heavy Ship to Ship missile (STS41-KH)

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Contractor: Megacity Aerospace Systems

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Specifications

First Stage: MAS ZZ1 Cold Gas booster

Second Stage:2.7 Mn MAS Ophelia LH2 / LOX cryo rocket motor;

Third Stage: MAS PP49 restartable liquid fuel motor; storable hypergolic fuel

Fourth Stage: MAS 44H Zambia Solid Rocket Motor

Length: 24.8 m

Diameter: 2.4 m

Mass: 95 tons

Range: 7,800 km

Guidance: Inertial, LADAR, LIDAR, RADAR, Optronic, 10 m CEP in FOF mode, 5 m CEP in operator guided.

Payload: 5950 kg; 1 SM4 counter shipping warhead

Variants: Khan – N Payload: 5 ZMN Blue Dawn 2.5 Mt warheads.

Present cost: 129 million rungs.

The Khan Class Heavy Ship to Ship missile (STS41-KH) is an ICBM sized “Heavy” four stage surface to surface “High High Low” semi ballistic flight path utilising missile. The STS41KH has been deployed by the ZMN since 1996.


Overview

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Khan class (click to enlarge).


The development of the Khan class began with the intent of being a counter-force hard shipping target weapon. It was to be aimed at hardened enemy vessels such as battleships and dreadnoughts and the so called “super dreadnoughts” with first-strike first kill capability. This requirement demanded outstanding accuracy, survivability, range and a flexibility that was not available in the earlier ballistic non nuclear modified Solant XI or GroundSlam ICBMs that had been modified for the task.

Development

It was first test fired on May 12, 1996, from Coastal Defence Tor Calipso, it covered 4,200 nautical miles (7,800 km) to impact successfully in the Test Range of the coast of the ZMI arctic territories in Haven on the decommissioned 180,000 ton Santafrax class battleship ZMN Hergard directly below her C turret on the port side and approximately 2 metres above the waterline. The Hergards C turret was visibly blown out of its mounting as the primary shaped charge detonated and virtually denuded 3.8% of the Hergards visible port armoured belt before the penetrator successfully hit the 340 tons of volatiles in her barberette magazine spaces, exited the barberette and exited the hull 1.3 metres above her armoured belt and 8 metres above the waterline on the starboard side in what was the Hergards forward mess. The primary magazine detonated shortly afterwards as the Incendiary had engulfed the damaged section in flames with sensors placed within the Hergards Barberet port section reaching 5000 C before the blast that removed Hergards bow. The operational missile was manufactured from February 1997 and first deployed in December 1997 to the 90th “Hammerheads” Battleship Squadron of the Home fleet in retro-fitted Solant vertical launch silos. The Khan class is at present deployed in the SCAPA Ocean Pillar cold gas vertical launch system and to this date 47,000 have been produced and 286,000 have been purchased.

Warheads

The Khan Class in normal operations carries a single SM4 counter shipping warhead. The SM4 is made up of a toriod shaped charge which surrounds a 2.5 ton tungsten / DU penetrator propelled by a secondary pulse detonated shaped charge and a single 1.3 ton phosphor based incendiary. The nuclear variant is armed with 5 short range hypersonic weapons delivery rockets, each rocket carrying a single 2.5 Megaton Blue Dawn warhead.

The Khan is deployed as a sealed pre fuelled round requiring minor maintenance every 3 months and an overhaul every 5 years of storage time. It is stored in the ZMNs standard UHMC (Universal Heavy Missile Conveyor) a DU/Composite titanium boron armoured canister capable of withstanding more than 7,000 PSI.

Stages

The Khan's integral first stage MAS ZZ1 cold gas launch system hurls the missile 110 metres into the air before second stage ignition and requires that the vessels it launches from need no extraction systems and only minimal thermal protection above decks.

The second stage contains the MAS Ophelia Cryo rocket motor which then engages and launches the missile in a sub-orbital exospheric ballistic arc, after this is complete the missile deploys a ribbon chute and pulls a 15 g manoeuvre and the second stage detaches.

The third stage contains two semi stealthy wings designed for supersonic operations and is powered by a MAS PP49 restartable multi-outlet liquid fuel motor with sub thrusters that provide vectored thrust for manoeuvring. Above the fuel tanks there is a torus quad decoy launcher system loaded with a mixture of flares and EM "screamers" that can also be used to fire very short range hypersonic air-to-air mini-missiles and basic chaff. This stage operates in a sub-Mach 5 environment.

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Flightpath

The fourth stage contains two MAS 44H Zambia Solid Rocket Motors which boost the missile up to its hypersonic Mach 11.8 impact velocity.




Alternate deployment systems

The Khan class has a naval defence land based system code named Series III SX and is carried by a "rail garrison" system whereby self defending coastal defence heavy gauge trains each with eight missiles, a THEL system and two standard counter missile VLS pods use the national railroad system and a number of “disappearing” bunkers to conceal themselves.

Popular Culture

The Khan has become a sort of meme among military enthusiasts. Due to it's extremely successful combat record (Killing upwards of a thousand ships, including several super-dreadnoughts), it has given rise to the term "Khanning", often used in the phrase "Khan them" or "Deliver a Khanning" to describe the use of the missile against an enemy target, as it was thought that firing almost guarantees destruction of the target. However, Imperial Questarian Navy Mogami air defence vessels recently achieved a rate of success of around 90% in downing Khan missiles bound for their carriers during the Second Haven War.

Present Known Operators

Zepplin Manufacturers , The Freethinkers , The Silver Sky , Mer des Ennuis , Spizania , Questers , Willink , Allanea , Space Union , Velkya , Menelmacar (testing only), Tocrowkia , Czardas, The People's Freedom, Clandonia Prime, Cotland, Olmedreca, Pushka, Angelonisia, Artitsa, Jaredcohenia

Surface-to-surface missiles
Ahab | Battle Axe | Doomsday | Hájord | Hatchet | Hurricane | Jupiter | HyStrike | Khan | Pelican | Sicarius | Starbolt | Stryker | Vidofnir | Yakhont 3