Kalistani Major History

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Kalistani Republic
KRS-2 "Jango" launched on the Anantanese Ocean
Defense Ministry to build 5 more
Kaliburg, Ananto District
March 1, 3984


The KRS-2 "Jango" featuring the new Modular-12 127mm Naval artillery

Just three months after the announcement of the successful test firing of the "Modular" naval cannons at the Suldanor Proving Grounds and the plans to test fire the weapons at sea, the Defense Minister officially launched the first Kalistani Light Cruiser, the KRS-2 "Jango" (RL equivalent Brooklyn-class Light Armored Cruiser, with less firepower) which featured the recently developed Mod-12 127mm cannons mounted to a modified and armor-plated hull of the former decommissioned Freighter Prince Jango .  The ship displaces just over 9700 tons, can travel at top speed at just over 30 knots/hr, and contains 4 of the Mod-12 Main guns (2 aft, 2 astern) with a .50 caliber mounted machine gun for anti-aircraft duties. 

Following successful firing of the main guns, the Naval Engineering unit attached to the project developed the servos and elevators necessary to automatically load and aim the guns from a centralized fire command in the Bridge, making the ship a fully functional war ship.  A second test of the loading and firing mechanism proved satisfactory, with the ship hitting a stationary target 4 out of 5 times and a moving target 3 out of 5 times.  As more work is done to fine tune the firing command, and naval artillerymen are brought up to speed with regard to accurate naval fire, the weapons system is expected to reflect the earned experience.  The tests confirmed that the maximum effective range of the 127mm cannons on the ship was just over 12 nautical miles (22.5 km, or about 14 miles).  Meanwhile, riflers at the Republican Cannon and Rifle Foundry, who produced the barrels for the Mod-12, have hinted that refinements in the rifling and propulsion may yield an additional nautical mile before long-  Only with accurate field testing will they have an idea as to when those refinements will come in.


Defense Minister Grognard, onboard the Jango for the Fire Control test

Pleased with the successful tests, the Defense Minister has ordered 5 more freighters be similarly converted and armed.  Of the conversion program, Defense Minister Grognard stated,

"Conversion of existing decommissioned stock is preferable to not having a navy.  As we have casted about in the world market for nations willing to sell us their surplus, we found no takers, and this is troubling of course, given the provocations laid on us by the Indralan navy.  So-  we must build a fleet from what we have on hand.  The ship yard at Kaliburg, with its wide variety of old ships in dry dock, provides us the perfect opportunity to build a navy from existing stock which will serve the purposes of our nation's defense, as well as encourage us to innovate and develop quite beyond what the rest of the world is willing to offer us.  We are confident that, with the successful test of the prototype Mod-12, we will be able to further develop and build accurate naval artillery.  The Mod-12 therefore is the first step:  Larger cannons are on the horizon, but for now, the Mod-12 will serve as Kalistan's first pre-eminent naval gun." 

After the fleet of 6 Light Cruisers is converted, perhaps as early as October of this year, the Defense Minister has hinted at large scale production of the Mod-12 cannon for international sale.  The Defense Minister said she was pleased that Kalistani engineers had created a gun which can be easily mounted on any decent sized and correctly modified sea going vessel, aiming to lower the cost of naval artillery on the world market and tip the scales a little toward the smaller nations with modestly sized navies.  A mass produced and relatively inexpensive modular gun would suddenly allow even the lesser developed economies the possibility to dream of having a relatively secure coast line, using their own navies.