M-class MCMV

The M-class are a class of Mine CounterMeasure Vessels in service with the Volskmarine, a type of auxiliary support ship that combine the duties of a minesweeper and a minehunter. Respectively, these mean the passive sweeping of large areas, and the active destruction of individual mines.

Background
The M-class vessels were designed as part of the East German navy modernization and re-armament plan. Unlike all other warships designed as part of this plan, the M-class were not meant as combatants and are only minimally armed, primarily for self-defense. They are drastically different from other Volksmarine ships for that reason in terms of structure, propulsion and cost ethics. They do share similarities in their need to be polyvalent, their relatively larger size and their use of uncommon technologies and ideas.

Superstructure
Measuring 78 meters in length, 12.5 meters in width and 3 meters of draft for a displacement of roughly 600 long tons, the M-class is somewhat larger than the average anti-mine vessel. This is due to its polyvalent nature and its secondary role as an Anti-Submarine patrol. Its hull is made of maritime Aluminium alloy with high levels of corrosion resistance rather than steel due to Aluminium's non-ferromagnetic properties, which make it much less susceptible to detection via magnetic signature. It is not meant to weather any form of hostile fire and provides no protection in that scenario.

Propulsion
The M-class are the only ships of the naval re-armament program that does not use a nuclear maritime reactor, instead featuring a diesel-electric system for power generation. This is due to the fact that the ship is simply far too small and too light to be able to accommodate one such reactor, with the average MKrE1 weighing alone twice as much as the entire minesweeper. The system is features a low-magnetic motor, which means its powerplant was designed to reduce magnetic signature and components as much as possible.

Armaments
The M-class is considered a non-combatant, but it still carries weapons primarily for self-defense. Due to its small draft and the use of aluminum in its hull which would be far more susceptible to damage from the flames of missile launch, it does not make use of universal launch cells, and instead features two over-hanging launchers above deck. The first launcher is a 4-tubes 5M-34 Kaliber battery, for use in case the vessel encounters an hostile submarine in its patrol area, while the second launcher is a 4-tubes S-300FM battery for self-defense if it finds itself targeted by a cruise missile or aircraft.

Electronics
The M-class's sensor suite is primarily centered around its combination of active and passive sonars and its towable hydrophones to complement them. It features a Tombstone radar - the same as used in S-300 land-based batteries - to detect incomings and guide its missiles. Finally, it features a long-range forward-scanning infrared sensor to detect surface vessels without any form of active exposure of its own.

Countermeasures
The M-class are optimized for the maximum reduction of magnetic and acoustic signatures. Its aluminum hull is further coated with anaechoic tiles, which reduce outgoing sound and absorb incoming sonar waves. Its Low-magnetic motor is mounted on a sound-absorbing rubber mounting, and its propellers have oversized, slow-turning blades to further reduce noise and cavitation.

For self-defense, The M-class feature two adapted Arena active-protection system to protect it from hand-held rocket-launchers used by pirates and guerillas in asymmetric warfare. It also features two RPK-8 12-tubes Anti-submarine launchers capable of taking out incoming torpedoes and divers, but also of significantly damaging submarines that would sail close enough.

Utility
The M-class maintains a small complement of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles. It features two long-range survey and mapping UUVs, one being kept as back-up, and four remote-controlled mine-detonation UUVs which emulate the signature of a much larger ship to cause mines to detonate in a mostly harmless manner. Due to the off-center nature of the blasts and the small size of the UUVs, they are only rarely damaged during these operations.