P-1112 Aigaion

The P-1112 Aigaion was a heavy command cruiser created by Estovakia.

Creation
The P-1112 was conceived sometime in the early 21st century by Estovakian supreme commander Gustav Dvornik in his time as leader of the Eastern Faction in the Estovakian Civil War. Dvornik envisioned an "Aerial Fleet Initiative", a combat strategy designed to control large portions of Anea with the use of aerial launched aircraft and cruise missiles.

Despite the damage caused by the Ulysses 1994XF04 asteroid, the Eastern Faction succeeded in creating the Aigaion, along with her sister planes, the P-1113 Kottos and the P-1114 Gyges. The construction of the plane was backed by heavy command cruiser technology brought by the defecting engineers and exiles of the Principality of Belka after the Belkan War, among Lorenz Riedel, a former member of the elite Gault Squadron.

As the flagship of the new aerial fleet, the Aigaion was used to great effect by its creators, ultimately allowing the Eastern Faction to win the civil war in 2013. The cruiser was sighted over Estovakia by a Yuktobanian reconnaissance satellite in April 2015, and was tracked for three days before it vanished in the northeast of the country near an oil drilling facility controlled by the Eastern Faction, which became its main refueling site.

Emmeria-Estovakia War
In the latter half of 2015, the Aigaion became the central asset of the Estovakian military in the Anean Continental War. The cruiser was involved in the initial invasion of Gracemeria where it bombarded the Emmerian military with Nimbus cruise missiles, forcing most of them to retreat after sustaining heavy casualties. From that point, it became the main base of operations of the Strigon Team.

The plane was not involved in further attacks against Emmerian forces until February 2016, when it carried out Nimbus missile attacks on a large force of Emmerian troops and fighters moving through the Selumna Peak. The Emmerian forces endured severe losses and destroyed the targeting drones used for the missile attacks. Later on, it carried out Nimbus attacks on Emmerian forces during the Battle of San Loma, to no avail.

Acquisition of intelligence allowed Emmeria to destroy the Aigaion and her Aerial Fleet in a decisive mission over the Glaiva Islands in February 20. Taking advantage of the fact that its forward radar was temporaily disabled during the mid-flight refueling operations, Garuda Team and air units attacked the Aigaion, severely damaging it and wiping out its escorts. The weakened Aigaion attempted to flee the combat zone, only to be struck in the cockpit by Talisman of the 28th Fighter Squadron. Having lost all control, the cruiser fell into the ocean, breaking apart at the middle.

Design
As a heavy command cruiser, the P-1112 was designed to act as a mobile base and long-range attack asset, a major development of the XB-0 Hresvelgr built by the former Belka. Physically resembling a giant manta ray, the girth of the Aigaion forces it to operate as a seaplane, as conventional take-off would be impossible. The aircraft houses an internal hangar bay with CATOBAR systems accomodated for carrier aircraft operations, such as the Su-33 Flanker-Ds used by the Strigon Team. A small helipad rests on top of the rear hangar entrance.

The main weapons of the Aigaion, the Nimbus cruise missiles, allow it to engage aerial and ground targets at near-continental ranges, and is armed with an array of anti-air cannons, AAM launchers and flak guns dotted across the lower, upper and rear fuselage. It is powered by a fossil fuel core built beneath the main canopy, above its "mouth", which propel twenty-four engines arranged in rows of six on its trailing edges, allowing it to operate for three day periods before refueling. A squadron of six KC-10 Extender tankers are required to simultaneously refuel it in mid-air, a process that disable its foward radar.

Due to its massive size the Aigaion cannot land on conventional runways, but it is possible for it to land on water for maintenance under the jurisdiction of the Estovakian Navy.

Specifications

 * Width: 963.77m
 * Length: 433.3m
 * Height: 102.39m

Trivia

 * The P-1112 is named after Aigaion, the Greek god of sea storms and the offspring of Gaia, the Earth, and Uranus, the Sky. Today the reference exists in the Greek name for the (Greek: Αιγαίον Πέλαγος).
 * The Aigaion is featured as the "boss" enemy of the Tokyo stage in the arcade game Mach Storm. Due to the use of the Ace Combat: Assault Horizon game engine, the battle with it is more graphical and detailed than in Ace Combat 6, as the player completely destroys its wings.
 * In Ace Combat Infinity, The Aigaion appears randomly in a Emergency Order mission titled Moby Dick Persuit. It comes in different variants, depending on the difficulty of the mission (Moby Dick Persuit I, II, III, etc.).