CPV-class heavy destroyer

The CPV-class heavy destroyer is one of several destroyer-class warships in service with the Covenant navy.

Overview
The CPV-class heavy destroyer is the predominant offensive ship in the Covenant Navy, being primarily used for ship-to-ship warfare and glassing operations. CPVs are deployed aggressively, often being the first ships in a fleet to engage the enemy. CPV-class destroyers are sufficiently equipped to serve as occupation vessels during planetary assaults, in lieu of the more occupation-centered and.

Design
The CPV-class heavy destroyer features a roughly teardrop-shaped fore section that droops downward, forming a bulbous protrusion; the dorsal surface of this section contains a recessed area. Near the aft end, the hull splits into six sleek, wing-like structures. The shortest pair face outward at a slightly upward angle, the mid-sized structures curve upward at an inward-facing angle, and the largest structures curve downward, also facing inward.

CPVs carry large complements for ground engagements, including numerous infantry and ground vehicles. They also carry a large number of aircraft, including Seraph exoatmospheric fighters and Banshee attack craft, and Vampire atmospheric fighters. CPVs can also use their gravity lifts to help assemble prefabricated bases.

Armament
The CPV destroyer is built for heavy combat. It is armed with ventrally mounted pulse laser turrets, which can provide point defense, particularly against single ships. The destroyer is also equipped with several plasma torpedo turrets; two of these turrets are mounted on the inside of each downward-facing wing structure, two more are mounted on the vessel's anterior, and at least two more are mounted laterally. It is also armed with a single ventral energy projector, or "cleansing beam", for use in low-altitude glassing.

Operational history
After the battlecruiser Rapid Conversion began destroying Harvest's population centers in February 2525, many CPV-class heavy destroyers were deployed to continue glassing the planet. CPV-class heavy destroyers were deployed throughout the Harvest Campaign, which lasted from 2526 to 2531. During the Covenant's counterattacks in the early years of the campaign, CPVs were used to glass areas that had been secured by the United Nations Space Command, eradicating most of the human presence on Harvest; this cycle continued until the planet's liberation in February 2531.

Near the end of the Battle of Arcadia, the pursued a CPV to a mysterious planet, which was later revealed to be a Forerunner Shield World. One such vessel, possibly the one that Spirit of Fire pursued from Arcadia, was present at the Shield World; there, it engaged Spirit of Fire after a midair collision between the two ships. The destroyer dispatched several large boarding parties, supported by Banshees, Vampires, and plasma torpedo fire, in an effort to disable the human vessel, though the attack was repelled. UNSC Battle Group Sierra-3 destroyed a CPV-class destroyer at the Battle of 18 Scorpii in 2543.

CPV-class heavy destroyers also appeared in large numbers during the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV and the Fall of Reach in 2552.

After the Human-Covenant War CPV-class heavy destroyers were used by both forces under the command of Arbiter Thel 'Vadam and Jiralhanae Chieftain Lydus during the Battle of Ealen IV.

Ships of the line

 * Reverence (C-7)
 * Esteem (C-10)
 * Unidentified CPV-class heavy destroyer

List of appearances

 * Halo Wars: Genesis
 * Halo Wars
 * Halo Legends
 * Origins
 * Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole
 * Halo: Fall of Reach
 * Covenant
 * Invasion
 * Halo: Escalation