Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser

Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser
Production information
Manufacturer:	Martian shipyard (UNSC Navy)
Class:	Super-heavy cruiser
Role:	Fleet command and control
Technical specifications
Length:	1,518 meters (4,980 ft)
Width:	373 meters (1,220 ft)
Engine(s):	Fusion drives
Slipspace drive:	Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine
Navigation system(s):	Navigation computer
Hull:	Titanium-A armor
Armament:	Magnetic Accelerator Cannons Archer missile pods 50mm AAA Helix guns Shiva-class nuclear missiles
Chronological and affiliation
Era:	Insurrection Human-Covenant War
Introduced:	2493
Affiliation:	UNSC Navy

The Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser is a capital warship classification in the UNSC Navy. Among the most powerful vessels in the UNSC fleet, one of their primary uses is fleet command and coordination.

Specifications

The Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser was designed as a cruiser with similarities to a battleship. The Valiant class featured next-generation fusion drives, though there was delays in incorporating them. The Valiant is one of the most powerful warships in the UNSC Navy, capable of holding its own against most opponents. The Valiant class has the tonnage and firepower to augment battle groups composed of smaller warships on patrols, as well as the space to install flag bridge facilities to be commanded by admirals. The bridge of the cruiser is large and cavernous, with two dozen bridge stations used not only to control the ship and its systems, but also to coordinate the activities of the entire battle group. The bridge had massive view screens that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. However, due to resource and crew shortages during the Insurrection and Human-Covenant War, plans to give all Valiant-class cruisers a complete suite of command upgrades were curtailed.

Operational history

The Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser was originally drafted by the UNSC Navy as a compromise between a battleship and heavy cruiser. However, the class went through years of feasibility studies and redesigns before UNSC Valiant was commissioned and released from its Martian shipyard docking clamps in 2493. Through Valiant showed promise during initial testing and evaluation, the high costs and delays in incorporating next-generation fusion drives seemingly doomed further manufacturing of the class. Less than two years later, all commissioned ships of the Valiant class stricken from the UNSC Navy rolls and partially scrapped. However, the escalating Insurrection ultimately prevented the Valiant class from being a mere footnote in Navy history when it was discovered that the Colonial Military Administration had been infiltrated by insurrectionist sympathizers in 2497. Converted into fleet command ships, the Valiant class was deployed in expeditionary engagements in the Insurrection, using its tonnage and firepower to augment battle groups of the Navy.

Admiral Preston Cole commanded the Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser UNSC Everest as his flagship, beginning with the Battle of Harvest in 2526. Over the course of the Human-Covenant War, most notably prior to his last stand at the Battle of Psi Serpentis, Cole made several modifications to the ship's armament and armor. UNSC Valiant was later attached to the Epsilon Eridani Fleet by beginning of the Fall of Reach.

Ships of the line

• UNSC Everest – The flagship of Preston Cole; officially destroyed at the Battle of Psi Serpentis.
• UNSC Valiant – The lead ship of the class; commissioned in 2493.

Gallery

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  A model of UNSC Valiant from Halo: Fleet Battles

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  Several cruisers of the Valiant class from Halo: Fleet Battles

List of appearances

• Halo Wars: Genesis (First appearance)
• Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
  • The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole
• Halo: Fleet Battles