EV-44 Nightingale
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| EV-44 Nightingale | |
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| Production information | |
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Manufacturer: |
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| Technical specifications | |
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Length: |
24.0 meters (78.7 ft)[1] |
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Width: |
27.4 meters (89.9 ft)[1] |
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Height: |
8.7 meters (28.5 ft)[1] |
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Mass: |
98.6 metric tons (97.0 LT; 108.7 ST)[1] |
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Other system(s): |
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Armament: |
None |
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Crew: |
4: |
| Usage | |
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Role(s): |
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Affiliation: |
United Nations Space Command[2]
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- "Right here, sir. Someone need patching up?"
- — An EV-44 pilot's response to Alice-130's request for Nightingale support.[4]
The EV-44 Support VTOL, colloquially termed the Nightingale, is a VTOL support helicopter manufactured by Misriah Armory.[1][5][6]
Overview[edit]
Design details[edit]
The EV-44 Nightingale is a tiltrotor helicopter similar to the UH-144 Falcon in heavy service with the UNSC Army. The craft has two air intakes just offset of the centreline, connecting the two tiltrotor wings to the main fuselage. Further toward the craft's rear is a tail mounting two jet engines capable of similarly-rotating on the horizontal axis to help provide lift to the rear of the craft. The front of the Nightingale boasts the cockpit, with the main fuselage boasting a generally bulky profile with no visible ingress/egress points—suggesting that entrance into the Nightingale is done via a ventral ramp similar to that of the Pelican series of dropships.[2]
Overall, the Nightingale is considered a relatively simple craft to construct,[5] and has an extremely versatile design template. This makes it fairly easy to modify for operations-specific design templates for more specialised roles. One such example is the speculative ZAV-48 Frostraven, an aircraft study intended to leverage the Nightingale's airframe to test the possibility of cryonic weaponry.[1] The easy-to-construct nature of the Nightingale (with the exception of its advanced restoration drone systems) has left them able to be adapted for manufacture inside the older construction modules of the Phoenix-class support ship, UNSC Spirit of Fire—despite the ship's age and antiquated processing systems.[5][6]
Equipment[edit]
The Nightingale serves as a dedicated support unit, and is thus completely unarmed. It instead maintains a complement of multipurpose restoration drones to heal and repair personnel and vehicles. For self-defence and allied support, the craft is equipped with various countermeasures including the ability to deploy both multi-spectrum smokescreens and disposable jammers capable of camouflaging all personnel and vehicles within the target area.[5][6][1][7]
While typically not employed with an armament, Nightingales can be modified with weaponry if needed.[3]
Variants[edit]
- Trooper Nightingale - a specialised Nightingale painted with dazzle camouflage and stocking additional drones, alongside on-board teams of infantry.
A "Trooper" Nightingale.
Usage[edit]
Nightingales are one of the newest additions into the roster of the UNSC military in the post-Covenant War era. They have seen recent adoption into the inventories of the UNSC Air Force's rescue squadrons and UNSC Marine Corps' combat logistics teams.[6]
History[edit]
Development history[edit]
They were designed by Adam Andrews - CEO of the Optican corporation - envisioned as a medical evac transport as a result of Andrews' own experiences during the Battle for Arcadia. Compromises with Misriah Armory saw the craft's role widened to become a highly customisable airframe capable of performing a variety of roles, in an effort to be "the best of both worlds".[8]