R'shwupa-pattern Phantom

The R'shwupa-pattern ship striker, commonly known as the Phantom gunboat, is a Covenant exoatmospheric heavy assault ship and a gunship in support of ground assaults.

Design details
Introduced as an executive transport for fleet commanders, the R'shwupa-pattern Phantom represented the most powerful dropship ever employed by the Covenant. It is similar in design to the standard, but noticeably larger. Although it is considered a vacuum-sealed variant of the Phantom family outfitted against orbital assets, albeit seen capable of operating in-atmosphere, standard Phantom gunships were also sometimes used during space engagements.

Unlike other Phantom models, the gunboat is fitted with powerful energy fore-shields that can be emitted to deflect missile attacks, thus very little could blunt its devastating assault.

Armament
The R'shwupa-pattern Phantom has an array of heavy weapon systems. It is equipped with a chin-mounted superheavy plasma cannon, five side-mounted Phot-pattern pulse lasers, swapping the standard Phantom's two attached plasma cannons, and one medium plasma cannon. This superheavy plasma cannon fires large plasma rounds similar to those of the normal "concussion" heavy plasma cannon.

Service history
Several Phantom gunboats assaulted the UNSC refit station Anchor 9 in Operation: UPPER CUT during the Fall of Reach. They were escorted by Type-31 Seraphs and Type-27 Banshees. All of the attacking gunboats were destroyed by a combination of Anchor 9's defensive guns, fire support from the, and the defending pilots, including SPARTAN-B312, who, along with the other pilots, defended the station in a FSS-1000 Sabre. Phantom gunboats were also used during the Battle for Earth, including the Battle of Mombasa with one such assault ship used to harass a M12B Warthog as John-117, operating the machine gun, opened fire upon the gunboat. Eight Phantom gunboats are carried by the Shadow of Intent.

In 2554, Parg Vol used a Phantom gunboat as his personal transport during the Battle of Draetheus V. It was stolen by Spartan Sarah Palmer to reach X50 and kill Merg Vol. She later escaped from the moon on the ship.

Several Phantom gunboats were utilized by Jul 'Mdama's Covenant during the Battle of Installation 03.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Reach
 * Halo: Spartan Assault
 * Halo 2: Anniversary
 * Terminals
 * Halo: Spartan Strike
 * Halo: Retribution