UNSC frigate

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Frigate (Hull Classification Symbol FFG) is a light warship classification in the UNSC Navy. Although they significantly lack the amount of armor, armament, and firepower compared to its larger cousin, the UNSC destroyer, frigates are lighter and more maneuverable. They are also cheaper to produce, allowing greater numbers to be fielded against the Covenant.

Background
With current human technology, UNSC frigates are barely considered a match for even the smallest of Covenant warships. It is outclassed even by smaller Covenant ships, its armor is susceptible to enemy point-defense pulse lasers and plasma torpedoes, and it is outfitted with substandard weaponry. Only en masse does the UNSC frigate give any UNSC fleet element an advantage against even inferior numbers of Covenant Capital Ships.

Layout
The bridge of the frigate is located in the uppermost part of the ship, in the section at the stern-most tip of the MAC gun shaft. The commanding officer's chair is located behind the two primary consoles within the bridge. There also are numerous other consoles located at the sides of the room. There are four bridge stations: Navigation, Operations, Weapons, and Communications. There are universal docking rings on both sides on the bridge. On top of the bridge is a maser dish for short-range communication.

The forward midsection of the ship has numerous hangar bays for Pelicans or fighter craft like Longswords on both sides. A UNSC frigate also possess 12 SOEIV bays, located in the rear of the ship, which facilitate the deployment of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. Also, spread throughout the frigate's structure are a number of its many escape pod bays.

They also have a large loading elevator in their rear section which is capable of extending out of the ship's ventral side to deploy vehicles or cargo directly to the ground. The featured a large rear section which had the capacity of holding several Pelicans in addition to numerous ground vehicles. These hangar floor elevators have been seen operating in two different modes; the single-sided hinges on the elevator seem to be able to drop out 90° in order to allow aircraft like Pelicans to drop out of the hangar for quick deployment. So far the frigate is the only UNSC warship that his been seen landing and deploying vehicles directly to the surface.

Variants
There are a number of different variants of the UNSC frigate; two named ones being the light frigate and heavy frigate. The heavy frigate boasts additional Titanium-A armor plating and a larger number of point-defense guns than standard frigates. Another major difference that has been observed between regular UNSC frigates and heavy frigates is the sized of the main hangar on the underside of the vessel. This may indicate a difference in roles between normal and heavy frigates; as heavy frigates tend to have more armaments and armor but lack larger hangars may indicate that they are design more for close support roles in space and in atmosphere, while normal frigates may engage in ship-to-ship combat and deploy and supply UNSC ground forces as opposed to directly providing close fire support.

Dimensions
A typical frigate of 2552 appears to be around 478 m long, 151 m wide and 112 m tall.

Propulsion
Like other human ships, the UNSC frigate is powered by thermonuclear fusion reactors which use deuterium (a stable hydrogen isotope) as fuel. The engines almost certainly use the energy obtained from this process to heat some form of reaction propellant which is expelled out of rear-facing exhausts to generate thrust. There are four exhausts visible on frigates; two large and two small. In addition, the frigate has two sets of forward maneuvering thrusters near the front.

UNSC frigates are capable of hovering in an atmosphere and even landing. This is likely accomplished through the use of anti-gravity generators, although the technology involved has never been elaborated upon.

For interstellar voyages, the frigate carries a Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine.

Armament
A typical UNSC frigate carries the following armament:
 * 1 Magnetic Accelerator Cannon which is able to fire one round per charge. The MAC runs between one- and two-thirds of a Frigate's total length.
 * 3 Shiva-class Nuclear Missiles serve as heavy ordnance.
 * 40 Archer missile pods which carry around thirty missiles per pod, adding up to a total of 1200 missiles.
 * 12 50mm point defense guns function as the last line of defense against single ships and incoming missiles, with the ability to later retract into the vessel. They can also be used for ground bombardment.

Crew
No precise figures are available regarding the crew of a frigate, although numbers have been speculated. Like larger ships, a detachment of Marines and possibly ODSTs would be present onboard. The crew number includes deck crews as well as the command crew, Marines, ODSTs, dropship pilots, and technical personnel. The number of personnel a single frigate is capable of housing numbers at least within the thousands. Since many frigates have been seen in ground support roles, it is likely that the complement of Marine and ODST personnel on board is higher in percentage than other ships that are more dedicated to space combat.

In 2552 Sergeant Major Avery Johnson was supposedly able to single-handedly control the frigate to aid SPARTAN John-117 and Arbiter Thel 'Vadam on the newly rebuilt Halo, though an auto-pilot function was available with the use of the ship's onboard navigational computer. An AI can monitor and regulate all critical functions without human intervention.

Superstructure
The armor of a frigate is relatively poor compared to that of its larger cousins and counterparts such as the destroyer, with only 60cm of Titanium-A battle plate. However, due to its relatively light weight, the frigate's strength lies instead in maneuverability and speed. The frigate's relatively wide design is supported by structural support ribs, allowing it to perform orbital incursions.

External

 * Stephen Loftus's extensive analysis of the UNSC frigate