Prowler

You may also be looking for the Jiralhanae Prowler.

The UNSC Prowler is a stealth corvette classification within the United Nations Space Command. They are used exclusively by the Office of Naval Intelligence and are crewed by select ONI Prowler Corps personnel.

Role
In a similar role to its namesake, it is used to gather electronic intelligence, and its primary role is to stay hidden while safely gathering such intelligence, not to charge into battle, as that would invariably be an irreversibly fatal tactic due to its light weapons and armor. Because of its tactical value and potential to change the outcome of any given combat situation, every UNSC battle group had at least one Prowler assigned to its ranks.

The Prowler's only combat role, beside active combat monitoring and recording, is the discreet laying minefields of stealthed nuclear HORNET Mines in orbital regions. Enemy ships that unknowingly enter these minefields can be destroyed by a single Prowler, allowing the remainder of the UNSC forces to move in and finish off the survivors with MAC strikes and Archer missiles. This stratagem allowed Battle Group Stalingrad to wage a short but devastating battle against the Covenant at Onyx, destroying significantly more ships than their own number, an extremely rare outcome among UNSC-Covenant engagements.

Stealth systems
The Prowler's stealth systems mask the ship from both visual and sensor detection. The outer hull is coated with stealth ablative coating, which hides the ship's radar signature and doubles as active camouflage when working in concert with the ship's texture buffer. Other systems on the ship include ablative baffles and various counter-electronic systems.

Trivia

 * SPARTAN Gray Team was able to pilot a Prowler, meaning a prowler could be piloted by a crew of only three people.