UNSC frigate

Frigate is a warship classification in the UNSC Navy. Although it significantly lacks the amount of armor, armament, and firepower compared to its larger cousin, the UNSC Destroyer, the frigate is smaller and thus more maneuverable. It is cheaper to produce, allowing greater numbers to be fielded against the Covenant. It is the largest UNSC ship that can be used in an in-atmosphere battle.

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 torpedos, 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 (in the case of the only seen version of the UNSC frigate, there is another layout variation similar in appearance to the Halcyon-class Cruiser, . The commanding officer's chair is located behind the two primary consoles within the bridge. There are numerous other consoles located at the sides of the room. There are four bridge stations: Navigation, Operations, Weapons, and Communications.

A UNSC Frigate also possess 12 SOEIV bays, located in the rear of the ship, which facilitate the deployment of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.

UNSC Frigates are capable of hovering in an atmosphere and even landing. They also have either a garage or cargo bay 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 carried three Pelican dropships in this rear section in addition to several ground vehicles.

Dimensions
A typical frigate of 2552 appears to be around 478 m long, 151 m wide and 112 m tall. It is one of the smallest warships fielded by the UNSC.

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.

For translight voyages, the Frigate carries a Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine. Although they cannot be seen, it can be safely assumed that frigates also possess multiple maneuvering thrusters to adjust a vessel's attitude in three dimensions. Finally, frigates have several times been observed to hover in an atmosphere. It is possible that they vector thrust downward in order to accomplish this feat, but no downward-pointing exhaust nozzles are visible. It is also possible that they employ some form of Covenant-derived antigravity mechanism, or perhaps electrostatic or magnetic levitation.

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 ordinance.
 * 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.

Crew
No precise figures are available regarding the crew of a frigate, but it is likely relatively small, (less than a hundred would be stationed on a frigate). Like larger ships, a detachment of Marines and sometimes 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.

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 this was likely performed using an auto-pilot function. 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