UNSC Navy tactical formations

The UNSC Navy used tactical formations within its fleets to arrange the deployment of their naval forces in engagements. UNSC naval formations generally consisted of standard and specialist formations that divided warships within a fleet into battle groups, with standard formations occasionally being used to support specialist formations.

As the Human-Covenant War raged on in the mid-26th century, it became clear to the UNSC that engaging the Covenant in piecemeal fashion would not be enough to repel or hinder the empire's progress as the Covenant laid siege to the human colonies. In response, the UNSC Navy began to adopt new strategies and formations to an effort to turn the tide of the war, or at least lessen the loss of fleets and colonies.

Barrage Battle Group
The Cerberus Battle Group is the informal designation for a specialist battle group formation that consists of a supported by a pair of s. The formation served as a multi-purpose organization that could be assigned to a number of tasks, though most were formed specifically to hunt down Covenant raiders and deal with uprisings throughout the Insurrection.

Cerberus Battle Group
The Cerberus Battle Group specialist formation consisted of a pair of Marathon-class heavy cruisers. The pairing of two Marathon-class heavy cruisers provided a number of challenges for the UNSC. However, when maximum firepower was needed to combat the Covenant, the UNSC was reluctantly willing to pair up two heavy cruisers to deliver a long range torrent of death unto its enemies.

During the early stages of the Human-Covenant War, this battle group formation proved very effective against the Covenant's attacks, however the number of heavy cruisers in the UNSC's fleet began to dwindle as the war dragged on and the Navy was rarely able to field enough of them to counter large incursions. The combined power of both Marathon-class heavy cruisers' Magnetic Accelerator Cannons also made these formations priority targets to the Covenant during engagements. While the attrition rates within these battle groups proved to be appalling, UNSC fleet commanders considered the payoff worth the risk.

Shield Wall Battle Group
The Shield Wall Battle Group is a specialist battle group formation consisting of four Paris-class heavy frigates arranged in shield formation. The primary role of the formation is to deliver an impressive series of Magnetic Accelerator Cannon rounds into the heart of an enemy fleet. As no capital ships are attached to a Shield Wall Battle Group formation to back up the smaller frigates, it is considered vital for the frigates in this formation to remain in reserve, ready to launch an attack when an enemy fleet moves within range.

The Shield Wall formation brings an additional Paris-class heavy frigate into tight proximity with its fellows, increasing the firepower and survivability of the formation as a whole. While this formation poses a larger drain on fleet resources, the Shield Wall formation gives the UNSC a stronger firepower focus, with less requirement to bring multiple vessels into battle groups.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Fleet Battles