Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser

The Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser (sometimes referred to as the Valiant-class battlecruiser) is a capital warship classification in the UNSC Navy. Among the most powerful vessels in the UNSC fleet, one of their primary uses is fleet command and coordination.

Design details
Despite its designation as a cruiser, the Valiant also bears similarities to a battleship - sacrificing the firepower and armour protection of a full battleship to retain more multi-mission capabilities. In this manner, the Valiant may sometimes be referred to as a battlecruiser.

The Valiant class features fusion drives that were considered next generation at the time of the class' inception, though there were delays in incorporating them. As one of the most powerful warships in the UNSC Navy, these cruisers are capable of holding their own against most opponents. The Valiant class has the tonnage and firepower to augment battle groups composed of smaller warships on patrols, as well as the space to install flag bridge facilities to be commanded by admirals. These flag bridges can be enormous, with two dozen bridge stations used not only to control the ship and its systems, but also to coordinate the activities of the entire battle group. They also have large view screens that stretch from the floor to the ceiling. However, due to resource and crew shortages during the Operation: TREBUCHET and Human-Covenant War, plans to give all Valiant-class cruisers a complete suite of command upgrades were abandoned.

The command versions featured the same armament, but had increased armor and replace most of the troop and smaller craft areas with specialized and command equipment like slipspace communication probe launchers and umbilicals to unload couriers.

Command ship refit

 * – The flagship of Vice Admiral Preston Cole; officially destroyed at the Battle of Psi Serpentis on April 18, 2543.
 * – The lead ship of the class; commissioned in 2493.

Operational history
The Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser was originally drafted by the UNSC Navy as a compromise between a battleship and heavy cruiser. However, the class went through years of feasibility studies and redesigns before was commissioned and released from her Martian shipyard in 2493. Though the Valiant showed promise during initial testing and evaluation, the high costs and delays in incorporating next-generation fusion drives seemingly doomed further manufacturing of the class. Less than two years later, all commissioned ships of the Valiant class were stricken from the UNSC Navy rolls and partially scrapped. However, the escalating Insurrection ultimately prevented the Valiant class from being a mere footnote in Navy history when it was discovered that the Colonial Military Authority had been infiltrated by Insurrectionist sympathizers in 2497. Converted into fleet command ships, the Valiant class was deployed in expeditionary engagements in the Insurrection, using its tonnage and firepower to augment Navy battle groups.

Vice Admiral Preston Cole commanded the Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser as his flagship, beginning with the Battle of Harvest in 2526. Over the course of the Human-Covenant War, most notably prior to his last stand at the Battle of Psi Serpentis in 2543, Cole made several modifications to the ship's armament and armor. UNSC Valiant was later attached to the Epsilon Eridani Fleet by the beginning of the Fall of Reach in summer 2552.

UNSC Valiant Super-Heavy Cruiser
This element includes a single Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser.

UNSC Supported Valiant Super-Heavy Cruiser
This element includes a Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser and one.

UNSC Escorted Valiant Super-Heavy Cruiser
This element includes a Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser and one.

UNSC Defended Valiant Super-Heavy Cruiser
This element includes a Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser and two Halberd-class destroyers.

All of the Valiant-class cruisers have the following special rule:
 * High Value Target
 * This vessel is considered to have a Build Rating of one less than listed during the process of Fleet Building, reverting to its stated Build Rating for the purposes of calculating Victory Points only.

Production notes
While officially introduced in the short story The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole and named in Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, the Valiant-class was not visually depicted until 2015's Halo: Fleet Battles board game. The cruiser went through multiple revisions before settling on the design seen in canon.

In 2022, the Valiant was featured in the Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition) using renders of the model created by Jared Harris for the Sins of the Prophets fan-mod. This was one of the many Sins of the Prophets ships featured in the book as part of an official collaboration between 343 Industries and the Sins of the Prophets team.

List of appearances

 * Halo Wars: Genesis
 * Halo: Evolutions
 * The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole
 * Halo: Fleet Battles
 * Halo: Silent Storm
 * Halo: Oblivion