GA-TL1 Longsword

Longsword Interceptor The C709 Longsword-Class Interceptor is the main UNSC single-ship, filling a variety of roles simultaneously.

Role
The Longsword was primarily used by the UNSC as a Space Interceptor, projected to destroy enemy fighters, but also possesses the armor and firepower to attack capital ships. Due to the Human-Covenant war however, the Longsword seems to have been forced into a much wider variety of roles. It has been seen as a space superiority fighter (theoretically a different function altogether) and as a fighter-bomber in atmosphere. The Longsword has also been known to bomb Covenant capital ships with nuclear warheads in order to destroy the ships sields.

Structure
In the first Halo game, Halo: Combat Evolved, the inside of the ship presents a small corridor leading to the rear, a stair, and a higher corridor to the cockpit. In the two corridors, there are several equipment lockers, along with two secondary crew stations. The cockpit consists of two pilot chairs and two more auxiliary crew stations. With a known total crew complement of four, along with the equipment lockers, the ship presents itself as less of a fighter-bomber and more of a dedicated bomber and Close Support craft.

If one were to construct a life-size Longsword, its wingspan would be 5 meters longer than a Boeing 747, while it's fuselage would be 6 meters shorter, making Longswords considerably larger than today's fighter aircraft, closer in size to bombers instead and also similar to the B2 Stealth Bomber.

The cockpit design stayed the same between Halo and Halo 2 but changed in Halo 3, previously the cockpit had four windows (two on each side, but none in the front) and a view screen. In Halo 3 the longsword has windows wrapping around the cockpit like a traditional aircraft.

Propulsion
There are four main engines discernible on a Longsword fighter. Their precise nature is not known, but they are able to function in space and they are strong enough to reach Earth's and Installation 04's escape velocity. The propulsion system must be highly efficient (in terms of seconds), as it can reach orbital velocity without the massive tanks that modern spacecraft possess. Some form of advanced electric propulsion is likely. There are also multiple RCS points for maneuvering.

While escaping from Alpha Halo, the Master Chief's Longsword displayed a vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) capability, accelerating extremely quickly to atmospheric escape velocity.

Weapons
The Longsword's main weapons are 110mm rotary cannons, as well as 120mm ventral guns, for dogfighting in space. This versatile fighter can be armed with an assortment of secondary weapons including ASGM-10 Missiles, bombs, Moray Space Mines, scorpion missiles, and even a single Shiva Nuclear Warhead. The Longsword is usually deployed against Seraph fighters in space combat and Covenant artillery in planetary combat. It also may escort Pelicans as they head for the surface of a planet. It can also be remote piloted, carrying a single Shiva Nuclear Warhead, destroying the enemy ship and itself as well when the opportunity arises.

Trivia

 * The Master Chief uses a Longsword to escape The Pillar of Autumn at the end of Halo Combat Evolved.
 * Using saved films in Halo 3, Halo fans can get pictures of the Longsword in the levels "The Ark" (when the Longsword flies by when the Master Chief finds the crashed Pelican and a surviving group of Marines) and in the level "The Storm" (when the Longsword is shot down by the Covenant Anti-Air gun). Although on The Storm, you won't be able to get a picture of the crash, since the Longsword disappears when it's out of the players view, curiously.
 * The Longsword fighter underwent many design iterations.
 * In Halo: Custom Edition there are several mods that allow the player to pilot a Longsword. All mods include a large armament of Scorpion anti-tank missiles that reloads once used up. It is given the physics of the Pelican Dropship from Halo: Combat Evolved. However it goes significantly faster then a Pelican, and therefore has a wider turning radius. While hovering, the Jump key will make the Longsword ascend, and the crouch key will make it descend.
 * In The Maw, Master Chief pilots the Longsword on the right side, but the mods have the pilot in the left seat.
 * It is disputed whether the longsword is black or grey, as it looks grey in the final level of Halo: Combat Evolved (The Maw), but when it is seen in space it looks blacker. This may be due to lighting.
 * Longswords appear on The Storm and The Ark. They fight space and in-atmosphere battles, along with fighting above the Ark.
 * In Halo: First Strike four Longswords are used to cover a single Pelican. This, however, seems impractical due to how large the Longsword is compared to the Pelican.
 * The Longsword is more than likely the successor of the Shortsword.
 * On The Ark when you get to the crashed Pelican you see a Longsword crashing. You will eventually get to the crash site later, when you destroy a fleet of Covenant-prone vehicles.

Known Longswords

 * 7-89
 * Knife 26

Related links

 * Seraph - The Covenant equivalent of the Longsword
 * SkyHawk - the UNSC's dedicated atmospheric strike fighter.
 * Tarasque-class heavy fighter - presumably a similar Covenant fighter.