Covenant starship



Covenant starships are the ships used by the species of the Covenant through its various ministries.

Organization
The starships of the Covenant were commanded under different ministries. The Ministry of Resolution commanded ships, and was responsible for directing offensive actions by the Covenant. The Ministry of Tranquility managed the fleet of relic hunting and missionary ships.

Covenant ship classes can be identified by the Covenant ship classification system.

Tactical groupings
Covenant Starships have been known to be grouped in multiple ways. These include Fleets, Battle Groups, and Flotillas.

Design and specifications
Different species have different design philosophies for starships. The Sangheili preferred starships that echoed the aggressive nature of various animals from Sanghelios and other Sangheili colonies. The San'Shyuum preferred more ornate designs, something that carried into the Covenant, as well as preferring multi-role vessels.

Covenant starships, like most Covenant technology, were constructed using the Design pattern method. Some manufacturers of Covenant starships include Forgemasters of Tanus, Gorgon Assembly Vault and Lathe of the Enlightened.

Power
Covenant starships were powered by Pinch fusion reactors.

Armor & Defense
The hull of Covenant starships is composed of the durable and heat resistant Nanolaminate. Most Covenant ships also make use of Energy shielding to prevent damage from affecting the hull.

Energy Projector
Covenant warships often had Energy Projectors. An energy projector is a large beam of plasma which can be used to devastating effect in either ship-to-ship combat or in ground operations.

In ship-to-ship scenarios, they are known to slice through UNSC ships. The and the  were two ships to fall prey to its destructive power.

Often during ground campaigns, it was used in a method called glassing, whereby a Covenant starship burns the surface of a planet in order to render it lifeless.

Turrets
Covenant warships also used a variety of turret emplacements. This includes the Plasma turret and the Pulse laser turret.

Torpedos
Covenant starships also make use of the Plasma Torpedo.

Complement
Several types of space fighters were used in conjunction with larger ships. These include the Tarasque-class heavy fighter and the Gigas-class fighter-bomber, it's replacement, the Type-31 Exoatmospheric Multi-role Fighter, and the.

Dropships were also in use acting as troop, vehicle and supply transport. These include the, the and the. As well, the helped the Covenant board enemy ships.

Pre-Great Purification


Millenia prior to the forming of the Covenant, the San'Shyuum were a spacefaring civilization, allied with humans.

Pre-Writ of Union
Prior to joining the Covenant, in a time known as "The Former Age", the Sangheili had developed their own spaceships. This included the, the , , and the. In the case of the R'sikosh-pattern man o' war specifically, it was built using information Forerunner artifacts far before the War of Beginnings.

The San'Shyuum also piloted their own types of aerospace craft.

Early Covenant
A number of starships were designed following the signing of the Writ of Union. The was one of the first spacecraft developed by the Covenant empire between 852 and 850 BCE. The was designed during the earliest Age of Conflict and Age of Doubt. Another ancient ship was the.

Human-Covenant war
One of the first engagements prior to the outbreak of the war was the Skirmish on Minor Transgression.

Post-war
"Every vessel counts. We can't yet replace what we lose, so the war against the Arbiter and the other blasphemers may be won or lost on a single hull."

- Shipmaster Avu Med 'Telcam of the Servants of the Abiding Truth

With the Covenant war over, and the Schism breaking into a multitude of conflicts, Covenant ships began finding themselves in the hands of a number of remnant factions, like the Jul 'Mdama's Covenant, Merg Vol's Covenant, Rojka 'Kasaan's faction, Servants of the Abiding Truth, Swords of Sanghelios, and the Banished.

Support ships
The Covenant have operated a number of support starships. These include the s and the food providing.

Warship
The Covenant operated a number of lighter capital warships. These include some of the smaller Covenant cruisers, like the s and the s. As well as the various corvette, frigate, and destroyer classes the Covenant operated.

The Covenant were known for their larger capital ships including the, the and the. On top of this, they operated various large carrier classes, as well as heavily armed battleships.

Ships of the type
Carriers

Cruisers

Destroyers

Frigates

Corvettes

Other

Other
Covenant ships were not exclusively designed for war and often operated in a number of non-warfare based situations. This can include the Missionary ship, operated by the Ministry of Tranquility. The Covenant also operated a number of tithe fleets, which were often filled with Sangheili s.

Production notes
During the development of Halo 2, a level was planned to take place on board a Covenant ship.