Unidentified UNSC light destroyer class

This unnamed light destroyer is a type of light destroyer, formerly in service within the UNSC Navy. The class predates the introduction of the Magnetic Accelerator Cannon and even Titanium-A armor plating.

Design details
The ships internally have at least fourteen decks, and at least five cargo bays. The bridge of the light destroyer is shaped akin to a narrow oval, with stations for navigation, ops, engineering, weapons, and communications officers. The ship's captain has their own seat, with their first mate stood by them. The bridge is likely external-facing, with emergency bulkheads available in the event of an explosive decompression event.

Armaments
The light destroyer class is, retroactively, considered woefully unequipped to deal with the rigours of space warfare, and features none of the armaments considered standard on UNSC starships in the 26th century, such as the now-ubiquitous Magnetic Accelerator Cannon. The ships are outfitted with just seven Ares missile silos.

With just seven missile silos, the light destroyer class is outgunned by its 25th century CMA Navy counterparts including the (stocking 40 M35 Ares launchers), though has a higher payload than the  (stocking 2 Ares pods and 2 Archer pods).

Operational history
These light destroyers were introduced into UNSC service prior to the outbreak of the Insurrection, resulting in a ship design that was ill-equipped to deal with the brutality of space combat. They were still in service by the early 2490s, with three examples taking part in the Callisto Incident in 2493. The three ships involved, the Buenos Aires, Jericho, and Las Vegas, were completely unblooded - with weapons that had never been fired and crews that had never seen combat.

The light destroyer role within the UNSC Navy was succeeded by the, introduced in 2508 with a MAC and point-defence network as standard armaments, alongside the re-classification of the much older vessels in Colonial Military Authority service from a cruiser to a light destroyer. The introduction of the into CMA service in 2499 and a refit for the s in 2525 would see MACs begin to proliferate into destroyer-sized vessels at the turn of the 26th century.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Evolutions
 * The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole