Winter-class prowler

The Winter-class prowler is a class of stealth vessel in service with the UNSC Navy, primarily designed for speed and stealth with the purpose of deep-space reconnaissance. Winter-class prowlers commonly monitor former species of the Covenant and human insurrectionists, precautionary measures taken by the Office of Naval Intelligence to ensure humanity's safety. Ships of the class are known to be designated with the hull classification symbol IX, denoting an "Unclassified Miscellaneous Unit".

Specifications
Fitted with a prototypical slipspace drive model, Winter-class prowlers are capable of traveling to distant parts of the Milky Way at a relatively high speed. Somewhat similar in functionality and design to the s used by the Office of Naval Intelligence in the early 26th century, prowlers of the Winter class are constructed with a smaller and more compact frame than other prowler classes. With an aerodynamic frame, swooped back wings, and narrow cockpit, Winter-class prowlers bear resemblance to a number of UNSC space fighters rather than a warship. However, its design is intended to improve speed and versatility during atmospheric operations.

Winter-class prowlers are lightly armed with twin M8545 ASW/AC 40mm machine-linked autocannons and an aft-mounted CBU-R68 Moray mine deployment system. The class is lightly armed because its primary defenses are evasion and escape from enemy sensors. These ships feature an incredibly advanced stealth system —that includes an active camouflage component —created from salvaged Forerunner and Covenant technology, allowing prowlers of this class to remain completely hidden from both sight and sensors.

Operational history
In the years following the Human-Covenant War, the Office of Naval Intelligence reviewed a number of pre–2525 prowler class designs which focused on espionage and reconnaissance over combat functionality. As a result, the Winter-class prowlers arose from this study. On January 21, 2558, Winter-class prowler deployed SPARTAN-G059 to New Llanelli to assassinate Avu Med 'Telcam, leader of the Servants of the Abiding Truth. Afterwards, the prowler extracted the Spartan and left to participate in another operation.

One Winter-class prowler—ONI Acrisius—was stationed aboard research vessel Argent Moon as an evacuation vessel for its ONI personnel. However, the crew of Argent Moon were all killed in a chemical weapon accident in 2557. When Spartan-II Blue Team traveled to Argent Moon to prevent ONI intel from falling into the hands of Jul 'Mdama's Covenant, the Spartans used Acrisius to evacuate Argent Moon after they overloaded its reactors. The ship was eventually abandoned by the Spartans on the Outer Colony of Meridian, when they traveled to the world to search for Cortana and instead left on a Guardian.

Ships of the line

 * ONI Acrisius – Stationed at Argent Moon as an evacuation vessel.
 * – Deployed on covert Office of Naval Intelligence operations.
 * – The lead ship of the class.

List of appearances

 * Halo 5: Guardians
 * Limited Edition
 * Halo: Tales from Slipspace
 * Knight Takes Bishop