GA-TL1 Longsword

Longsword Interceptor The C709 Longsword-class Interceptor is the main UNSC space fighter-bomber.

Engines
A Longsword is capable of functioning in space and its engines are strong enough to reach Earth's and Installation 4's escape velocity. SPARTAN-117 and Cortana use a Longsword to escape the destruction of Installation 04 in Halo: Combat Evolved and in Halo: The Flood. It also states that the Longswords can have optional Cryo-chambers, suggesting that the Longswords are rarely fitted with Slipspace drives or that they go on long distance deep space voyages. One was once used to capture a Covenant Flagship alongside a Pelican Dropship with the Longsword carrying a very mismatched crew. The attempt to board the ship in the Longsword worked due to some teamwork from the crew and the Longsword landed on the Covenant Flagship Ascendant Justice. Due to the damage sustained in the landing though the ship was likely unflyable until repairs could be made and was likely destroyed when the Ascendant Justice was destroyed.

Weapons
Its 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, and even a single Shiva nuclear Warhead. The Longsword is usually deployed against Seraph fighters. It can also be used to escort Pelicans as they head for the surface of a planet. Simply put, it is a very versatile starcraft. Once it was used to destroy a Supercarrier by having Cortana arm its nuke and crash-land it on the Supercarrier with the nuke on a timer. The nuke went off and the ship was destroyed.

Trivia

 * John 117 once captured a Covenant Flagship with only a Longsword, a Pelican, a marine Corporal and Marine Sergeant, a Pelican pilot, an intellegence officer and Cortana. The Longsword survived the attack relativly intact but likely unflyable.
 * The Longsword appears to be a part of a series of starcraft in a line. For example, the Shortsword Bomber (Introduced in Halo Wars), bears a slight similarity, and a related name. It also performs a function seen in a Halo 2 playable demo that was performed by Longswords, indicating that the builders have constructed various air/spacecraft with specific functions.
 * The Longsword greatly resembles a stingray.
 * 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 Chief finds the crashed Pelican and some marines) and in the level "The Storm" (when the Longsword is shot down by the Covenant AA gun).
 * In Halo: Custom Edition, some maps and modifications have a flyable Longsword, though its controls are more similar to the Pelican, and does not travel very fast. It is capable of delivering a tactical thermonuclear payload. Also, the seats of Longsword are pilot on the left and gunner on the right, which is different from the Longsword in the ending cutscene of Halo: Combat Evolved.
 * In said modifications, 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 auxiliary crew stations. The cockpit consists of two pilot chairs and two more auxiliary crew stations. With an assumed total crew complement of six, along with the equipment lockers, possible cryo-chamber compatibility, and possible Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine compatibility, the ship presents itself as less of a fighter-bomber and more of a gunship or dedicated bomber, much like the B-17 Flying Fortress of World War II.
 * If one were to construct a life size, 1:1 scale longsword, its wingspan would be 5 meters longer than a Boeing 747 and would be 6 meters shorter lengthwise.
 * If one looks closely at the Longswords at the ending cinematic of The Storm, the tips of their wings leave thin white trails, similar to Banshee's.

Known Longswords

 * 7-89
 * Knife 26

Related links

 * Seraph - The Covenant equivalent of the Longsword