Editing Covenant carrier

 

Assault carriers are the Covenant carrier type most commonly encountered by Covenant forces, classed as [[Examiner (ship type)|examiners]] in the [[Covenant ship classification system]]. They are generally the ones tasked with leading fleets of smaller warships and acting as primary combatants in [[space warfare]].{{Ref/Book|EVG|Page=28}} The [[three-letter ship classification system]] developed by the [[United Nations Space Command]] designates most of these vessels as '''CAS-class assault carriers''',{{Ref/Site|Id=WPShadow|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/vehicles/shadow-of-intent|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Shadow of Intent|D=11|M=05|Y=2021}}{{Ref/Site|Id=WPSong|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/vehicles/song-of-retribution|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Song of Retribution|D=26|M=01|Y=2021}}{{Ref/Book|Id=EVG|EVG|Page=28}}{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc09|Enc09|Page=264}}{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc11|Enc11|Page=276-277}}{{Ref/Book|Id=H4EVG|H4EVG|Page=195}} with the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] considering the Class-5 flagship carrier.{{Ref/Generic|Id=DD4|[[Data Drop|Data Drop 4]]}} Due to their enormous size, assault carriers may be informally termed as "supercarriers".{{Ref/Site|Id=CFMoa|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-have-s-moa|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder - Have S'moa|D=28|M=03|Y=2019}}

The largest warships in the Covenant armada were sometimes referred to as "supercarriers" to distinguish them from lighter carrier vessels that filled support roles.{{Ref/Reuse|CFMoa}} They are extremely large warships bordering on overlap with harborages such as [[Unyielding Hierophant]], or the [[Exarch]] class of vessels in Covenant service. In UNSC three-letter classification, the ''Sh'wada''-pattern supercarrier is dubbed the '''CSO-class supercarrier''', and is considered a Class-5 flagship carrier similarly to the smaller assault carriers.{{Ref/Reuse|DD4}}

For a number of years leading up to the [[Human-Covenant War]], several Covenant carriers were served as support ships and some along with "supercarriers" were assigned in the [[Second Fleet of Homogeneous Clarity]] of the [[High Charity defense fleet|defense fleet]] of ''[[High Charity]]''.{{Ref/Novel|HFS|Page=338}} By [[2526#April|April 15, 2526]], a Covenant supercarrier ''[[Hammer of Faith]]'' was under construction at the [[Ring of Mighty Abundance]] and above [[Zhoist]], a Covenant-controlled [[world]], and remained incomplete, it was destroyed by two [[HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon]]s by [[John-117]] and [[Kelly-087]] during the [[Battle of Zhoist]], along with its surrounding fabrication barns.{{Ref/Novel|SS}} On [[2552#July|July 17, 2552]], a carrier, escorted by a pair of [[Covenant frigate]]s and a [[Wik-pattern light destroyer|destroyer]], attempted to [[Battle of Sigma Octanus IV|seize control]] of the [[human]] [[human colonies|colony]] world [[Sigma Octanus IV]]. When the destroyer and the two frigates were destroyed by Captain [[Jacob Keyes]], the carrier retreated until reinforcements arrived. However, the carrier did succeed in deploying 34 [[dropship]]s to the surface of the planet to initiate an invasion while hailing the rest of the [[Second Fleet of Solemn Accord|Covenant fleet]].{{Ref/Novel|HFoR|Page=170-180 (2010 edition)}}