Titanium-A armor: Difference between revisions

{{Status|Canon}}

[[File:H4 UNSCInfinity Concept 1.jpg|thumb|325px|Most UNSC military vessels, such as the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}}, are armored with Titanium-A plating.]]

'''Titanium-A armor''' is the most common form of battle plating used by [[Human starship|starships]] constructed by [[human]]ity. It is employed on both civilian and [[Warship|military vessels]] as a general-use hull material designed to protect the spacecraft in question from damage ranging from micrometeorite impacts to hypervelocity projectile rounds and [[directed-energy weapon]]s.{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22|Enc22|Page=114}}

Titanium-A consists of high-grade [[Titanium]]-50,{{Ref/Novel|GoO|Chapter=22}} specially-strengthened and reinforced at the molecular level{{Ref/Reuse|Enc11}} with stacked nanotubes, elastic polymer composites and intermetallic laminates - resulting in a plating material capable of withstanding hypervelocity projectile impacts and energy weapon attacks.{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}}{{Ref/Book|Id=WF19|HWF|Page=19}} The plates themselves are typically a dull grey in colouration, and are embedded with thermal superconducting radiators that work to radiate thermal energy from the ship into space.{{Ref/Book|HM|Page=83}} The space between individual armor plates is filled with shock-hardening fluids and encapsulated healing agents to reduce spall from impacts and automatically seal small hull breaches.{{Ref/Reuse|WF19}}

====Titanium-A3 armor====

Later during the [[Human-Covenant War]], more advanced forms of Titanium-A were introduced, fitted with thermal superconducting elements to help strengthen against energy weapon impacts.{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}} One such example is Titanium-A3, a variant of Titanium-A battle plate developed by the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]]'s [[Materials Group]]. Like Titanium-A, it is chemically altered on the molecular level to produce a stronger plate for ship hulls. It has only been noted to be used on the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}}, whose hull is composed of 4.9-meter-thick Titanium-A3 battleplate.{{Ref/Game|H4|[[Infinity Briefing Packet]]}}

Following the [[Human-Covenant War]], some UNSC military vessels received [[energy shielding]] to allow the ships to absorb more damage.{{Ref/SpOps|Departure}}

[[File:Energy Projector.jpg|thumb|left|250px|{{UNSCShip|Grafton}} is destroyed by a single [[energy projector]] shot.]]

Prior to the [[Human-Covenant War]], a single [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon]] slug was capable of penetrating any vessel's Titanium-A armor plating.{{Ref/Novel|HCH|Chapter=7}} The armor took a newfound importance after the beginning of the Human-Covenant War: to contend with the [[Covenant]]'s [[plasma weaponry]], [[human]]s needed armor that would withstand the heat of the directed plasma. Despite its strength and resistance to heat, however, the Titanium-A plating is usually boiled away within seconds on contact with Covenant [[plasma torpedo]]es, and does not effectively dissipate the plasma. [[Energy projector]]s are able to pierce dozens of centimeters with relative ease.{{Ref/Reuse|Enc11}}{{Ref/Comic|HE|Issue=5}}{{Ref/Comic|HE|Issue=6}}{{Ref/Level|HR|Tip of the Spear}} [[Pulse laser turret]]s can reduce the hull of a heavy frigate to about four centimeters in a single hit.{{Ref/Novel|HTFoR|Chapter=11}} Even [[Energy sword (fiction)|energy swords]] can do significant damage to Titanium-A armor.{{Ref/Novel|HFS|Chapter=8}}

Titanium-A armor plating can be layered with [[tungsten]] for a radiation absorption rating of 5 and presumably grant greater protection against [[plasma]] weaponry.{{Ref/Anthology|Evo|The Impossible Life and Possible Death of Preston J. Cole|Section=7}} Unlike the Covenant's [[nanolaminate hull plating]], Titanium-A plating is not effective during direct collisions with other vessels. After a direct collision with ''[[Proclamation's Tithe]]'', the {{UNSCShip|Spirit of Fire}} was heavily damaged, while the {{Pattern|Sinaris|heavy destroyer}} was seemingly unharmed.{{Ref/Level|HW|Repairs}} When the destroyer {{UNSCShip|Iroquois}} collided with a [[Covenant stealth ship]], the ''Iroquois'' lost all two meters of Titanium-A plating, although it did succeed to disabling the Covenant vessel.{{Ref/Novel|HTFoR|Chapter=18}}

===Usage===

Titanium-A, alongside other technologies such as [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon]]s, was developed in the 25th century as a response to the [[Insurrection]].{{Ref/Anthology|Evo|The Impossible Life and Possible Death of Preston J. Cole|Section=4}} Since its introduction, it has served as the main hull material used on the warships of the [[CMA Navy]] and [[UNSC Navy]]. As much as a third of a given ship's mass may be composed of Titanium-A, with plate thicknesses often measuring dozens of centimetres thick.{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc11|Enc11|Page=315}} [[UNSC frigate|Frigates]] such as the {{Class|Paris|heavy frigate}} may have up to {{Convert|60|cm|in}} of Titanium-A plating,{{Ref/Novel|HFS|Chapter=22}}{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc11Plating|Enc11|Page=258-261}} with [[UNSC destroyer|destroyers]] like the {{Class|Halberd|light destroyer|}} having plates as thick as {{Convert|2|m|ft}}.{{Ref/Novel|HTFoR|Chapter=Prologue}}{{Ref/Reuse|Enc11Plating}} {{Class|Marathon|heavy cruiser}}s, the standard line warship of the UNSC Navy, have plates with {{Convert|191|cm|in}} of Titanium-A,{{Ref/Book|EVG|Page=42}} while some [[UNSC carrier|carriers]] have armour plating thickness of {{Convert|36|cm|in}}.{{Ref/Reuse|Enc11Plating}} Other carriers, such as {{UNSCShip|Stalingrad}}, have multiple metres of Titanium-A plate.{{Ref/Novel|GoO|Chapter=32}} Outside of warships, Titanium-A armour is used as the hull material for support craft such as the [[D77-TC Pelican]]{{Ref/Novel|HFS|Chapter=1}} and [[GA-TL1 Longsword]],{{Ref/Novel|Id=FS5|HFS|Chapter=5}} alongside [[slipstream space probe]]s{{Ref/Novel|HFS|Chapter=32}} and even [[drop pod]]s such as [[Long range stealth orbital drop pod]]s.{{Ref/Novel|GoO|Chapter=Prologue}} [[Refit station]]s{{Ref/Novel|HTFoR|Chapter=33}} and construction platforms, such as [[Station Delphi]], are essentially slabs of Titanium-A armor plating.<ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''page 51''</ref>

 

 

File:ApexBattleImage.png|The {{UNSCShip|Spirit of Fire}} is heavily damaged by a collision with a Covenant [[Sinaris-pattern heavy destroyer|destroyer]].

File:HWG ArabiaVostok.png|Two ''Charon''-class frigates hulls are easily destroyed by plasma turrets.

{{Ref/Sources|2}}