EV-44 Nightingale
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| EV-44 Nightingale | |
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| Production information | |
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Manufacturer: |
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| Technical specifications | |
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Length: |
24.0 meters (78.7 ft)[1] |
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Width: |
27.4 meters (89.9 ft)[1] |
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Height: |
8.7 meters (28.5 ft)[1] |
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Mass: |
98.6 metric tons (97.0 LT; 108.7 ST)[1] |
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Other system(s): |
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Armament: |
None |
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Crew: |
4: |
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Role(s): |
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Affiliation: |
United Nations Space Command[2]
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- "Right here, sir. Someone need patching up?"
- — An EV-44 pilot's response to Alice-130's request for Nightingale support.[4]
The EV-44 Support VTOL, colloquially termed the Nightingale, is a VTOL support helicopter manufactured by Misriah Armory.[1][5][6]
Overview
Design details
The EV-44 Nightingale is a tiltrotor helicopter similar to the UH-144 Falcon in heavy service with the UNSC Army. The craft has a two air intakes just offset of the centreline, connecting the two tiltrotor wings to the main fuselage. Further toward the craft's rear is a tail mounting two jet engines capable of similarly-rotating on the horizontal axis to help provide lift to the rear of the craft. The front of the Nightingale boasts the cockpit, with the main fuselage boasting a generally bulky profile with no visible ingress/egress points—suggesting that entrance into the Nightingale is done via a ventral ramp similar to that of the Pelican series of dropships.[2]
Overall, the Nightingale is considered a relatively simple craft to construct,[5] and has an extremely versatile design template. This makes it fairly easy to modify for operations-specific design templates for more specialised roles. One such example is the speculative ZAV-48 Frostraven, an aircraft study intended to leverage the Nightingale's airframe to test the possibility of cryonic weaponry.[1] The easy-to-construct nature of the Nightingale (with the exception of its advanced restoration drone systems) has left them able to be adapted for manufacture inside the older construction modules of the Phoenix-class support ship, UNSC Spirit of Fire—despite the ship's age and antiquated processing systems.[5][6]
Equipment
The Nightingale serves as a dedicated support unit, and is thus completely unarmed. It instead maintains a complement of multipurpose restoration drones to heal and repair personnel and vehicles. For self-defence and allied support, the craft is equipped with various countermeasures including the ability to deploy both multi-spectrum smokescreens and disposable jammers capable of camouflaging all personnel and vehicles within the target area.[5][6][1][7]
While typically not employed with an armament, Nightingales can be modified with weaponry if needed.[3]
Variants
- Trooper Nightingale - a specialised Nightingale painted with dazzle camouflage and stocking additional drones, alongside on-board teams of infantry.
A "Trooper" Nightingale.
Usage
Nightingales are one of the newest additions into the roster of the UNSC military in the post-Covenant War era. They have seen recent adoption into the inventories of the UNSC Air Force's rescue squadrons and UNSC Marine Corps' combat logistics teams.[6]
History
Development history
They were designed by Adam Andrews - CEO of the Optican corporation - envisioned as a medical evac transport as a result of Andrews' own experiences during the Battle for Arcadia. Compromises with Misriah Armory saw the craft's role widened to become a highly customisable airframe capable of performing a variety of roles, in an effort to be "the best of both worlds".[8]
Operational history
- "I'm under fire! And all I got is harsh language."
- — A Nightingale pilot on Installation 00.[2]
Nightingales are a fairly recent craft introduced into service during the post-war era.[6] During the Carrow Conflict in September 2558, the Surakan Militia Volunteers used armed Nightingales against Hekabe's forces alongside numerous other aircraft such as the AV-22 Sparrowhawk and G77S Pelican gunships.[3]
In April 2559, Nightingales saw action on Installation 00 during the fight between the UNSC Spirit of Fire and the Banished.[2] These aircraft blueprints were adapted for construction within Spirit of Fire's onboard factory modules and firebases, with the simple designs making for easy construction inside Spirit of Fires much older and outdated infrastructure.[5][6]
In 2560, Adam Andrews used a handful of Nightingales to traverse the glasslands of Arcadia, as he conducted black market dealings with ex-Covenant smugglers. He commissioned three for his mission; two to each carry four private military contractors for his own defence, and one to carry only him and his pilot for secrecy. During his trade, Andrews used the Nightingales to travel to the site of a Forerunner ruins complex hidden deep inside the jungle, where UNSC Spirit of Fire had once deployed a Firebase against a R'awuw-pattern Scarab. Andrews traded the Scarab's location to the scavenger Nor Fel in exchange for crates of illicit Rumbledrugs. Once the three Nightingales had left the site, the Kig-Yar scavengers were eliminated by SPARTAN-II Team Omega - without Andrews' knowledge.[8]
Gameplay
Halo Wars 2
- Info: Support Unit, Repairs and heals, Defensive Smoke, Detects cloaked units
- Tier: 2
- Cost:
4, 
360, 
50
The Nightingale can be built by all UNSC leaders at the Airpad. In Blitz, the Nightingale costs 
70, while a Trooper Nightingale costs 90. When the Trooper Nightingale is destroyed, infantry squads will spawn. Unlike Engineers, the Nightingale can heal up to three units at once due to its drones, but the healing rate is three times slower. The Nightingale is the best unit to heal troops, saving the player from having to use Healing Drones constantly. Another great benefit is that it can heal troops when they are mobile.
Phoenix Log
 Medical and maintenance support aircraft. Nightingales support UNSC forces on the ground with their complement of multi-purpose restoration drones. which automatically deploy to heal and repair nearby allied units. Nightingales can also deploy multi-spectrum defensive smoke as an ability, which blocks enemy line of sight. The Nightingale is unarmed, and should never be deployed Without an escort. The Nightingale EV-44 Support VTOL is one of the newest UNSC support aircraft used by Air Force rescue squadrons and Marine combat logistic teams, and its relatively simple construction [aside from the drone systems] made the design blueprint easy to adapt to the Spirit of Fire's older factory modules. As the ship's complement of troops cannot be replenished, vehicles such as the Nightingale are essential for keeping as many bodies in the fight as possible. |
Production notes
There is a small discrepancy in regards to the Nightingale's year of introduction. In the original Phoenix Log for the aircraft, the Nightingale is noted as a relatively new aircraft introduced during the post-war era of the Halo universe[5][6] - a fact reinforced by the Waypoint Chronicle Halo: Hippocratica, which expands the craft's backstory as a post-war brainchild of Adam Andrews.[8] This is contradicted by the first level of Halo Wars 2, The Signal. During the mission, Spirit of Fire's forces are depicted utilising and recognising the existence of Nightingales even before the ship has had a chance to recover information on the craft from the Henry Lamb Research Outpost. Given the repeated reinforcement of the Nightingale's postwar status, this article assumes the in-game recognition as simply a limitation of game design.
Trivia
- Like most UNSC aircraft, the Nightingale is named after a bird. As the aircraft fills a medical support role, its name is also a likely reference to Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.
- The voice cast of Nightingale is same as the voice cast of Jerome-092.
Gallery
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Browse more images in this article's gallery page. |
Nightingale Blitz art.
Nightingale Blitz art alternate variant without drones.
Trooper Nightingale Blitz art.
Concept art of the Nightingale for Halo Wars 2.
More concept art.
A Nightingale on Ricochet in the Halo Wars 2 Open Beta.
A Nightingale during the Halo Wars 2 Open Beta.
A group of Nightingales near two G81 Condors in Halo Wars 2.
A Nightingale deploying smoke to cloak itself.
List of appearances
- Halo Wars 2 (First appearance)
- Halo: Envoy
- Halo: Hippocratica
Sources
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 155
- ^ a b c d Halo Wars 2, Nightingale in-game unit
- ^ a b c Halo: Envoy, chapter 19
- ^ Halo Wars 2, campaign level From the Deep
- ^ a b c d e f Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - The Art of War(s) (Retrieved on Jun 18, 2021) [archive]
- ^ a b c d e f g Halo Wars 2, Phoenix Logs: Nightingale
- ^ Twitter, Halo (@Halo): "The EV-44 Nightingale is a dedicated support unit that uses its complement of multipurpose Restoration Drones to repair allied units, and is equipped with various countermeasures to survive a myriad of battlefield situations. #FictionFriday" (Retrieved on Dec 8, 2023) [archive]
- ^ a b c Halo: Hippocratica
