GA-TL1 Longsword

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Template:Ship The C709 Longsword-class Interceptor is the main single ship of the United Nations Space Command Defense Force, and is a mainstay starfighter, filling a variety of roles simultaneously. It was in service as early as 2517.^[1]

Design Details

Role

Described as both a fighter and an interceptor, the Longsword is intended to engage enemy fighters, dropships, and boarding craft that are en route to UNSC capital ships. The Longsword has been seen performing a variety of roles, making for an extremely versatile craft, and is relatively inexpensive to produce.^{[citation needed]} They are capable of holding their own even against the technologically superior Seraph-class fighters used by the Covenant. The Longsword is also used to escort UNSC dropships as they deliver their passengers and cargo to planet surfaces or to larger ships.^[2]^[3] The Longsword is also used in attack runs against Covenant capital ships, delivering high-yield missiles^[3], Shiva-class nuclear warheads^[4], or even free-floating Moray space mines^[5] to or near their targets. They can also be used in planetary environments by functioning as fighter-bombers, destroying ground targets from the air^[6]^[7], and escorting capital ships.^[8]

Structure

File:Longsword-Specs.jpg

A schematic of the C709 Longsword-class Interceptor.

The inside of the Longsword presents a small corridor leading to the rear, stairs, and a higher corridor to the cockpit.^[9] In the two corridors, there are several equipment lockers, along with two secondary crew stations. The cockpit consists of two pilots' chairs and two auxiliary crew stations. With a known total crew complement of four, along with the equipment and weapon lockers, the ship presents itself as less of a fighter-bomber and more of a dedicated bomber and close support craft.

The cockpit design stayed the same between Halo and Halo 2 but was changed in Halo 3 and Halo: Reach. Previously, the cockpit had four windows (two on each side, but none in the front) and a view screen. In Halo 3 and Halo: Reach the Longsword has windows wrapping around the cockpit similarly to traditional aircraft. Other aesthetic changes were made between Halo 2 to Halo 3. The first version in Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 had diamond-shaped intakes which were removed from the Halo 3 version, so it can be proposed that the ship in Halo 3 and Halo: Reach is a different version of the Longsword. It may be noted that all the Longswords seen in Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 are used entirely in space combat, while those seen in Halo 3 are primarily used in an atmospheric fighter-bomber role,^[10] in addition to space combat.^[11]

Propulsion

The Longsword utilizes two main fusion engines^[12] which are discernible on the exterior of the craft. Their precise nature is not known, but they are able to function in space and they are strong enough to reach Earth's and Installation 04's escape velocity. Likely, it is nuclear-powered, and the electrical energy or heat generated is used to power an electric drive or to heat regular fuel into a much higher impulse. There are multiple RCS points for maneuvering.

Weapons

The Longsword's main weapons are 110mm rotary cannons,^[13] as well as 120mm ventral guns, for dog-fighting Seraph fighters in space and strafing ground targets when the need arises. This versatile fighter can be armed with an assortment of secondary weapons including ASGM-10 Missiles, bombs, Moray Space Mines, Scorpion Missiles, and can even heft a single Shiva-class Nuclear Missile. It can also be remotely piloted, carrying a single Shiva nuclear warhead, as was the case when Captain Jacob Keyes destroyed a Covenant supercruiser^[14]

Known Longswords

Trivia

The Longsword is one of the few UNSC vehicles that are not named or modeled after animals, such as the Shortsword, the Sabre, the Cyclops and the Gremlin.

The Longsword fighter underwent many design iterations, as seen in The Art of Halo.
It appears that the wings of the Longswords in Halo:Reach are angled slightly farther back than in previous games.
It is disputed whether the Longsword is black or gray, as it looks gray in the final level of Halo: Combat Evolved, but when it is seen in space, and at all times in Halo 3, it looks darker. This may be due to lighting or graphical enhancement. This could also be indicative of different paint schemes, similar to those of modern-day jet fighters.
Longswords may or may not have working gravity. At the end of Halo: Combat Evolved, John-117 gets out of his seat and walks to the side screen to witness the destruction of Installation 04. However, in Halo: First Strike, the Spartan "floats" to the weapons locker at the back of the Longsword, and that when he picks up the remaining Marines, they too float about. However, this might be because the Longsword (or its artificial gravity) was powered down at the time. A simpler, and more likely explanation, however, is that the Longsword doesn't have artificial gravity, and that the electromagnetic boots of the MJOLNIR armor allowed John to walk on the floor. An even more likely idea is that the author made a mistake. This can happen a lot.

Gallery

A formation of Longswords in Halo: Combat Evolved.
A formation of Longswords near Installation 04's atmosphere.
LongswordBattle2.jpg

Longswords chasing after a Seraph-class Starfighter in the Battle of Earth.
Close up on a Longsword.
A Longsword being neutralized by a Covenant anti-air battery.
Longsword flying.jpg

Longsword flying above Voi.
Three Longswords assaulting the Forerunner Dreadnought in the Battle of Tsavo.
Longsword.png.png

Two Longswords engaged in an upper atmospheric flight above Earth.
HRS C709 Longsword top.jpg

A top-down view of a C709 Longsword Interceptor, illustrating the manta ray-like profile, long and thin tail section, and bulky engines.
HRS C709 Longsword front.jpg

A front-on view of the Longsword, demonstrating its thin horizontal profile.
Three Longswords launch an air strike on a UNSC ship decommissioning site.
A squadron of Longswords fly in formation.