Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser

The Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser is a capital warship classification in the UNSC Navy. Among the most powerful vessels in the UNSC fleet, one of their primary uses is fleet command and coordination.

Admiral Preston Cole used a Valiant-class ship, UNSC Everest, as his flagship. Over the course of the Human-Covenant War, most notably prior to his last stand at the Battle of Psi Serpentis, Cole made several modifications to the ship's armament and armor. The lead ship, the UNSC Valiant, was attached to the Epsilon Eridani Fleet by beginning of the Fall of Reach.

Specifications

First drafted as a compromise between a battleship and a heavy cruiser, the Valiant-class suffered through years of feasibility studies and redesigns before the first hull was released from the Martian shipyard docking clamps in 2493. The Valiant showed promise during initial testing and evaluation, but cost overruns and delays in incorporating next-generation fusion drives seemingly doomed the class. Less than two years after entering service the Valiant was stricken from the UNSC Navy rolls and partially scrapped. The ship would have been a mere footnote in Navy history were it not for the expansion of Navy prestige and responsibilities following revelations of Colonial Military Authority (CMA) infiltration by Insurrection sympathizers in 2497. Almost overnight the Navy was faced with a lack of command-and-control vessels, with ships traditionally assigned to such tasks quickly tied up in lengthy counterinsurgency operations. The Valiant-class had the tonnage and firepower to augment battle groups composed of smaller vessels on patrols, as well as the space to install flag bridge facilities demanded by admirals leading the expeditionary operations.

The Valiant and a handful of other super-heavy cruiser spaceframes were converted into command ships. However, resource and crew shortages during Operation: TREBUCHET and continuing in the Covenant War curtailed plans to give all Valiant-class warships a complete suite of command upgrades.

Design details

Bridge

A super-heavy cruiser possessed a large, cavernous bridge with two dozen bridge stations, used not only to control the ship and its systems, but also to coordinate the activities of the entire battle group. The bridge had massive view screens that stretched from the floor to the ceiling.

Ships of the line

• UNSC Everest
• UNSC Valiant

Gallery

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  Several cruisers of the Valiant class from Halo: Fleet Battles

List of appearances

• Halo Wars: Genesis (First appearance)
• Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
  • The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole
• Halo: Fleet Battles