DAV-class light corvette

DAV-class light corvette
Production information
Class:	Light corvette
Role:	Intelligence gathering; Stealth applications;
Technical specifications
Length:	485 meters (1,590 ft)
Width:	202 meters (660 ft)
Engine(s):	Repulsor engines
Slipspace drive:	Equipped
Hull:	Nanolaminate hull plating
Armament:	Heavy plasma cannons
Complement:	Dropships; Space fighters;
Chronological and affiliation
Era:	Human-Covenant War; Post-Covenant War conflicts;
Affiliation:	Covenant (formerly); Swords of Sanghelios;

The DAV-class light corvette is a class of corvette formerly in service with the now-defunct Covenant fleet.^[2] Commonly assigned in stealth operations, vessels of this class were also tasked with the deployment and retrieval of Ranger teams.^[1]

Specifications

Design details

The DAV-class light corvette is smaller and more nimble, though otherwise similar in design, to the larger SDV-class heavy corvette.^[2] Like many warships of the Covenant, the DAV class has a cetacean aspect to it, with a smooth nanolaminate hull and curved features.^[3] The DAV class is used to infiltrate a planet's defenses for reconnaissance and transmit data from the world's surface, making way for larger invasion forces. Despite its limited weaponry, the DAV-class corvette uses active camouflage systems to render it imperceptible to enemy sensors, and visually invisible.^[2] Despite the size of these corvettes, they are still capable of carrying dropships and space fighters.^[3]

Armament

DAV-class ships are primarily stealth ships, and as such they were not as well-armed as the larger SDV-class heavy corvette.^[2] This falls in line with common observations that weapon layout differ greatly between Covenant ship classifications.^[4] Despite this, DAV-class ships are armed with heavy plasma cannons.^[2]

Operational history

After the Human-Covenant War, the DAV-class light corvette The Lookout was crewed by a joint crew of Sangheili, Unggoy, and humans as part of an arrangement between the Swords of Sanghelios and the Unified Earth Government to reestablish contact with colonies cut off by the war. In 2553, The Lookout arrived at the human colony of Losing Hand, along with the crew of the cargo tender UNSC Dark Was the Night that had crashed there a year earlier. Major Kyle Stallock, who was stationed aboard The Lookout, updated Dark Was the Night's crew on everything that had happened since their crash. The local population and the ship's crew were offered a way off the planet; some accepted while others remained.^[3]

Ships of the line

The Lookout – Formerly Infinite Fire while serving the Covenant, currently serving the Swords of Sanghelios and reestablishing contact with lost human colonies.^[3]

Behind the scenes

The as-of-yet unidentified Covenant stealth ship that first appears in the novel Halo: The Fall of Reach is identified as a DAV-class light corvette in the Halo Encyclopedia.^[5] However, this is a mistake, as the stealth ship was described as being significantly smaller than the UNSC Iroquois, a Halberd-class destroyer that is approximately the same length as a DAV-class light corvette. This error is carried over into Halo: Fall of Reach, a comic adaption of the novel that depicts the stealth ship as a corvette the same size as Iroquois.

List of appearances

Halo: Fractures
- Breaking Strain (First appearance)

Sources

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Halo Waypoint: Covenant Corvette
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, page 37
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Halo: Fractures, "Breaking Strain", pages 65-69
^ Sybex Halo: Combat Evolved PC Strategy Guide, page 73
^ Halo Encyclopedia, page 280 (2011)

[universe-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Halo Waypoint: Covenant Corvette

[visual-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, page 37

[bs65-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Halo: Fractures, "Breaking Strain", pages 65-69

[4] Sybex Halo: Combat Evolved PC Strategy Guide, page 73

[5] Halo Encyclopedia, page 280 (2011)

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