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Aegis-class Frigate

The Aegis-class frigate, colloquially known as the Aegis-class fleet escort, was a light frigate classification operated by the UNSC Navy during the Galactic Era. Lightly armed, the Aegis-class frigates were largely delegated to anti-fighter roles, acting as escorts to UNSC task forces.

Specifications
The Atlantis-class dreadnought was of prodigious proportions, even outmassing the Covenant Assault Carrier and nearly nine times the size of the Cyclops-class main battle cruiser, the primary line vessel of the UNSC Navy during the Galactic Era. At a keel length of five thousand and four hundred meters, the Atlantis-class was by far the most massive UNSC combatant hull classification, an order of magnitude more massive than the second-most-largest UNSC warship, the Cydonia-class fleet carrier.

The sole premise of the Atlantis-class was founded on its firepower; the UNSC Navy was disproportionally invested into the construction of large numbers of smaller and lighter-armed warships, and severely lacked any warships that individually were comparable to the flagships of the Covenant Fleet, such as the massive Assault Carriers and the Supercarriers.

Therefore, the Atlantis-class was an audacious venture to create a long-range heavy weapons platform capable of supporting the most massive fleet engagements. The primary battery of the dreadnought was comprised of two dozen Mark IV Magnetic Accelerator Cannons and forty Mk. 72 Ship-to-Ship Torpedo Tubes. This was complimented by over a thousand SSM-42 Crossbow-class Missile Pods and a hundred Mk. 16 Flurry-class Close-In Weapon Systems for point defense. Onboard, the dreadnought carried three full fighter wings (two hundred and sixteen fighters), an even-greater number of fighters than the dedicated Cydonia-class fleet carrier.

History
Beyond Veil's Azure would fatally demonstrate the UNSC Navy's lack of heavier warships; its investment into lighter cruisers and carriers would lead UNSC fleets to fare poorly in massive engagements, where its lighter-tonnage craft were simply insufficient to capably engage enemy warships, some of which were an order of magnitude more massive and more heavily armed. With the phantasmal conclusion of Beyond Veil's Azure, UNSC High Command would be compelled to address this catastrophic deficit in the UNSC's naval forces.

The Atlantis-class dreadnought was far unlike any other UNSC combatant hull classification ever constructed; each vessel was projected to require the investment of a substantial amount of resources, and galactic deployment of the Atlantis-class dreadnoughts would require substantial revisions to existing UNSC fleet doctrine. The extravagant resources and new shipyards needed to construct the Atlantis-class vessels would ensure that their construction was ponderous.

By the time of the Galactic Era, only one vessel of the Atlantis classification would be commissioned by the UNSC Navy; the UNSC Atlantis, the lead ship of the class. Over the next five years, funding was authorized for the provisioning of three additional dreadnoughts, the UNSC Atlas, the UNSC Cronus, and the UNSC Prometheus.

Ships of the Line
Atlantis-class dreadnoughts were planned to be named after mythological deities or legendary heroes in human history, although this naming scheme was not fully observed. The three sister ships of the second block of Atlantis-class cruisers were named after various Titans of Greek mythology.


 * UNSC Atlantis (CAC-001)
 * UNSC Atlas (CAC-002)
 * UNSC Cronus (CAC-003)
 * UNSC Prometheus (CAC-004)

Behind the Scenes

 * The Aegis-class frigate classification was named after the Aegis, the legendary shield of Pallas Athena in Greek mythology, reflecting the frigate's largely defensive role in standard fleet doctrine.