Cerberus-class Strike Prowler

Nike-class Strike Prowler

"Four large missiles incoming! they came out of no where!"

- Brute Major Caranus

The Nike-class Prowler is the UNSC's primary stealth vessel for nuclear bombardent. The vessel is virtually invisible to both the naked eye and the scanning systems of nearly everly every faction. It is coated in ablative stealth systems and stealth paint, rendering it RADAR absorbent and near invisible to RADAR, reducing its cross section to something closer to flotsam or jetsam found in space. Matte black paint and active camoflague systems render it invisible to the naked eye also, meaning even when ships are normally visible against suns or planets, it remains invisible. Thanks to heat and radiation sinks as well it is incapable of giving off cherenkov radiation or heat signatures, meaning it cannot be detected leaving slipspace. These however are a double edged sword and depending on how active the ship is these sinks must be dumped, giving off massive heat and radiation signatures or the crew will be cooked or iradiated or both, while still alive. The ship can operate for a few days under full silence without having to dump its sinks or a few hours under full motion. The Slipspace engine dumps into a seperate radiation and heat sink, meaning it can be charged or left charged without fear of it killing the crew and left charged during a oepration for a speedy exit. The ship itself is barely armed, with a handful of point defence lasers and missiles and a few Archer pods. During operations both the shielding and the point defence lasers are left offline or in standby, with at least the lasers ready to operate to reduce the chance of their energy signature being picked up, being visually seen or being a target. The ship features a wdie range of electronic warfare gear including short range slipspace scrambler, radio scramblers, active cancellation pods, counter guidance systems and warfare direction systems. It also features a deep scan, high power millimeter wave RADAR that is mounted in a linear fashion along the keel of the ship that is capable of 'deep penetration scans', high powered RADAR scans that map not only the external features of vessesl but the internal features of ships, ground side bases, underground bases and caverns, asteroid bases and stations. Though it is capable of mapping these fantastically, it must immediatly evacuate as the RADAR gives away their position, as does using their usual RADAR, usually relegating them to using their LIDAR at short range, as at longer range that can be obscured but the chances of it being detected are marginal. The ship is shaped much like a arrow hear with two egg shaped engine pods. The hull is on one part, smooth plating and on the other angular shrouds, reducing its chances of detection. It is possible for the ship to go into 'silent running' where it simple lies still, drifts or goes into a stable orbit, with all systems focused on stealth and keep the engines, slipspace drive and defence weapons on standby, with little else being powered, par life support. While 'silent running' it can quietly observe the enemy or lie in wait for days on end. The ship has an adaptable launcher and a single nuclear launch tube.

UNSC Comments
"These things ended the Necros surface mining op on Bellato by just nuking it with RELAIATION Missiles from orbit. Total destruction."

"These things are used primarily as support for special operations, disabling enemy ships with EMP nukes, wiping out garrissons with Neutron bombs. Insane, I tell yah."

Ships of the line

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