| This article, Minerva-class Prowler, was written by Ajax 013. Please do not edit this fiction without the writer's permission. |
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- "Go silent. They'll never spot us then."
- ―Captain Vivian Benato, Second Battle of Midgard
The Minvera-class Prowler is the UNSC's primary stealth vessel, utilised by both the UNSC Navy and ONI for a variety of missions, including intelligence gather, electronic-warfare, and stealth warfare. The ship mixes next-generation electronic systems, and new stealth features, allowing it to remain concealed during the heat of battle.
Armament
Its greatest weapon is its stealth features, allowing it to avoid detection and successfully avoid contact. However, if push comes to shove, it has the necessary armament to take the fight to the enemy. For mid to short range conflict, it packs 5 Archer pods, each carrying 24 missiles. While nothing impressive, its enough to disable or destroy smaller threats, and deter larger ones. For self defence, it packs 4 phalanx stations, to protect it from fighter constellations and missile threats.
For ship to ship combat, it has 8 XEV11-Fibreak Nonlinear Pulse Cannons. Rare and powerful weapons, unseen outside of prowlers, the Fibreak Pulse Cannon is precise and deadly. It is capable of rapidly adjusting its power output, allowing it to disable a station with a electromagnetic pulse, or punch holes through a frigate. The beams burn hot, allowing them to rapidly fire in a hail of white-hot energy. However, as they fire, the magnetic sheaths begin to deform and accuracy drops.
As a means of subterfuge, it packs two mine dispensers. These allow it to deposit M612 Tactical Mines. These mines are both sensor invisible, and highly aggressive, using short burn motors and passive sensors. Once it picks out a target, it accelerates towards them, then detonates the nuclear charge held within. Most are fitted with the W700 Avenger, but some variants are fitted with the M705 Vengeance EMP warhead that lets it disable ships. Using its stealth features, the Minerva can deploy these mines in secrecy.
Sensors and Electronics
The ship features a wide range of electronic warfare gear, including a short range slipspace scrambler, radio scramblers, active cancellation pods, counter guidance systems and warfare direction systems. It also features a deep scan, high power Synthetic Array RADAR that is mounted in a linear fashion along the keel of the ship that is used for observing ground positions The ship is shaped much like a arrow head 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. All systems would be focused on stealth and keep the engines, slipspace drive and defence weapons on standby, with little else being powered bar life support. While 'silent running' it can quietly observe the enemy or lie in wait for days on end.
The augment its sensor array, it has a Magnetic Array. This array detects magnetic anomalies caused by ships, through long-range electric and electromagnetic field detection arrays of great sensitivity and uses this to home in on them. The Magnetic Array is incredibly accurate and has a long range of 200,000 kilometres, and is highly resistant to jamming methods, detection and interference. On top of that, stealth systems, such as RADAR resistance and optical camouflage, don't affect its capabilities.
In its electronic warfare role, it carries not only the standard electronic warfare systems of UNSC warships, but it also mounts PAVE RAPTOR and PAVE PALADIN electronic warfare systems. The PAVE RAPTOR is capable of intercepting RADAR and intercepting MASER transmissions, and decipher it, and then tracking the source and jamming it through low-detectable narrow band jamming or wide area jamming, at the cost of stealth. It has the added functionality of being able to feed false information to any of the above sensor or communication systems, further confusing enemy forces. It can perform active cancellation, sending out directed, well timed signals on the correct wavelength to 'cancel' enemy RADAR, Radio or MASER signatures, resulting in a 'silence'. The second pod is a Electronic Protection system, the PAVE PALADIN that interferes with enemy attempts to intercept and jam communication and detection systems by producing narrow beam 'burn outs' that confuse and disrupts enemy attempts to jam them. Along with that, it uses a CPU driven decryption system that protects against attempts to intercept communication systems or boost cyber warfare attacks by the ship-board A.I.
Stealth Systems
The vessel is virtually invisible to both the naked eye and the scanning systems of nearly every 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 camouflage 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. 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 and/or irradiated, 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 separate radiation and heat sink, meaning it can be charged or left charged without fear of it killing the crew and left charged during a operation for a speedy exit.
Role
The Minerva conducts a mixture of operations, conducting electronic-warfare, performing reconnaissance, and stealth attack. Most are directly attached to UNSC Naval battlegroups, where they rove ahead of the main group, track the enemy fleet, and lay down mines. They then switch to an electronic warfare role, assaulting the enemy's capability to detect UNSC forces, and hamper their ability to coordinate. It does this by intercepting, deciphering, and jamming their communication, and protecting friendly forces from any attempt to do the same.
Minerva are also used for solitary roles, conducting mid-ranged reconnaissance operations, using their low-observable profile and high speed motors, they can quickly infiltrate a star system and silently observe the enemy, deploying probes, and collecting signals intelligence. ONI often utilises them to perform reconnaissance on Frontier territories, Covenant positions, and Insurrectionist strong holds.
History
UNSC Comments
"Apparently there were three Minerva classes at Linna. I never saw them..."
"Sure, it's not as potent as the Obsidian is but it's a lot nippier and less of a target."
"Served on one for four years... It's like a oven... All the time."
Ships of the line
- UNSC Minerva
- UNSC Windtalker
- UNSC Theron
- UNSC Black Lagoon
- UNSC Fuchikoma
- UNSC Wagner
- UNSC Black Summer
- UNSC Idolator
- UNSC Silent Assassin
- UNSC Kisaragi
