SDV-class heavy corvette

The SDV-class heavy corvette was a light capital warship classification in the Covenant Navy and the navies of many of its remnants.
==Class History==
===Human-Covenant war===
At least three Covenant Corvettes took part in the Battle of Circinius IV. One of the corvettes fired on and destroyed the Orbital Elevator that was part of the Corbulo Academy, causing it to collapse.
====Fall of Reach====
Several Corvettes were present during the Fall of Reach. A corvette attacked Sword Base but retreated when its forces were driven off or destroyed. As it left, the corvette was blasted through the middle with a MAC round and sank in a nearby lake. At least one of these Corvettes, Ardent Prayer, was in the planet's orbit when Operation: UPPER CUT commenced. As the vessel's communications were being jammed by the UNSC, it was engaged by the , which was assisted by several Sabre fighters, including one piloted by SPARTAN-B312 and Jorge-052. The corvette was destroyed by the Slipspace Bomb and took the Supercarrier Long Night of Solace with it thanks to the trap. These first two corvettes were part of a small advance force sent ahead to Reach that seemed to be made up of at least the four corvettes and the Long Night of Solace. It is unclear if there were any more corvettes or other ship-types involved, but it doesn't seem likely.
Other Covenant corvettes took part in the ground battle on the planet. At least three such corvettes were present during the Raid on New Alexandria. One took part in the destruction of civilian transports, hovering over the Starport to prevent escape, but was heavily damaged by missile batteries, apparently disabling its weapons and allowing the other transports to escape. It was last seen retreating from the city.
A corvette also took part in the destruction of Reach Station Gamma despite meeting resistance from a UNSC Frigate.
====Tribute====
Shortly after the Fall of Reach, the Covenant found Tribute, and the Navy battlegroup stationed there was almost completely annihilated. During the final hours of the Battle of Tribute, two corvettes moved in-atmosphere and began bombarding the capital city of Casbah, along with three s.
===Post-war===
Sometime following the Human-Covenant war, the corvette Elegy's Lament fell into the hands of The Banished. The Silent Shadow would board it in an attempt to assassinate Atriox himself.
==Design==
Larger than UNSC Frigates, but relatively weak when compared to most other Covenant ships, Corvettes are usually sent in advance of larger fleets.
===Superstructure===
They are streamlined, with a vaguely oblong hull shape not following the recurring hull design common in all other Covenant Warships (consisting of three or so bulbous sections and a laterally streamlined appearance). Their "double-hull" assembly is quite unique among Covenant vessels. The outer "hull" could possibly house the lateral plasma conduits which supply the ship power and the ammunition for the ship-based weapons systems.
===Propulsion===
The Corvette houses 4 separate engines in the back making for rapid acceleration, and more maneuverability than one would expect for such a vessel.
===Armament & Defense===
The Covenant Corvette is armed with multiple weapons for a variety of purposes.
The Ardent Prayer variant has six manually controlled s (three on each side). Located in four batteries, two on each side, with two in each, are eight plasma autocannons for use against fighter craft.
Another variant has energy projectors.
===Layout===
The interior is also quite small compared to other Covenant ships. There is a hangar bay the could carry six Seraphs with additional room to carry one or more gunboats for combat support. The dorsal landing pad could also carry extra fighters, though it is not regularly outfitted for such a role. There are many entrances to the hangar, most of which lead to other areas of the ship which are currently unknown, although it is known that one door leads to a communications room, directly below the dorsal landing pad. Another doorway from the hangar leads to a fire control room for a battery of plasma cannons. The lowest door in this room leads to a horseshoe-shaped corridor and beyond that, the control room.
On the underside of the Corvette is a launch bay that can hold at least sixteen Type-27 XMFs for use in combat situations.
The control room is a large room, appearing to be split into two areas, divided by a holographic projector used for the display of tactical and strategic data. The Shipmaster and a bodyguard detail of Spec-ops Sangheili man the bridge along with a number of Ultra Unggoy.
==Ships of the Line==
*Ardent Prayer - Ardo 'Moretumee - Destroyed
*Eleghy's Lament - Unknown
*Mayhem - Unknown
==Trivia==
*The Firefight map Corvette and the multiplayer map Zealot take place within the Covenant corvette Ardent Prayer.
*The Covenant Corvette is the only known Covenant starship that possesses no energy shields. This makes them some of the weakest (if not the weakest) Covenant ships that appear, as this, combined with their weak hull strength compared to other Covenant (and even Human) capital ships, as the UNSC frigate Savannah was able to severely damage the Ardent Prayer with fire from her point-defense guns and assistance from a handful of Sabre fighters, a feat that would normally be impossible against other Covenant ships.
==Gallery==
===Renders and Size Comparisons===
HaloReach - CorvetteOverview.png|An overview of the Covenant corvette.
HaloReach - SabreCorvette.png|A comparison between the corvette and the Sabre.
reach_596390_Medium.jpg|A comparison between the corvette and a UNSC frigate.
SpartanGames Render SDV Model 3View.jpg|A render of the SDV-corvette for Spartan Game's Halo tabletop miniatures game.
SpartanGames Render-Comparison SDV-CCS-ORS-Model SideView.jpg|A size comparison between the SDV-corvette, the , and the .
SpartanGames Render-Comparison SDV-CCS-ORS-Model TopView.jpg|A top-down view comparison between the SDV-corvette, the CCS-battlecruiser, and the ORS-heavy cruiser.
===Exterior Shots===
reach_468932_Full.jpg|Another view of a Corvette.
reach_596815_Medium.jpg|Close-up of the Corvette's Orbital Insertion Pod launchers.
reach_468930_Full.jpg|Three plasma cannons affixed to the Corvette.
reach_468883_Full.jpg|A Corvette's gravity lift and Type-27 XMF ventral launch-bay.
reach_468790_Full.jpg|Close up of Type-27 XMF launch-bay.
reach_468980_Full.jpg|View of the corvette's dorsal landing pad.
reach_468847_Full.jpg|An external view of the Corvette's hangar bay with the shutter closed.
reach_596555_Medium.jpg|A corvette over Reach with an escort of Seraphs.
REACHglassing.PNG|A group of corvettes over the surface of Reach.
REACHcartercorvette.PNG|Carter-A259 looks at a Covenant corvette over Reach.
CovieCorvette.jpg|A Corvette attacking Sword Base.
HaloReach - Space Battle.jpg|Corvette in battle.
Corvette Destroyed.png|A Corvette being damaged by Surface-to-Air Missiles over New Alexandria.
reach_9263775_Full.jpg|The orbital insertion pods launch bay.
Reach 8320913 Full.jpg|The Corvette over Sword Base.
Covvie.jpg|Another view of the Corvette attacking Sword Base.
reach_8346561_Medium.jpg|The Corvette's hanger
File:Covie_Corvette_halo4.png|A Corvette as it appears in the Halo 4 map Landfall.
===Interior Shots===
reach_597386_Medium.jpg|An interior view of the control room for the corvette's plasma cannons.
reach_597419_Medium.jpg|Close-up of the Banshee storage area in the corvette's hangar bay.
Corvette1.jpg|View inside a corvette's hangar bay, with Seraph-class starfighters hanging from the ceiling.
Covenant Corvette Bridge.jpg|The bridge of a Covenant Corvette, staffed by SpecOps Sangheili, Unggoy Ultras and a Sangheili General.
==Appearances==
*Halo: The Fall of Reach 
*Halo: Reach
*Halo: The Flood
*Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
*Halo 4 
*Halo: Hunters in the Dark
*Halo: Tales from Slipspace
==Sources==
Category:Covenant Spacecraft Classifications