Qianliyan-class stealth frigate

The Qianliyan-class stealth frigate (: FFS) is a line of frigates designed in the later stages of the by Vice Admiral . The class was designed to operate in deep space conditions far behind enemy lines, with an estimated deployment period of five-to-seven years without the need of returning to dock for resupply. This presented a number of challenges causing the line to be postponed indefinitely for the rest of the war, with resources being diverted to other projects. 
After the war, the Qianliyan-class remained shelved until its design and specifications were reviewed by Vice Admiral Allison Spurgeon. The class would be reintroduced into the Navy as part of the Naval Procurement Acts in 2554, although most of its intended role and operations were kept classified from the , along with preventing any leaks from finding its way to the various factions, notably the .
The first block of Qianliyan-class frigates left shipyards in 2556, immediately beginning their highly secretive operations designated―Naval Order FIRE WATCH―deep within former -controlled space. A year later, the adopted the class in 2557 after placing an order separate from the NPAs in 2555. After being commissioned, the ships would be discreetly moved to and retrofitted with the . While the UNSC's Project NOVA was shut down by in order to prevent a potential galactic crisis in the future, the project lived on under a clandestine ONI subdivision. By October 2558, a classified number of these frigates were deployed in strategic positions throughout Sangheili space, quietly monitoring their new allies as well as potential threats.Documents declassified in 2593 would reveal that these ONI-controlled frigates were intended to conduct their mission for an estimated ten years known as Operation: HARBOR GOLD, with ONI set to pull these frigates out of Sangheili space by 2569 if stability was maintained and the Sangheili proved to be trustworthy. Another file declassified in 2597 [only to the UNSC Security Council] later revealed that ONI came dangerously close to deploying their payloads at least twenty times (eleven of them being human error accidents) during the ten-year operation. These incidents were not shared with the Sangheili.
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==Development History==
===Whitcomb's Warhorse===
==Operational History==
==Specifications==
==Ships of the Line==
{| class="hlblack" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="2"	Name 	Hull Classification Symbol	Commissioned 	Destroyed 	Notes 	
Qianliyan-class 	Qianliyan-class	Qianliyan-class 	Qianliyan-class	Qianliyan-class 	Qianliyan-class	Qianliyan-class
UNSC Qianliyan 	FFS-1151 	2556 	 	Lead ship of the class; destroyed during Operation: BURNING SURF.	 	
UNSC Luoyang 	FFS-1163 	2556 	 	Assigned to , disabled by a over . 	 	
ONI Steep Horizon	XS-201 	2557 	 	Participated in Operation: HARBOR GOLD. 	 	
Category:UNSC Ship Classes
Category:Frigate classes