Daring-class frigate

The Daring-class frigate was a class of light frigates utilised by the United Nations Space Command Navy, which served between 2557 and 2598. In contrast to the multi-role Remembrance-class frigate, the Daring-class was a specialised warship utilised to provide a set of highly specific functions to a Strike Force, including reconnaissance, electronic intelligence and surveillance, electronic support including command, control and communications, and anti-prowler/anti-stealth warfare. These functions made it highly valuable when deployed as part of a Strike Force, as it was able to actively supplement the systems and capabilities of other battle group components; however this also meant its ability in combat without such support was restricted. In particular the Daring-class frigate's starfighter complement and armament were restricted due to its substantial complement of sensor and communication equipment.
While the Daring-class had a limited combat ability when deployed without a Group, it routinely performed non-combat operations, such as electronic intelligence gathering and reconnaissance, independently of the unit it was part of. Vessels of the class featured enhanced stealth features and countermeasures, in addition to strong shielding and frigate-typical high velocity, in order to increase effectiveness and survivability. A major role of the Daring-class was to covertly insert to a target using pods, often in preparation for a full scale assault by UNSC forces.
The Daring-class was also tasked with command and control of deployed Prowler Squadrons. The frigate could keep pace with the Hesperus-class prowler and remain at a similar level of undetectability, whilst having better endurance and armament and an expanded communications suite. This allowed the Daring-class to function as a control and coordination vessel to deployed prowlers, augmenting their effectiveness. The vessel also had the ability to replenish prowlers while underway, which included resupplying ammunition and consumbables as well as removal of 'hot' heat sinks and replacement with clean ones.
Introduced in 2557, the UNSC Navy had over 8,000 Daring-class frigates in service by January 2572.
==Stealth and countermeasures==
Although the Daring-class frigate was not strictly a stealth ship, it included a far wider range of stealth measures than other non-prowler classes, better enabling it to support prowlers and operate in dangerous areas undetected. The most basic aspect of the ship's stealth measures was its external shape. The class was noticeably more angular in all aspects of its design than most conventional UNSC ship classes, featuring an angled, arrowhead-like forward superstructure, a very low-profile command module, and engines and reactors screened by large angled plates. These features meant that the vessel's hull had an unusually small RADAR cross-section. All external openings, including Archer pods, hangar bays, secondary thrusters and Harpoon tubes featured retractable stealth coverings with 'saw-tooth' edges, which when concealed were prevented from adding to RADAR cross-section. This angular hull served the purpose of reflecting RADAR returns in any direction but the RADAR source.
The entire exterior of the Daring-class was coated in a RADAR-absorbent material (RAM), which minimised RADAR reflections even before the angular hull was required to reflect it in directions other than the RADAR reciever. The combination of RADAR-absorbent material and RADAR-reflective hull shape combined to reduce the RADAR cross-section of the frigate to an average of twenty square centimetres depending on the position of the ship.
For optical camouflage, the Daring-class frigate utilised a Human-built active camouflage generator based on Covenant designs. This generator was able to render the vessel effectively invisible by 'bending light' to mimick the ship's background. This hybrid system achieved superior effectiveness to both Covenant and Human optical camouflage systems whilst utilising less energy and producing less thermal emissions. The optical generator was directly linked with the shielding system, meaning neither the sheilds nor the active camouflage could be active whilst the other was functioning.
The ship's thermal emissions, produced by its life support systems, electronics, crew and above all its fusion reactors, were contained through a combination of thermostatic radiation-absorbent hull layers and multiple heat sinks. These measures contained the thermal radiation emitted by the vessel and maintained its external temperature at the same level as the temperature of space. This allowed the frigate to operate for short periods of time effectively right under the enemy's nose without being detected. After a period of time these heat sinks needed to be emptied to prevent a fatal rise of internal temperature; this effectively limited the 'silent' period the frigate could operate for, with the endurance of the sinks being dependent on the ship's level of activity, and consequently its thermal emissions. Heat sinks could vent their captured energy into space, or be physically ejected into space to cool. However, both these solutions 'lit a beacon' which no sensors could fail to detect. In addition, with physical ejection, the frigate lost a crucial aspect of its stealth capabilities until it recovered them. For this reason, physical ejection of heat sinks was usually only practiced after withdrawing from enemy territory. Smaller stealth vessels could offload their heat sinks to larger ships and have them replaced with fresh ones, though this capability was not available to the Daring-class, as it itself was designed to accept loaded heat sinks from other vessels.
==Known Ships of the Line==
 Name 	 Hull Classification Symbol 	 Commissioned 	 Notes 
UNSC Daring 	FFL-94 	February 1, 2557 	
UNSC Dagger 	FFL-95 	February 1, 2557 	
UNSC Dauntless 	FFL-96 	 	
UNSC Daedalus 	FFL-97 	 	
UNSC Defender 	FFL-98 	 	
UNSC Defiant 	FFL-99 	 	
UNSC Demon 	FFL-100 	 	
UNSC Dependable 	FFL-101 	 	
UNSC Dreadnought	FFL-102 	 	
UNSC Discovery 	FFL-103 	 	
UNSC Drake 	FFL-104 	 	
Category:Frigate classes
Category:UNSC Ship Classes