CAS-class assault carrier

The CAS-class assault carrier is a Covenant capital ship classification of the Covenant Navy. Assault Carriers are much larger than s, Covenant supercruisers, s and most other Covenant ships; they are more rare and more heavily armed than either of them.
==Class History==
===Human-Covenant war===
Two such crafts led the Fleet of Sacred Consecration to Earth, where they engaged the UNSC Home Fleet in orbit above Africa. Solemn Penance, carrying the Prophet of Regret himself, managed to penetrate Earth's orbital defenses. Day of Jubilation attempted to follow but was subsequently destroyed by John-117.
Solemn Penance fled to slip space, as UNSC forces were likely to recapture the city of New Mombasa and board the ship, with  following close behind in its slip space wake, leading Human Forces to Installation 05.
Another Assault Carrier was later repossessed by Rtas 'Vadum and the Sangheili, and became the flagship of the Fleet of Retribution, leading it to Earth in pursuit of the Flood-infested Indulgence of Conviction, arriving in time to glass the infected area of the planet. Shadow of Intent and its escorting Cruisers joined forces with the remnants of the UNSC Navy to launch a joint attack on the Covenant at the Ark, destroying their Fleet and providing a distraction while ground forces engaged the Loyalists that had landed. It later evacuated the UNSC and Sangheili personnel and returned to Earth for a short time before returning to Sanghelios.
===Post-war===
In the post-war era, Jul 'Mdama's Covenant CAS-class assault carrier Song of Retribution led a fleet of s on an expedition to Requiem.
During the Second Battle of Installation 00, the Enduring Conviction was destroyed by Installation 00's Aggressor Sentinel defenses.Halo Wars 2 - Level: Under the Dark
==Design==
===Characteristics===
Assault Carriers, like the vast majority of other Covenant ships, are characterized by their bulbous, whale-like front, sleek silhouette and pale white/blue hull. However, they also tend to be characterized by their unique "hooked" bow section that would (theoretically) be a massive weakness as the ship could be blown in half comparatively easily, if its shields were down.
Assault Carriers are used as Flagships, leading Covenant Fleets into battle. From their name, and actions at the Battle of Earth, it would appear that an Assault Carrier is designed to fight through an enemy world's defenses and head right into the planet's atmosphere and drop off its troops.Halo 2 - Level: Outskirts
Rather than possessing multiple smaller hangar bays, like smaller cruisers, Assault Carriers use a single, gargantuan hangar bay capable of transporting large numbers of Seraph fighters, Phantom dropships, boarding craft, and large fleets of Ghosts and Wraiths, along with a number of massive Scarab Walkers, and - later - the frigates and would dock inside the vessel's launch bay, a testament to the vastness of these ships.Halo 3 - Level: Floodgate In Halo 3, however, there is a second hangar bay visible, near the stern of the Assault Carrier, above the main engines.
For propulsion, Assault Carriers rely on large deuterium-tritium fusion reactors, housed in cavernous chambers, which power the ship's vital systems, as well as the three aft-mounted plasma drives that propel the ship, capable of operating in a vacuum or in an atmospheric environment. They also employ non-reactive gravity drives for standard maneuvering and hovering above the surface of a planet, resisting its gravity.
The Assault Carrier is also fitted with Modular Dispersal Technology, giving it the ability to completely detach sections of its outer hull as well as whole corridors, as seen during the Battle of the Unnamed Star System. They can also separate into two distinct sections which leaves the rear section (with the main engines) behind and allows the fore-section to move away with previously hidden engines, the fore section (and likely the rear) are still slipspace capable. Unlike its unorthodox means of use by the Fleet Master in an attempt to disperse the advancing Spartan forces, the dispersal feature is actually intended to be used in order to detach sections of the Carrier that sustained extensive damage to increase the chances of saving what is left of the ship and its crew for future use.Halo Legends - The Package
The frigates and were small enough to fit inside Shadow of Intents hangar together. Therefore, it would be plausible that the Assault Carrier could easily carry small Covenant ships, such as a or several s.
It should also be noted that CAS-class carriers can be completely submerged in certain substances and still function.Halo: Escalation Issue 14
===Armament===
Because these enormous vessels are often employed as capital ships, it is necessary for them to be heavily armed. Though designed for planetary combat, they also excel at ship-to-ship combat, possessing at least two energy projectors.Halo 2 - Level: Cairo StationHalo 3: ODST - Level: Coastal Highway The energy projectors are powerful enough to cut through UNSC capital shipsHalo: The Fall of Reach, page ?? and are located on its ventral and dorsal surfaces. They also possess multiple pulse-laser turretsHalo 3 - Level: The Ark used for intercepting enemy missiles and fighters, and plasma torpedoes for engaging in ship-to-ship combat and assaulting planetary defenses.Halo 3 - Level: The Covenant
Assault Carriers are also equipped with at least one gravity lift, capable of dispatching troops, personnel, vehicles and equipment to the surface of a planet rather quickly.Halo 2 - Level: MetropolisHalo 3: ODST - Level: Uplift Reserve They also possess a large main hangar, capable of carrying multiple Seraphs and Banshee fighter crafts, Phantom dropships and boarding crafts, or a UNSC Frigate. In addition, Assault Carriers possess the ability to launch Drop Pods, tactically delivering Sangheili warriors into areas without resorting to bulky and obvious dropships. These ships also carry the dreaded Scarab walkers in their holds for quick deployment. Thanks to these innovations, a single Assault Carrier can easily launch large-scale invasions quickly and effectively.
==Ships of the Line==
*Breath of Annihilation
*Clarity of Faith
*Day of Jubilation
*Enduring Conviction (Flagship of The Banished navy)
*Resplendent Fervor (Flagship of the Third Fleet of Glorious Consequence)
*Seeker of Truth (Flagship of the Fleet of Particular Justice)
*Shadow of Intent (Flagship of the Fleet of Retribution)
*Solemn Penance (Flagship of the Fleet of Sacred Consecration and the High Prophet of Regret)
*Song of Retribution (Flagship of Jul 'Mdama)
==Trivia==
*An early draft of Halo 2 was intended to feature a level called Covenant Ship, in which John-117 would board an assault carrier and destroy it from within. This level was cut from the final game due to time constraints. To replace the level, Bungie added the antimatter charge to the level Cario Station in order to find a way to destroy the carrier without the level.Halo 3 Legendary Edition developer commentary
*In the modern US Navy, the term "Assault Carrier" refers to the Amphibious Assault Ship, which is used to transport troops over water and offload them via hovercraft or helicopter.
*In Halo 2, Regret's carrier has visible structures on the surface above the engines. However, in Halo 3: ODST, these structures are not visible, but are rather obscured or replaced by what seems to be a second hangar bay.
*Interestingly, Assault Carriers are almost identical to the much larger Supercarriers.
*The exclamation "Look at the size of that thing!" by Edward Buck may be a reference to a scene in Star Wars, when a Rebellion pilot makes an identical remark upon witnessing the size of the monolithic Death Star, an Imperial superweapon. The remark has become a staple of the franchise's dialogue and appears in many other pieces of media as a reference and parody.
==Gallery==
===Overviews & Size Comparisons===
06-Ships Large.png|Its size compared to several spacecraft.
Size Comparison - CSO, CAS and Infinity-class Ships.png|A CAS-class assault carrier compared to an and a .
File:CapitalShips-scale.gif|Assault carrier scale.
File:Overview - Covenant Assault Carrier.png|An overview of the assault carrier.
File:Assault-Carrier-Side upload.jpg|A side view of the assault carrier Shadow of Intent. Note that there is a second hangar above the engines at the stern of the ship.
File:Assault-Carrier-Top upload.jpg|A top-down view of the assault carrier Shadow of Intent. Note that there is a second hangar above the engines at the stern of the ship.
File:Underneath_An_Assault_Carrier_by_MentalMajinPunk8.jpg|The underside of an assault carrier.
Carguero de Asalto CAS H3.jpg|A closer view of a CAS-class assault carrier.
Carguero de Asalto CAS H2.png|A CAS-class Assault Carrier seen from Cairo Station.
===Exterior Shots===
File:Covenant Assault Carrier FanArt.jpg|Solemn Penance entering slipspace.
File:Assault carrier.jpg|Solemn Penance hangs ominously in the clouds over New Mombasa.
File:AssaultCarrierOverNewMombasa.jpg|Numerous assault carriers are seen above the skies around the portal to the Ark in the Halo 3 Announcement Trailer.
File:Image-Acuc.JPG|Shadow of Intent seen from the front.
H2A_Campaign_SolemnPenanceI05.png|Solemn Penance over the surface of Installation 05.
H2A_Cinematic_CASOverEarth.png|CAS-class Assault Carrier's during the Battle of Earth.
H2A_Cinematic_CASUnderside.png|An underside view of an Assault Carrier.
File:ACFrigate.jpg|A UNSC frigate flying under an assault carrier. Note the size of the assault carrier and it's hangar.
Clarity of Faith.png|Clarity of Faith seen from the front.
File:Carrier.jpg|An assault carrier in low orbit above Earth.
Reach AssaultCarriers.jpg|Three Assault Carriers accompanied by several CCS-class battlecruisers.
assault carrier_daraetheus.png|A pair of CAS-class Assault Carriers above Draetheus V, part of the Rogue Covenant Fleet
Assault Carrier 2.jpg|A CAS-assault carrier with a pair of CCS-class battlecruisers.
H2A_Campaign_SolemnPenanceOverNewMombasa.png|The CAS-class assault carrier Solemn Penance hovering over New Mombasa.
Halo Escalation Breath Of Annihilation 1.png|Two CAS-class ships hiding under an ocean.
===Interior Shots===
File:Shadow of Intent bridge.jpg|The bridge of an Assault Carrier.
File:Ark Secret Room.jpg|The bridge of Shadow of Intent.
File:Ark Secret Room3.jpg|Another image of an assault carrier's interior.
Final meeting 7.png|Another view of the bridge of the Shadow of Intent
Covenant bomb and core.jpg|The Day of Jubilations core.
==Appearances==
*Halo 2 
**Halo 2: Anniversary
*Halo 3
*Halo 3: ODST
*Halo: Reach
*Halo 4
*Halo: Ghosts of Onyx 
*Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
**Palace Hotel
**The Return
*Halo: Uprising
*Halo Wars: Genesis
*Halo Legends
**Origins
**The Package
*Halo: Spartan Assault
*Halo: Spartan Strike
*Halo: Escalation
*Halo Wars 2
==Sources==
de:Allianz Sturmträger
Category:Covenant Spacecraft Classifications