Ballistician-class destroyer

The Ballistician-class comprised six light destroyers. The first UNSC escort ships to carry the magnetic accelerator cannon, the Ballistician-class was a radical departure from contemporary designs: light armor plating with a reinforced internal framework, a small number of anti-ship missiles, a large reactor and oversized engines, and, of course, an unmatched main gun. The Ballistician destroyers also featured a small hanger for a pair of pelican dropships. The revolutionary design was not well-received at the time of its introduction and its limited production of six destroyers was accurately seen as a grudging bare minimum by a recalcitrant Admiralty. Historically, destroyers were missile ships with the understanding that they served in whatever role the fleet needed at the time; the Ballistician was a MAC-centric destroyer entirely focused on anti-ship operations and was thus an unwelcome addition to the fleet and was quickly sidelined. Many of the elements that made the class so poorly received were retained and reused in the subsequent development of the Gladius-class heavy corvette. 
The class was slated for early retirement in the 2490s, but the ignition of the Insurrection in 2494 forced the Admiralty to scrap those plans. Employed by the fleet in the traditional role of light destroyers, five Ballistician destroyers were lost in the first decade of the Insurrection: four were irreparably damaged (Boadicea in 2497, Ballistician and Bismarck in 2499, and Barbarossa in 2504) and one was scuttled to prevent capture (Bombard in 2500). The sole remaining Ballistician, the UNSC Beauregard, was lost to Covenant forces in 2527. 
==History==
===Development and construction===
*Project: ARSENAL
===Service===
*Insurrection era service
*Beauregard against the Covenant
==Design==
*The Gun
==Ships in class==
Name 	Commission	Struck	Details
Ballistician ‡	2487 	2499 	The UNSC Ballistician was commissioned in 2476 and was irreparably damaged in 2499.
Bombard † 	2487 	2500 	The UNSC Bombard was commissioned in 2476 and was destroyed in 2500.
Boadicea ‡ 	2488 	2497 	The UNSC Boadicea was commissioned in 2477 and was irreparably damaged in 2497.
Beauregard † 	2488 	2527 	The UNSC Beauregard was commissioned in 2476 and was destroyed by Covenant forces in 2527.
Barbarossa ‡ 	2488 	2504 	The UNSC Barbarossa was commissioned in 2476 and was irreparably damaged in 2504.
Bismarck ‡ 	2489 	2499 	The UNSC Bismarck was commissioned in 2478 and was irreparably damaged in 2499.
Category:Destroyer classes