Today, we are going to evaluate how our mighty fleet would stand up to the UNSCs Orbital Defense Platforms. I promise, no favoritism. From here on in my little investigation, the Platforms will be referred to as an ODP. We will be evaluating the chances of victory against an ODP of the three types of Covenant cruisers: the CCS-Class Battlecruiser, the CAS-Class Assault Carrier, and the CSO-Class Supercarrier. Before beginning the evaluation, its important to note that all Covenant ships, could, in theory, have a chance to deflect an ODPs MAC round off of its hull, due to the sloped armor of Covenant warships. This is similar to how modern day main battle tanks have sloped armor to protect from explosive and kinetic projectiles. While this is unlikely, it could theoretically occur, and therefore can alter our final conclusion. First off, lets take a look at the ODP. (We wont be taking armor and hull into account as its been proven multiple times that Covenant naval weaponry is almost always a one hit kill against UNSC ships and platforms) The ODP fires a 3,000 ton tungsten projectile at 4% the speed of light, or around 12,000 kilometers per second. The force created on impact from a round from the ODP is over the equivalent 50 gigatons of TNT. Against Covenant warships, it has been known to shoot a round clean through a Covenant capital ship, shields included, and still exit the ship with enough force to penetrate a second ship, exit it, and cripple a third. Allegedly, this has happened to even Supercarriers. Also, if a ship is able to survive a round and absorb the kinetic energy, its assumed that the sheer heat energy from the round would vaporize the ship. However, it is unknown how MUCH of the ship would be vaporized, especially larger ships, such as Assault and Supercarriers. Therefore, this information is going to be omitted in our analysis. Now lets take a look at the chances of victory against an ODP of the three cruisers: CCS-Class Batllecruiser: While its obvious that this ship would be annihilated by a round from the ODP, both the small size and the speed of this frigate-like ship could, in fact, earn it the win. While it is unknown how quickly an ODP can adjust its aim, it is known that the CCS is one of the fastest warships in the Covenant fleet. This could, in theory, allow it to dodge the ODP rounds and come in close for the kill, using plasma turrets, plasma torpedoes, and various other weaponry. However, since there is no information on how quickly and efficiently an ODP can adjust its aim, we must conclude that the CCS would win only possibly. CAS-Class Assault Carrier: Unfortunately, this ship is the most likely of the three to lose. Lacking the speed of the CCS, and lacking the range of the CSO, the Assault Carrier would lose for one simple reason: having enough firepower to beat the enemy means nothing if you cant get the first shot off. The only chance for the Assault Carrier to survive would be round deflection. CSO-Class Supercarrier: The Supercarrier, while being just as susceptible to the MAC rounds as the other two ships, could likely survive 2 or 3 rounds before being destroyed due to its sheer size. Additionally, the CSO has a greater range than the ODP, meaning that the CSO can simply snipe the ODP. The Supercarrier takes this one. OVERALL CONCLUSION: In a realistic situation, such as the Fall of Reach, the Covenant fleet would certainly have some trouble with these ODPs. However, Supercarriers offer a way for the fleet to avoid these obstacles entirely. Additionally, if there are no UNSC ships around the ODPs to protect them, the CCS-Class Battlecruiser might be able to take them out. Overall these ODPs are the biggest obstacle to the Covenant Navy, but in the end, the Covenant would prevail against them. Your thoughts? - Spec-Ops Commander Lor Tarkam
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 20:35:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015