Punic-class supercarrier

"It will take nothing less than the hand of God himself to wash this ship away."

- Captain Harold Thompson

The Punic-class supercarrier are the largest and among the most powerful warships constructed by humanity prior to the Human-Covenant War.

Development
The Punic-class was developed as a response to the rapid changes in naval warfighting theory that undermined its predecessor, the three-strong. Though visually impressive and capable of carrying a great many troops and spacecraft, they were lacking in both armor and firepower, instead relying on their striking range and escorts to protect themselves. However, mid-way through construction, the UNSC Navy's introduced the - a large MAC-armed cruiser specifically designed to destroy lightly-protected carriers. Though changes were implemented, all the Victory-class carriers were too far along to incorporate the extensive changes needed to truly defend themselves against the Relentless, its successors, and future attack ships armed with miniaturized naval coilguns. Eventually, the CMA reclassified all their pre-2484 carriers as transports and reassigned them away from space combat missions.

The development on the Punic-class started in 2480, before any Victory-class carriers had entered service. While design work on the hull was underway, the CMA invested in projects for technologies they were were critical to the carrier's success. Weapons research yielded the Mark II MACs and the Mark 2488 Onagers that would arm it, while advancements in fusion reactors and power-storage systems influenced the systems chosen to power it.

Embarked force
As a 'Space Control Vehicle,' the Punic-class supercarrier is designed and built solely for the complete subjugation of rogue colonies, able to project power and force across an entire system if needed. To achieve this, these supercarriers are capable of calling upon several Wings of space fighters and offloading an entire Army Expeditionary Brigade (AEB) for planetside operations. While neither group are offered the same support as the smaller, more specialized thanks to their lack of internal factories, they are more than able to still sustain operations for years at a time, especially as the ground complement are already outfitted to function without support from their mothership. Finally, the Punic-class supercarrier acts as the center of local naval operations, as a small contingent of escorts can routinely hunt down hostile craft and return to the supercarrier for repairs and resupply.

The majority of its air component not part of the Expeditionary Brigade are normally chosen for their effectiveness in a vacuum, although special planetary support aircraft not usually folded into regular Army or Naval units also have a place. Although all can be tasked with offering planetary support in one way or another, their primary objective in battle is to attain control of the local airspace from enemy forces. Once achieved, they would supplement or enhance weapons in the supercarrier's battle group by either directly attacking enemy ships, eliminating incoming projectiles before they can threaten the fleet, or indirectly support them with electronic countermeasures and directing their fire. The locally assigned combat group on a Punic-class supercarrier would eventually consist of the following as standard:
 * 10 squadrons of 12 F-41 Broadswords, manoeuvrable fighters designed to match their advanced Covenant equivalents.
 * 8 squadrons of 12 GA-TL1 Longswords, multirole combat fighters. The complement aboard any UNSC warship is rarely composed of a single monogamous model, as each different configuration offers tailored advantages to a specialised role. The most common models are the C709 and C712, used for bombing and interception roles respectively.
 * 6 squadrons of 16 F-99 Wombats, small lightly-armoured drones capable of both interception and dogfighting, but most often called upon for reconnaissance purposes.
 * 3 squadrons of 3 GA-TL2 Greatswords, dedicated super-heavy bombers able to unleash a very impressive amount of ordnance.
 * 2 squadrons of 3 AC-220 Vultures, rare atmospheric gunships used to provide heavy aerial fire once air superiority has been achieved. Unlike all other aircraft on the supercarrier, these are manned and maintained by the UNSC Air Force.
 * 1 squadron of 8 B-65 Shortswords, light bombers used to strategically eliminate key enemy assets.

For transportation needs, a number of dropships, transports, and shuttlecraft are brought aboard for the purposes of transferring personnel and moving material between ship-to-ship, ship-to-planet, or in some cases even across the behemoth capital ship itself. It is made up to twenty-six aircraft, divided between the following:
 * 1 squadron of 12 D77-TC Pelicans or equivalent. The bread-and-butter of the UNSC's air transportation arm, it is able to move two fireteams of UNSC Marines and a single medium vehicle without any modifications, while larger objects can be moved with cables attached to multiple dropships.
 * 8 SKT-13 shuttlecraft, an unarmed spacecraft designed solely to move up to 45 individuals between the various ships in the UNSC fleet.
 * 2 squadrons of three D20 Herons, massive transports that are designed to move dozens of vehicles and hundreds of soldiers between planets and space. Rarely a permanent fixture aboard supercarriers, they may be tasked with moving fortifications to further establish a UNSC presence on a given world.

To supplement its fighters, the Punic-class supercarrier also has docking spaces for a number of light-tonnage warships, usually relegated for frigates and smaller destroyers. A necessity thanks to the horribly inaccurate nature of slipspace at the time, the docked escorts were an integral part to the operation of the supercarrier. In combat, their contributions were obvious, as they will engage other warships trying to outflank their mothership, screen for incoming missiles, and if necessary take hits from super-heavy weapons. However, each warship is a fully-staffed and equipped warship, with the option to embark more personnel, and as such they can be deployed to pursue independent missions. This can include guarding vulnerable supply lines, suppress a region the supercarrier cannot or must not reach, or investigate a system prior to the capital ship's arrival. In return, the Punic-class supercarrier has access to a large inventory of parts used to rearm, refuel, or repair damaged ships, which essentially sees it acting as a mobile naval station in the field. In total, it has four Category-8 sub-vessel dock s, each of which can accommodate up to a, along with two Category-7 light sub-vessel bays capable of accepting nothing larger than a.

The Punic-class supercarrier is home to a Marine Expeditionary Brigade, a large, self-sufficient formation of UNSC Marines that are often deployed in troublespots for months at a time. Commanded by a Brigadier General, it is divided between three main divisions: a Command Element (CE), which provides the coordination needed to remain independent as well as a variety of support services; a Ground Combat Element (GCE), which includes the infantry and armoured vehicle units; a Aviation Combat Element (ACE), which deals with both their aerial transportation solutions as well as superiority fighters; and finally a Logistics Combat Element (LCE), which includes all support personnel and assets needed for long-term occupation. In total, the MEB is manned by a staggering 13,500 individuals of all kinds. To ensure that the supercarrier was never truly defenceless against boarders, a further 500 Marines were retained for shipboard security purposes.

The Aviation Combat Element is a composite air unit that is manned and operated entirely by the UNSC Marine Corps Aviation, the aircraft component of the Marines. It was made up of a wide variety of aerial vehicles, including low-altitude VTOLs, heavy-lift transports, and covert support aircraft, with many of the dropships able to retrieve supplies from orbit. ACE's mission is primarily to support advances made by the GCE, and as such it has limited capabilities for long-range operations. It is made up of the following:
 * 4 squadrons of 12 D77-TC Pelicans, workhorse dropships used for ferrying troops and vehicles to various battlefields. A single squadron is normally outfitted as D77-TCI gunships, for increased combat utility.
 * 3 squadrons of 15 AV-14 Hornets, light attack VTOLs that can swiftly support ground attacks and assist in commando operations. Due to the modularity of their frame, they occasionally see use as emergency troop transports in MEBs.
 * 2 squadrons of 12 AV-19 SkyHawk, jumpjet ground-attack fighters used to provide strafing close-air support and achieve air superiority. On occasion, advanced AV-22 Sparrowhawks may be used instead.
 * 2 squadrons of 8 D82-EST Darters, light dropships used to move troops and supplies in small numbers.
 * 2 squadrons of 5 EV-44B Nightgales, support aircraft that use a swarm of drone to repair UNSC vehicles and cloak them in the field. One squadron is outfitted with the EV-44C model, an electronic warfare version designed to jam enemy communications and sensors and interfere with vehicle operation.
 * 1 squadron of 9 UH-144 Falcons, light troop transports capable of low-altitude air support. The only role the Falcons occupy a spot in the UNSC Marine Corps, as the Human-Covenant War dragged on a number of these craft were loaned to active MEBs by the UNSC Army.
 * 1 squadron of 8 GA-TL1 Longswords, multirole space fighters used primarily for air superiority in the atmosphere. In a pinch, they can be outfitted as effective bombers.
 * 1 squadron of 8 F-99 Wombats, autonomous fighters used for reconnaissance and air support purposes.
 * 1 squadron of six D96 Albatrosses, heavy-lift dropships known for their manoeuvrability.
 * 1 squadron of 4 D80H-LRT Condor, heavy-lift transports that dwarf every other aircraft in the MEB. The D80H model has a vastly lengthened and somewhat widened hull to allow it to much larger objects than almost any other transport used by the UNSC, while retaining its translight drive. By 2544, it was the only model of Condor still in military service.