Editing Point-defense gun

{{Status|Canon}}
{{Status|Canon}}
[[File:Origins - Defensive Measure.png|300px|thumb|A {{Class|Halcyon|light cruiser}} firing its point-defence loadout upon inbound [[Covenant]] boarding craft.{{Ref/Film|HLeg|Story=Origins}}]]
'''Point-defense weapons''' are a classification of weaponry used on [[Warship|military spacecraft]], and occasionally on ground installations. They serve as a primarily defensive tool for the spacecraft in question, and are designed for shooting down incoming projectiles (such as debris or [[missile]]s) and [[Space fighter|strikecraft]]. They may be used in a limited role for engaging enemy warships, though their smaller scale means they are less effective in this role than larger, more dedicated heavy weapons.

Point-defence weaponry is found on both [[human starship]]s and [[Covenant starship]]s, and serve in broadly the same roles - though with vastly different operating principles.

==Human point-defense==
For [[human]]ity, the vast majority of point-defence weapons are Magnetic Linear Accelerators (MLAs){{Ref/Book|Id=Enc11|Enc11|Page=315}} - typically [[coilgun]]s - firing fully-automatic streams of high-velocity projectiles at inbound targets.{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22Human}} They are generally mounted on [[Human starship|warships]] of the [[UNSC Navy]] and [[CMA Navy]] in vast "'''point-defense networks'''"{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22Human}} consisting of dozens of individual guns spread across the ship with overlapping fields of fire to cover all potential approach vectors. An exception to this is fittings alongside a ship's [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon]] system; the constant magnetic bursts of the coilguns may interfere with a MAC and risk the ship's operation in combat.{{Ref/Reuse|FOR29}}

These weapons are fully-automated due to requiring reaction times faster than those capable of any human, instead controlled by a [[Human starship|starship]]'s given controlling [[artificial intelligence]] [[ship director]]. The automated systems calculate firing solutions in the heat of battle and are able to rapidly reorient the guns to fire at newly-acquired targets.{{Ref/Book|Id=WF19|HWF|Page=18-19}}{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22Human|Enc22|Section=Human Spaceships|Page=111-133}} Without an AI to control point-defence systems, a ship is as good as defenceless against inbound threats{{Ref/Novel|Id=FOR21|HTFoR|Chapter=21}} - though manual control may be surrendered to a human operator if absolutely necessary.{{Ref/Level|HFR|Escape (Halo: Fireteam Raven level)|Escape}} In extremely special cases such as that of {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}} in [[Operation: RED FLAG]], a vessel may even equip a secondary backup AI solely to handle point-defence, with the primary smart AI freed up for other more specialised tasks.{{Ref/Novel|Id=FOR29|HTFoR|Chapter=29}}

Exceptions to the MLA paradigm include the Scythe series of [[Wikipedia:Close-in weapon system|close-in weapon systems]] (particularly the [[M71 Scythe]] used for defending ground bases) and the [[Streak missile]] - a series of small, mass-deployed missiles which can be used to track down and intercept inbound munitions. Some more recent additions to the fleet of the [[UNSC Navy]] have additionally begun to experiment with the integration of [[laser]] point-defence systems - particularly the {{Class|Winter|prowler}} and {{Class|Anlace|light frigate}}.

===List of human point-defense weapons===
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-2}}
;Magnetic Linear Accelerators
*[[Mark 57 Arena point defense gun|Mark 57 Arena]]
*[[M710 Bulwark point defense gun|M710 Bulwark]]
*[[M965 Fortress point defense network|M965 Fortress]]
*[[M606 Goalkeeper point defense gun|M606 Goalkeeper]]
*[[Rampart point defense gun|Rampart]]
**[[M800 Rampart point defense gun|M800 Rampart]]
**[[M870 Rampart point defense gun|M870 Rampart]]
**[[M910 Rampart point defense network|M910 Rampart]]

;Conventional ballistic weapons
*Scythe
**[[M71 Scythe]]
**[[M85 Scythe]]
*[[M810 Helix point defense gun|M810 Helix]]
{{Col-2}}
;Missiles
*Ship-launched
**[[Streak missile]] {{C|M340A4 and M390 Streak-II}}
*Surface-to-air
**[[Anaconda surface-to-air missile|Anaconda]]
**[[M260 Multiple Launch Rocket System|M260 MLRS]]
**Lance
***[[M95 Lance]]
***[[M97 Lance]]
**[[Surface-to-air missile launcher]] (unidentified)

;Energy weapons
*[[AN/SEQ-11 point-defense laser array]]
*[[M995 Backstop point defense laser]]
{{Col-end}}

==Covenant point-defense==
The point-defence systems used by the [[Covenant starship|military spacecraft]] of the [[Covenant]] and its [[Covenant remnants|splinters]] differ greatly from their human counterparts. Rather than firing projectiles to intercept inbound threats, they instead operate as [[directed-energy weapon]]s of various kinds - using [[plasma]] and [[laser]]s to destroy their targets.{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22Covenant|Enc22|Section=Covenant Spaceships|Page=260-271}}

Covenant point-defence weapons can be broadly classed into two weapon classes; [[plasma beam laser]]s and [[pulse laser turret]]s. While broadly similar in principle, they have significant operational differences; a plasma beam laser is fires a continuous beam of [[plasma]] at its targets, able to pick out and destroy dozens of targets in short order. By comparison, a pulse laser has a relatively low rate-of-fire and fires in multiple repeated bursts to accurately pick off inbound targets - though repeated strikes on the same area can also be used to breach the exterior hulls of enemy warships if needed.{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22Covenant}}

Outside of the aforementioned examples, the Covenant may use rapid-fire [[plasma cannon]]s in a role comparable to human MLAs for defending ground installations; the twin rapid-fire heavy plasma cannons of the {{Pattern|Upisa'weri|Shrike}} or the rapid-fire explosive plasma bolts of the anti-air variants of the {{Pattern|Preksheda|Shade}} and {{Pattern|Bmur'resh|Shade}} turrets can be used in a CIWS role to great effect against enemy aircraft.
==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:HTMCC-H3 FuD M870Rampart 2.png|A close-up of an M870 Rampart on the ''Charon''-class light frigate in ''Halo 3''.
File:Origins - Defensive Measure.png|A [[Halcyon-class cruiser]] defending itself from Covenant boarding craft using its point defense guns.
File:Point Defence Gun.jpg|A close-up of a point-defense gun.
File:Reach 3893592 Full-crop.jpg|A close-up of one of the ''Pillar of Autumn''{{'}}s point-defense guns in ''Halo: Reach''.
File:Reach 9060575 Full.jpg|Shot of the UNSC ''Savannah'''s point defense gun arrays.
File:Reach 3003793 Full.jpg|The UNSC ''Savannah'''s point defense guns firing on the [[Covenant]] [[Ceudar-pattern heavy corvette|corvette]] ''[[Ardent Prayer]]''.
File:Point guns firing.jpg|Close-up of a UNSC frigate's point defense guns firing.
File:UNSC Savannah Firing.jpg|The {{UNSCShip|Savannah}} using its point-defense guns against the ''Ardent Prayer'' in [[Operation: UPPER CUT]].
File:HINF Reverie M870Rampart 2.png|A close-up of an M870 Rampart on the ''Mulsanne''-class light frigate  in ''Halo 3''.
</gallery>
{{Linkbox|gallery=yes|gallerypage=Images of point-defense guns}}

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: The Flood]]''
*''[[Halo 2]]''
*''[[Halo 3]]''
*''[[Halo 3: ODST]]''
*''[[Halo Legends]]''
**''[[Origins]]''
*''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''
**''[[The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole]]''
*''[[Halo: Reach]]''
*''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''
*''[[Halo 4]]''
**''[[Spartan Ops]]''
*''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]''
*''[[Halo: Fractures]]''
**''[[Breaking Strain]]''
*''[[Halo: Envoy]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Fireteam Raven]]''
*''[[Halo Infinite]]''
*''[[Halo: The Rubicon Protocol]]''

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

{{UNSC heavy weapons}}
[[Category:Autocannons]]
[[Category:Starship weapons]]
[[Category:UNSC naval weapons]]