Editing Archer missile

{{Era|UNSC|HCW|Post}}  

{{Weapon

| type=Ship-to-ship missile

| ammotype=High explosive

| range=Long

The '''Archer missile''' is a ship-to-ship missile used by the [[UNSC Navy]].

Warships usually carry large numbers of Archer missiles to complement their [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon]]s. Archer pods usually carry around two dozen missiles each; [[UNSC frigate|frigates]] and [[UNSC destroyer|destroyers]] carry thirty pods, though larger ships carry more pods, sometimes hundreds. While individual Archers are vulnerable to point-defense weapons and have limited destructive potential, their sheer numbers make up for their lack of individual effectiveness. Their standard warheads are high-explosive.<ref>''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]'': "Archer missiles and magnetic accelerator cannons fired in a desperate counterstrike. The missiles detonated a fraction of a second along their flight paths, high explosives heated to the flashpoint."</ref> [[Covenant]] [[Energy shielding|shield technology]] can withstand large numbers of Archers, though unprotected ships can be destroyed by Archer missile strikes to the hull and superstructure. The small, "frigate-size"<ref>[[Halo: Silent Storm]]</ref> ship ''[[Unrelenting]]'' took ninety Archer missiles to its energy shields with no apparent strain.<ref>''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'': "The ''Commonwealth'' had twenty-six pods, each loaded with thirty Archer high-explosive missiles. On screen, pods A through F opened, and launched 180 plumes of rocket exhaust that traced a path from theCommonwealth to the alien ship. The enemy changed course, rotated so that the top of the ship faced the incoming missiles. It then moved straight up at an alarming speed. The Archer missiles altered their trajectory to track the ship, but half their number streaked past the target, clean misses. The others impacted. Fire covered the skin of the alien ship... The fire flared, then dimmed. The skin of the alien ship rippled like heat wavering off a hot road in the summer. It fluttered with a metallic silver sheen, then brilliant white—and the fire faded, revealing the ship beneath. It was completely undamaged."</ref>

The {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} is armed with 350 pods of twenty-four M42 Archers for a total of 8,400 Archers. These are supplemented by 250 pods of thirty [[Rapier missile|M75 Rapier missile]]s for a total 7,500 missiles and 500 pods of twenty [[Howler missile|M96 Howlers]] for a total of 10,000 Howlers.<ref>[http://blogs.halowaypoint.com/Headlines/post/2012/10/10/The-Halo-Bulletin-101012-.aspx '''Halo Waypoint''': ''The Halo Bulletin: 10.10.12'']</ref>

The M58 Archer is the preferred model of missile for the UNSC Navy, with most models of [[UNSC frigate|frigates]] and at least two classes of [[Cruiser|cruisers]] mounting these as their supplemental anti-ship weapon system. The number of individual devices per pods varied: the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}} was armed with twenty-four M58 Archers per pod as part of its refit for [[Operation: RED FLAG]],<ref>[http://halo.xbox.com/Content/assets/en-us/ONI/577839090903298928/DDR-A340024-1115-08-27-52.pdf '''Halo Waypoint''' - ''Data Drop 5'']</ref>, while the {{UNSCShip|Commonwealth}} had thirty missiles in each pod instead.<ref name="TFoR"/>

Prior to the [[Human-Covenant War]], the UNSC found the missiles to be effective against [[Insurrectionist]] combatant ships. A single Archer missile was capable of crippling all but the largest of UNSC ships.<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest'''</ref> Against the Covenant, however, they realized that the defensive measures employed by the enemy ships such as energy shields and [[pulse laser turret|point defense lasers]] suddenly rendered Archer missiles near-obsolete - lasers were able to pick off up to half of the missiles launched, and those that hit were rarely enough to penetrate the shields.<ref name="TFoR">'''Halo: The Fall of Reach'''</ref><ref>'''Halo Wars: Genesis'''</ref> At least one Covenant ship class, the {{Class|DAV|light corvette}}, possesses [[Electronic countermeasures|jamming measures]] that interfere with the guidance systems. Tactics were developed to counter this, using the more devastating but slower-firing Magnetic Accelerator Cannons to break through the shields, rendering the hulls vulnerable, but on the whole Archers proved to be ineffective weapons against the Covenant. Smaller ships, such as [[Covenant boarding craft|boarding craft]] or fighters, are much easier targets,<ref name="TFoR"/> and Archers may be used in support of ground forces, launched from orbit to strike a ground-based target.<ref>'''[[Halo Wars 2]]''', ''level ???''</ref>