Editing HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon

{{Status|Canon}}

{{Weapon infobox

|length={{Convert|13.8|in|cm}}{{Ref/Reuse|H4VG}}

|width={{Convert|7.1|in|cm}}{{Ref/Reuse|H4VG}}

|height={{Convert|7.5|in|cm}}{{Ref/Reuse|H4VG}}

The '''HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon''' is a [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] [[nuclear weapon]] produced by the [[Misriah Armory]]. It is classified as part of the [[Medium Fusion Destructive Device]] category.{{Ref/Reuse|H4VG}}

The '''HAVOK tactical nuclear mine'''<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''page 177'' (2001)</ref> is one of the most powerful ground-based nuclear ordnance in the UNSC arsenal, and has a thermonuclear yield of 30 [[Wikipedia:megaton|megatons]]. It is described as looking like a small black half sphere, and does not contain any external indicators; the device only contains a thin slot on the unit's face to allow the detonation key to be inserted. The bottom of the unit contains bonding strips that allows the HAVOK to be attached to any type of surface. The mine can only be detonated by a remote signal, and if the device is placed underneath thick concrete and steel, or other objects that may cause interference, a ground-return receiver must be set up to allow the signal to reach the device.{{Ref/Reuse|tfor200}}

The '''Mark 2556 Medium Fusion Destructive Device'''{{Ref/Reuse|H4VG}} is an excavation-grade variant of the weapon, presumably used for excavation purposes in locations where a nuclear blast is required. A single warhead of this variant is stated to be able to turn [[Ivanoff Station]] "into a piñata".{{Ref/Level|Id=halo4|H4|[[Composer (level)|Composer]]}} Despite being excavation-grade, it could be attached to an [[F-41 Broadsword]] fighter in the form of a missile for ship-killing purposes. A single warhead was capable of destroying both [[the Composer]] and the powerful [[Forerunner]] vessel ''[[Mantle's Approach]]'' when detonated inside of the ship.{{Ref/Level|H4|[[Midnight]]}}

In [[2526]], HAVOKs were used during [[Operation: SILENT STORM]]. Three were used as part of a successful attack on the [[Fleet of Inexorable Obedience]]'s logistics train while the main part of the fleet was distracted [[glassing]] [[Biko]]. Later, they were used alongside [[octanitrocubane|octas]] during the attack on the planet [[Zhoist]] and the [[Ring of Mighty Abundance]] in orbit. During part of the attack, Spartan-II [[Blue Team]] used two HAVOKs to destroy the under-construction [[Covenant supercarrier]] ''[[Hammer of Faith]]''. This was accomplished by [[John-117]] and [[Kelly-087]] arming the HAVOKs and then tossing them into a [[gravity lift]] leading into the ship from a hanger bay in one of its construction barns. Blue Team managed to escape the blast in a group of Banshees, though the Banshees were fried from the gamma effects of the blast and the Banshees own poor gamma shielding.<ref name="Silent Storm">'''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'''</ref>

 

On February 12, [[2535]] during the [[Battle of Jericho VII]], UNSC NavSpecWep deployed three teams of [[SPARTAN-II program|SPARTAN-IIs]] on [[Jericho VII]] to combat Covenant forces invading the colony. At one point during the engagement Red Team was successfully able to plant a HAVOK near a Covenant rally point where a [[Covenant cruiser|cruiser]] was to deploy ground forces while Blue Team was to clear out the rear guard of the Covenant forces so they could slip in. The plan was for the HAVOK to be detonated when the cruiser lowered its shields and landed to drop troops in order to take it out. Red Team succeeded in planting the device, but its unclear if the HAVOK ever destroyed a Covenant ship as the Spartans were recalled shortly thereafter and Jericho VII fell to the Covenant.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''', ''Prologue''</ref>

On July 17, [[2552]], during the [[Battle of Sigma Octanus IV]], [[Blue Team]] detonated a HAVOK nuclear mine in the city of [[Côte d'Azur]], during the battle taking place on the planet, destroying the city and all the Covenant in it.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''', ''page 212''</ref>

In October–November 2552, HAVOK nuclear weapons were used during the [[Battle for Earth]]. One notable use was when Blue Team was deployed to [[Mount Erebus]] in the Antarctic to destroy a Covenant excavation force using a HAVOK.<ref>'''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''', ''page 203''</ref>

In [[2553#July|July 2553]], to destroy a [[Covert Support Base 4276|Forerunner installation]] located in the [[Montero Cave System]] on [[Gao]], Blue Team dropped a Havok BB 2550 nuke into an [[Well of Echoes|opening]] in the caverns which detonated and destroyed the installation. The blast also destroyed a dozen [[MV-29 Wyvern]]s that were above the Well of Echoes pursuing their [[D102 Owl]] {{UNSCShip|Silent Claw}}. The nuclear blast turned the Well of Echoes into a kilometer-deep shaft of fused limestone with a pool of molten stone glowing for a time at the bottom of the crater. Rather than realizing that the HAVOK was intended to destroy the Forerunner base, President [[Arlo Casille]] believed it to be the Spartans way of making good their escape by destroying their pursuers. Rather than admitting the truth about the nuclear blast, Casille chose to cover it up by claiming that the blast was caused by a downed [[Prowler]]'s reactor going critical, knowing that if the citizens of Gao knew that the UNSC had detonated a [[nuclear weapon]] on their planet, they would push for a war with the UNSC that Casille didn't want.{{Ref/Reuse|ll376}}

During [[2553#December|December 2553]], ten disarmed HAVOKs were used as part of [[Operation: RETRIBUTION]] by [[Veta Lopis]]' [[Ferret]] team. The team claimed to gunrunner [[Ross Nyeto]] that they were [[piracy|pirates]] who had stolen the HAVOKs from the {{UNSCShip|Taulanti}} and were on the run from Blue Team as a result. In reality, four of the HAVOK shells contained their [[M7S SMG|M7S submachine guns]] while another was in fact a disguised [[distress beacon|slipbeacon]] intended to signal their location to the {{Class|Sahara|prowler}} {{UNSCShip|Silent Joe}}. After being brought aboard the ''[[Stolen Faith]]'', the Ferrets retrieved their weapons from the HAVOKs. With the discovery of the [[Keepers of the One Freedom]]'s [[Salvation Base]], it was decided to have Blue Team reactivate the nine HAVOKs by replacing their missing tritium booster cylinders and use them to destroy the base. [[Linda-058]] managed to reactivate six HAVOKs in the time she had on a five minute timer to the protests of Veta due to the human and [[Sangheili]] prisoners within the base. However, it was sadly recognized that they did not have time to rescue the prisoners with Keeper forces massing around them. Both Blue Team and the Ferrets escaped in a [[Turaco]] while the ''Silent Joe'' used [[Shiva-class nuclear missile]]s to attack six Keeper ships that tried to escape the blast. The detonation obliterated Salvation Base and killed all within it, including the prisoners, much to Veta's grief. It was estimated that 90% of the Keeper forces were destroyed and their operations in the sector crippled by the blast.<ref>'''[[Halo: Retribution]]'''</ref>

In [[2556]], the destruction of the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}} on [[Installation 04]] was discovered to have created deposits of a new element unique to a fragment of the installation known as [[Alpha Shard]]. The new element was fatal only to humans and was used in [[Terrorist attack on Sedra City|a terrorist attack]] on [[Sedra City]]. To prevent such an attack again, [[ONI]] Commander [[Jameson Locke]] got [[Goodwin|Rear Admiral Goodwin]] to approve the use of a HAVOK to destroy the deposits. Accompanied by forces from the [[Sedran Colonial Guard]], [[Locke's team]] undertook [[Mission to Alpha Shard|a mission]] to the shard. In order to escape the shard, the HAVOK's emergency fuel cell was used to briefly power a [[Condor]] dropship, but this required a manual detonation of the warhead. As Locke and Private [[Talitha Macer]] escaped the shard in [[Bactrian-class freighter|the smugglers' ship]], Colonel [[Randall Aiken]] detonated the HAVOK, destroying the deposits and preventing their use ever again.<ref>'''Halo: Nightfall'''</ref>

[[Seven]] excavation-grade HAVOK warheads were stored on [[Ivanoff Station]], presumably for excavation purposes rather than tactical ones given Ivanoff's status as a research station. During the [[Raid on Ivanoff Station]] by the [[Didact]], the [[John-117|Master Chief]] had all of the warheads prepared in order to destroy the [[Composer]] and prevent the Didact from getting it. After the Didact digitized everyone in the station, the Master Chief took one of these HAVOKs in the form of a missile attached to an [[F-41 Broadsword]] fighter and chased after the Didact. During the Didact's subsequent [[New Phoenix Incident|attack on Earth]], the Master Chief boarded the Didact's ship, ''[[Mantle's Approach]]'' with the HAVOK and detonated it, destroying the ship and the Composer.{{Ref/Reuse|halo4}}

 

During the [[Requiem Campaign]], [[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant]] stole at least [[seven]] HAVOK-class warheads from the UNSC. [[Fireteam Crimson]] [[Raid on Cyclone|discovered]] several nuclear missiles with their warheads missing in a Covenant supply depot in "[[Cyclone]]."<ref>''Spartan Ops'', [[Scattered/Search and Destroy|S106 Search and Destroy]]</ref> During [[Invasion of the UNSC Infinity|an invasion]] of the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}}, the Covenant planted one HAVOK in the ship's Server Room, and six more throughout the Engine Room. The HAVOKs were equipped with [[active camouflage]] to hide them from the ship's sensors which was discovered after [[Fireteam Crimson]] discovered a Sangheili deploying the warhead in the Server Room. After the warhead was disarmed and the ''Infinity's'' AI [[Roland]] realized that they were being protected with active camouflage, he was able to lock onto the energy signatures from the camouflage and direct Crimson to each warhead. Crimson managed to disarm all seven warheads with instruction from Roland and secured both the Server and Engine Rooms, keeping the disarmed warheads from being reclaimed by the Covenant until the attack could be repelled.<ref>''Spartan Ops'', [[Invasion (Spartan Ops)/Engine of Destruction|S107 Engine of Destruction]]</ref><ref>''Spartan Ops'', [[Invasion (Spartan Ops)/The Guns of Infinity|S107 The Guns of ''Infinity'']]</ref>

 

In [[2558#May|May 2558]], during [[Operation: WHISTLE STOP]], a [[GA-TL1 Longsword|Longsword]] dropped two HAVOK missiles on the [[Kig-Yar pirate queen]]'s base on [[Ven III]] as she was launching in a [[Covenant corvette]] to engage the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} in space. The HAVOKs destroyed the pirate queen, her base and her launching forces.<ref name="Escalation12">'''[[Halo: Escalation]]''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 12|Issue #12]]''</ref>

 

*In the ''[[Spartan Ops]]'' chapter ''[[Invasion (Spartan Ops)/Engine of Destruction|Engine of Destruction]]'', if the player looks closely at the displays for the nukes, it will read "''HAVOK Missle Controls Disarmed''". The spelling error is presumably an oversight.

*The effects of the HAVOK nuclear weapon vary significantly between works of ''Halo'' media. In the weapon's first appearance in ''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', the HAVOK tactical nuke is said to have a yield of 30 megatons, and descriptions of detonations in ''The Fall of Reach'' produce damage on a local scale. When the weapon is shown going off on [[Sigma Octanus IV]] in ''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Covenant]]'', it produces a continental-scale fireball that extends out into space and appears to break off pieces of the planet's crust, effects magnitudes more powerful than described in the novels. Conversely, in [[Halo: Escalation Issue 12|Issue 12]] of ''[[Halo: Escalation]]'', two HAVOKs dropped into a volcano-based pirate hideout cause significant damage to the base, yet do not critically endanger the Spartans inside. In ''[[Halo: Nightfall]]'', [[Jameson Locke]] implies that the HAVOK has a blast radius of 100 kilometers. The screen on the device later specifies that the weapon causes complete destruction within seven kilometers, and light damage for 44 kilometers, which is consistent with a 30 megaton explosion per MIT's Nuclear Blast Wave Effects Calculator.<ref>[https://nuclearweaponsedproj.mit.edu/nuclear-weapon-effects-simulations-and-models/nuclear-weapons-blast-effects-calculator MIT]. For a 30,000 kiloton explosion at ground level, there will be an overpressure of 10 PSI up to 6.6 km ("heavily built concrete buildings are severely damaged or demolished; fatalities universal") and 1 PSI up to 43.6 km ("window glass shatters; light injuries from fragments occur").</ref> However, the weapon's display list its yield at 125 terajoules, which equates to 30 ''kilo''tons. Later still, when the nuke's detonation is shown, the fireball completely overwhelms [[Alpha Shard]]'s width of 318 kilometers. While some the more egregious incongruities are likely the result of mistakes or artistic license, it is possible that like modern nuclear weapons, HAVOK weapons have [[Wikipedia:Variable yield|variable yields]]. Additionally, variants of the HAVOK may have differing yields by default. The yield of the HAVOK used to destroy ''[[Mantle's Approach]]'' in ''[[Halo 4]]'' is not given, but [[Cortana]] states that a single device can turn [[Ivanoff Station]] "into piñata." It was only stated to be an excavation-grade device, suggesting that the weapon likely had a lower yield than what is used by the military. Detonated inside ''Mantle's Approach'' near the Composer, the HAVOK was powerful enough to destroy both the Forerunner vessel and the Composer itself.

**''[[Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition dossiers|Limited Edition dossiers]]'' {{Mo}}

{{Ref/Sources}}