Missile Delivery System

Missile Delivery Systems (MDS) are the primary anti-ship missiles used on the warships of the CMA Navy and UNSC Navy. They are generally arranged on UNSC starships in "pods"; a launching system consisting of one or multiple individual silos from which a missile can be fired (typically between five and thirty individual cells). When used, they are generally fired in volleys with a variety of warhead fittings including conventional high-explosives, electronic warfare/jamming, electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) nuclear, and decoys - designed to complicate the countermeasure options available to enemy combatants. When in flight, missile volleys use guided swarm behaviour to overwhelm a target.

Specialised Nuclear Delivery Systems are also used for launching larger and more powerful kinds of nuclear warhead.

Missile Delivery Systems are broadly comparable to, though far less powerful than, the plasma torpedoes used by the Covenant.

Kinds of Missile Delivery Systems

• Archer Missile Delivery System - divided into two subtypes, the M42 Archer and M58 Archer, these are the most common missiles found on UNSC warships. Archers are versatile, multipurpose missiles.
• Ares Missile Delivery System - a seemingly-older missile, more commonly favoured on warships of the Colonial Military Authority; predominantly used during the Insurrection.
• M96 Howler Missile Delivery System - a less powerful alternative to the Archer, intended to be fired in larger salvos to overwhelm enemy anti-missile defences in SEAD missions.
• M40 Longbow Missile Delivery System - a rarely-seen missile type, exclusively found on the Marathon-class heavy cruiser.
• M75 Rapier Missile Delivery System - a less manoeuvrable class of MDS intended for attacks against stationary targets such as ground installations and space stations.
• Streak Missile Delivery System - divided into two subtypes - M30A4 Streak and M390 Streak-II, these missiles are long-ranged weapons intended for use in an anti-strikecraft role.