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{{Era|HCW}}
{{Status|Canon}}
{{Ship Class Infobox
[[File:H2A Terminals - ODPs.jpg|300px|thumb|{{Class|Moncton|orbital weapon platform}}s in deployment over a colony world.]]
|name            = Orbital defense platform
{{Quote|That MAC gun can put a round clean through a Covenant capital ship.|[[Avery Johnson]], describing the gun of a ''Moncton''-class orbital weapons platform.{{Ref/Reuse|H2Cairo}}}}
|image          = [[File:Macstationcairolarge1ki.jpg|300px]]
An '''orbital defense platform''' (ODP){{Ref/Book|Enc11|Page=294}}, or '''orbital weapon platform''' (OWP), is a kind of armed satellite employed by the [[United Nations Space Command]] for defensive purposes. They can range massively in size and scope, and are frequently deployed in a [[geosynchronous orbit]] around a given world to act as a defensive line against a potential invading enemy force.{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22|Enc22|Page=34}}{{Ref/Site|Id=CFGlassed|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-looking-glassed|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder - Looking Glassed|D=16|M=01|Y=2021}} Within the UNSC, orbital weapons platforms are assigned the [[hull classification symbol]] '''OWP'''.{{Ref/Book|Id=WF30|HWF|Page=30-31}}
|manufacturer    = [[United Nations Space Command]] [[United Nations Space Command Defense Force|Defense Force]]
|class          =
|height          = 1336 meters (4383.20 feet)
|slipspace drive =
|hull            =
|countermeasures =
|armament        = "Super" [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon]] (1)
|complement      = UNSC Marines, Naval crewmen
|crew            =
|role            = Defensive weapons platform
|era            = Human-Covenant War
|affiliation    = [[United Nations Space Command]] (Defense Force)
}}
{{Quote|That MAC gun can put a round clean through a Covenant capital ship.|[[Avery Johnson]]}}
An '''orbital defense platform'''<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''page 330''</ref> is a class of large [[UNSC]] space stations used to defend locations of great importance, typically planets of a high strategic value. They have the [[hull classification symbol]] of '''ODA'''.


ODPs are frequently placed in [[geosynchronous orbit]] and deployed in groups, or clusters, of two to five platforms. The well-equipped and large bridge of an ODP is suitable for directing large-scale engagements. Such was the case when [[Lord Hood|Fleet Admiral Sir Terrence Hood]] directed UNSC forces from an ODP during the [[Battle of Earth]]. These platforms are capable of destroying even the largest of [[Covenant]] capital ships, but are vulnerable to Covenant Boarding Craft which can avoid the heavy slugs and latch onto the stations. Thus, it is up to the UNSC personnel within the stations to repel any boarders.<ref name="cairo">'''[[Halo 2]]''', campaign level ''[[Cairo Station (level)|Cairo Station]]''</ref>
==Overview==
Orbital weapons platforms serve to guard their charges via a number of means. The term is a loose descriptor that can encompass a range of satellite types, ranging from small and/or unmanned satellites that consist simply of a missile pod linked to a targeting array and communications relay, up to the massive manned [[space station]]s that form the most predominant and iconic imagery of the concept. The largest of these are built around a core [[Capital ship|capital]]-scale [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon]] (MAC), colloquially referred to as a "big stick", and serve as some of the largest and most powerful examples of MAC weaponry available to [[human]]ity.{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}}{{Ref/Reuse|CFGlassed}}{{Ref/Site|URL=http://community.spartangames.co.uk/index.php?/topic/16805-halo-waypoint-update-with-spartan-new-ships/page-7|Site=Spartan Games|Page=Halo Waypoint Update with Spartan - NEW SHIPS!|Detail=(defunct)|Quote='Super MAC' is more a category than a specific weapon. Many defense platforms do not have 'super MACs' as used by Reach installations, for example.}}


== Facilities ==
Alongside their primary defensive weaponry, ODPs may also equip a number of secondary armaments to aid in their own defence. These include [[point-defense gun]]s, such as in case of the [[M606 Goalkeeper point defense gun|M606 Goalkeepers]] included on the {{Class|Moncton|orbital weapon platform|}}. Larger OWPs usually also equip [[hangar]] support facilities for [[dropship]]s and [[Space fighter|strikecraft]], with the precise examples carried varying across the fleet. OWPs are deployed in battle clusters of (in the case of the ''Moncton'') three stations, each designed to mutually support and reinforce one another. As such, each carries a slightly different loadout, allowing the three to each specialise in a particular collateral function and cover one another's bases.{{Ref/Reuse|WF30}}
Internally, the stations are remarkably spacious, complete with high ceilings and a monorail system to move personnel and equipment. In addition to numerous small craft bays, there are two docks for larger ships, such as [[freighter]]s, or even [[UNSC frigate|frigates]]. These docking bays could possibly be used to hold [[GA-TL1 Longsword|Longsword fighters]] used to protect the station from hostile spacecraft. The design incorporates many features against potential hostile boarding action, including security stations and small arms racks situated at strategic locations.<ref name="armory">'''Halo 2''', campaign level ''[[The Armory]]''</ref>


=== Armament ===
===Deployment===
The primary and crucial armament is a Mk. V "''Super''" [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon]] capable of causing near-fatal damage to even a shielded Covenant capital warship with a single slug. The slug can weigh up to 3,000 tons and is launched at "point four-tenths" the speed of light,<ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''', ''page 283''</ref><ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach|Halo: The Fall of Reach (2010 edition)]]''', ''page 320''</ref><ref group="note">While the [[Halo Encyclopedia]] lists the velocity as 40% the speed of light, the figure remains unchanged in the reissue of ''The Fall of Reach'', a more recent source.</ref> ensuring the complete annihilation of the ODP's target.<ref name="armory"/> As with starship-mounted MACs, a platform's cannon is commonly controlled by an [[Artificial intelligence|AI]].
Within the UNSC, orbital weapons satellites are typically manned, maintained and operated by the [[UNSC Air Force]]{{Ref/Book|OSFM|Page=136-138}}, presumably administered by the [[Orbital Defense Command]].{{Ref/Level|H4|Midnight}} However, they may be employed for collateral and administrative functions by the [[UNSC Navy]]. For example, the platform [[Cairo Station (station)|Cairo Station]] served as the command centre for [[Fleet Admiral]] [[Terrence Hood]] during the [[Battle for Earth]] in late [[2552]], alongside hosting a naval ceremony to promote the survivors of the [[Battle of Installation 04]].{{Ref/Level|Id=H2Cairo|H2|Cairo Station}}


Curiously, no sources indicate the presence of additional weapons, such as point defense cannons commonly mounted on UNSC warships (the absence of such weapons may explain why so many Covenant Boarding Craft were able to latch onto the Platforms orbiting Reach and Earth). However, the possibility that ODPs are not armed with such weapons cannot be ruled out yet. The apparent lack of point-defense cannons may be explained by the fact that transient magnetic bursts tend to magnetize the weapons.
===Power generation===
OWPs may generate their electrical power through a number of means. Some designs maintain their own internal [[fusion reactor]]s for fully-independent operation, and can make use of liquid metal capacitor cells to store charge for the primary weapon. In emergency circumstances, it is possible to dock a friendly UNSC warship to the station, to make use of its reactor to aid the station in power cycling.{{Ref/Reuse|WF30}} The most powerful rapid-fire designs - consisting of the {{Class|Erőd|orbital weapon platform|}} deployed over Reach - are so power-hungry as to make even onboard fusion reactors unsustainable. Instead, these few stations are manually tethered to [[Orbital defense generator|ground-based generator]] facilities. While providing vastly higher amounts of power for the weapon systems of the platform, these separate generators also serve as a key defensive weakness for the station, and are susceptible to [[Planetary warfare|forces on the ground]] in the event of an invasion.{{Ref/Reuse|Quezon}}


=== Power plant ===
==Classifications of orbital defense platform==
ODPs do not possess the power generation equipment necessary to fire their main armament. Instead, they receive power from [[Orbital defense generator|ground-based generators]]. A possible strategy to neutralize the formidable ODPs would be to disable the generators via ground assault. This would disable the platform's weaponry without destroying it, allowing this valuable prize to be captured. The Covenant used this strategy during their invasion of [[Reach]], dropping troops to the planet's surface and destroying these generators. This paved the way for Covenant forces to completely overwhelm the UNSC forces in the space battle over Reach.
Several kinds of OWP are employed by the UNSC, the most prominent of which consisting of large space stations built around a central core MAC in a similar fashion to most other [[UNSC starship]]s.
 
===''Erőd''-class===
{{Main|Erőd-class orbital weapon platform}}
The ''Erőd''-class OWPs were, during their tenure, among the most powerful stations ever constructed. They consisted of a single rapid fire [[Super MAC]] that was considered a threat to even [[Covenant starship]]s, though relied upon separate ground-based generators for their power. This Achilles heel ultimately proved their downfall during the [[Space engagements over Reach|space battles]] in orbit over [[Reach]] during the planet's [[Fall of Reach|fall]]. Prior to this, ''Erőd''s formed a core component of Reach's twenty-strong OWP lineup.{{Ref/Book|Id=Quezon|Enc22|Page=36}}
<gallery>
File:HFB_ErodClassOWP_Boxart.png|[[Quezon Station]], one of the ''Erőd''-class ODPs over Reach, alongside its battle cluster.{{Ref/Reuse|Quezon}}
</gallery>
 
===''Moncton''-class===
{{Main|Moncton-class orbital weapon platform}}
The ''Moncton''-class OWPs serve as the primary defensive battlements surrounding [[Earth]], with at least one example also constructed over Reach.{{Ref/Comic|Id=BootCamp|HFoRBC|Issue=1}} They were in service by at least [[2517]]{{Ref/Reuse|BootCamp}}, with the onset of the [[Human-Covenant War]] in [[2525]] spurring on a massive construction project for the constellations of ''Moncton'' satellites over Earth. By 2552, this program was still incomplete, by which time the planet held around three hundred stations in its defence.{{Ref/Novel|HFS|Page=104}}{{Ref/Reuse|H2Cairo}}
<gallery>
File:H2A CairoStation Loadscreen.png|[[Cairo Station (station)|Cairo Station]] alongside its battle cluster, consisting of [[Athens Station]] and [[Malta Station]].
</gallery>
 
===Other OWP classes===
A number of hitherto-unnamed OWPs have been observed over various [[Human colonies|colony worlds]].
<gallery>
File:Magnetic_Accelerator_Cannon.png|An unnamed ODP over Reach, firing its main gun. Unlike regular ODPs in which the cannon is aligned vertically with the station's axis, the gun here is laterally-mounted.{{Ref/Film|HLeg|Story=Origins}}
File:Orbitoldefencestation.jpg|An unnamed ODP uncovered by [[343 Guilty Spark]] within the data banks of {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}}.{{Ref/Game|HCEA|Terminal (Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary)|Terminal 1}}
</gallery>


===Locations===
''Main Article: [[Template:ODP Locations|ODP Locations]]''


== Deployment ==
==Deployment==
===Reach===
===Reach===
By [[2552#August|August 2552]], [[Reach]] was protected by twenty ODPs. At least one of these platforms was in place by [[2517|May 2517]];<ref> Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp</ref> at least one was online by [[2527]].<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe''', ''page 50''</ref> During the [[Fall of Reach]], large numbers of UNSC forces were deployed to protect the orbital platforms' planetside power generators but were ultimately unable to do so against determined enemy assaults. The disabling of the defense platforms was a major factor on the battle's outcome.<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach'''</ref>
[[File:Magnetic Accelerator Cannon.png|thumb|300px|An ODP above Reach firing its main cannon.]]
By [[2552#August|August 2552]], [[Reach]] was protected by 20 orbital defense platforms, with at least one being an {{Class|Erőd|orbital weapon platform}}.{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}} Another was a {{Class|Moncton|orbital weapon platform}} which was in place by [[2517|May 2517]].{{Ref/Comic|Id=bootcamp|[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp]]}} A number of Reach's ODPs were online by [[2527]].{{Ref/Book|Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe|Page=50}} During the [[Fall of Reach]], the orbital defense platforms inflicted massive losses on the Covenant armada in the opening stages of the battle, as well as providing fire support for ground forces on Reach. Large numbers of UNSC forces were deployed to protect the orbital platforms' planetside power generators, but they ultimately fell against determined enemy assaults. The disabling of the defense platforms was a major factor on the battle's outcome.{{Ref/Novel|Halo: The Fall of Reach}}


===Earth===
===Earth===
The outbreak of the [[Human-Covenant War]] prompted a massive expansion of [[Earth]]'s defenses. Even as late as the [[Battle of Reach]] preparations had not yet been completed; they were set to come online on September 14.<ref>'''[[Halo: First Strike]]''', ''page 104''</ref> By October 2552, some 300 ODPs were operational.<ref name="armory"/> Many of Earth's ODPs were named after points of interest that they roughly kept station over.
The outbreak of the [[Human-Covenant War]] prompted a massive expansion of [[Earth]]'s defenses. Even as late as the [[Fall of Reach|Battle of Reach]] preparations had not yet been completed; a series of new platforms above Earth were set to come online on September 14.{{Ref/Novel|[[Halo: First Strike]]|Page=104}} By October 2552, some 300 ODPs were operational.{{Ref/Level|H2|The Armory}} Many of Earth's ODPs were named after points of interest that they roughly kept station over.
 
A portion of the 300 platforms first saw action at the early stages of the [[Battle for Earth]]. ''[[Athens Station]]'' and ''[[Malta Station]]'' were each destroyed by [[antimatter charge]]s installed by [[Covenant]] boarding parties, while ''[[Cairo Station (station)|Cairo Station]]'' only narrowly avoided the same fate as the other platforms thanks to [[John-117|Master Chief]]'s removal of the bomb on board.{{Ref/Reuse|H2Cairo}} The ODPs were used throughout the drawn-out Battle for Earth after more Covenant fleets began to arrive in the following days and weeks,{{Ref/Generic|Id=lootcrate2|Heading=[[Halo Legendary Crate]]|Subheading=[[Halo Legendary Crate/Data Drops|Data Drop #2]]}} but the Covenant might have already destroyed numerous stations especially when the final Covenant [[Great Schism|loyalist]] [[Truth's fleet|naval forces]] and the [[Prophet of Truth]] himself arrived at Earth on the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] on [[2552#November|November 17]].{{Ref/Level|Halo 3|[[Crow's Nest]]}}{{Ref/Level|Id=TGJ|Game=Halo 2|Level=[[The Great Journey (level)|The Great Journey]]}}


A portion and small section of the 300 platforms first saw action at the early stages of the [[Battle of Earth]]. ''[[Athens Station]]'' and ''[[Malta Station]]'' were each destroyed by [[Covenant Bomb]]s installed by [[Covenant]] boarding parties, while ''[[Cairo Station]]'' only narrowly avoided the same fate as the other platforms thanks to [[John-117|Master Chief]]'s [[Cairo Station (Level)|removal]] of the bomb on board.<ref name="cairo"/>
During the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]]'s [[New Phoenix Incident|attack on Earth]] in mid-[[2557]], ODPs defended Earth from the Didact alongside the ships of the UNSC Home Fleet. However, the Didact's ship ''[[Mantle's Approach]]'' was too heavily shielded for even the ODPs Super MACs and as a result, the Master Chief had to destroy the ship from the inside with a [[HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon|HAVOK nuclear warhead]].{{Ref/Level|Halo 4|[[Midnight]]}}


The ODPs were also used later in the Battle of Earth after [[Truth's Fleet]] arrived, but the Covenant might have already destroyed numerous stations when Truth himself arrived at Earth on the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] in November.<ref>'''Halo 2''', campaign level ''[[The Great Journey (level)|The Great Journey]]''</ref>
===New Carthage===
The MJOLNIR GEN2 [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Infiltrator|Infiltrator]] was tested on [[New Carthage]]'s orbital defense platforms.


== Known ODPs ==
===Camber===
*''[[Athens Station]]'' UNSCDF-ODA144 (Destroyed)
Several orbital defense platforms were stationed around [[Camber]]; these were eventually destroyed when the Covenant [[Battle of Camber|assaulted]] the moon during the Human-Covenant War.
*''[[Cairo Station]]'' UNSCDF-ODA142 (Damaged)
 
*''[[Malta Station]]'' UNSCDF-ODA143 (Destroyed)
===Meridian===
*''[[Nassau Station]]'' (Unknown)
Several orbital defense platforms held station above the [[Outer Colony]] of [[Meridian]], owing to the world's critical importance as an industrial supplier of the UNSC; these stations were lost to the Covenant during the [[Battle of Meridian]] in [[2551]].


==Trivia==
==Trivia==
*All known Orbital Defense Platforms over Earth are named after cities on Earth. As the stations are geosynchronous, it's possible they are named for the cities they orbit above. This is supported when in ''Halo 2'' it states that the Cairo, Athens and Malta are part of one battlegroup, and the Earth cities they are named for are located close to each other geographically.
{{Linkbox|gallery=yes|gallerypage=Images of orbital defense platforms}}
*The fact that there are 300 ODPs could be a reference to the Battle of Thermopylae, in which 300 Spartans used the phalanx formation to hold their own against an army of more than 200,000 Persians.
*All known orbital defense platforms over Earth are named after cities on Earth. It is also apparent that the stations' names are also based roughly on the region they orbit above: Cairo, Athens, and Malta, for example, are located rather close to each other geographically. However, the stations' locations do not directly correspond to the planetside locations of the cities, as the other stations in Cairo's battle cluster can easily be seen with the naked eye, whereas their namesakes are hundreds of kilometers apart.
*Two weeks after the Fall of Reach, when the UNSC Security Committee met at HIGHCOM in Sydney, it is mentioned by Colonel Ackerson that most of Earth's ODPs would take ten days before becoming fully operational.
 
*The kinetic energy of a single shell from an orbital defense platform would be equivalent to almost''' '''51.6 gigatons of TNT, 1031.08 times the yield of the real world's largest nuclear weapon currently tested.
==Gallery==
*They were originally proposed sometime before 2490 as [[Avery Johnson]] mentions that they were being proposed around the same time he shipped out for boot camp.
<gallery>
*ODPs can also fire downwards into the atmosphere, as shown in ''Halo: Reach'' when an ODP's MAC round destroys a Covenant Corvette in atmosphere.
File:H2_Cairo_FighterLaunchBay_Concept.jpg|Concept art of an ODP's fighter launch bay ''[[Halo 2]]''.
File:H2_Cairo_WarthogBay_Concept.jpg|Concept art of an [[M12 Force Application Vehicle]] in an ODP's interior airlock.
File:H2_Cairo_Airlock_Concept.jpg|Concept art of an ODP's interior airlock.
File:H2_Cairo_GunConsole_Concept.jpg|Concept art of an ODP's weaponry controls.
File:UNSC Home Fleet.JPG|[[Cairo Station (station)|Cairo Station]]'s battle cluster above Earth, one of the dozens of triads in the orbital defense grid.
File:CairoStationCallouts.jpg|The typical layout of an ODP.
File:Macstationcairolarge1ki.jpg|''Cairo Station'' right before the [[Battle of Earth]].
File:Nassau.png|[[Nassau Station]] firing its MAC in ''[[Halo: Uprising]]''.
File:BootCamp - Reach.png|An orbital defense platform above Reach, along with the [[Epsilon Eridani Defense Fleet]] in ''[[Halo: Fall of Reach]]''.
File:Orbitoldefencestation.jpg|An ODP, as shown in one of ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''{{'}}s [[Terminal (Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary)|Terminals]].
File:HTMCC H2A Achievement BombSquad.png|''Halo 2: Anniversary'' concept art of a ''Moncton''-class ODP shown in orbit above Earth.
File:Oaxaca Station.jpg|''Oaxaca Station'' in [[2558]] in ''[[Halo: Escalation]]''.
File:H2A - Cairo Station Bay.jpg|The underside of a Super MAC platform.
File:H2A-MAC Recoil Dampener.png|The dampening system at the base of an ODP's MAC.
File:H2A-ODP Firing.png|''Cairo Station'' firing its MAC.
File:H2A Terminals - ODPs.jpg|ODPs firing at a [[Covenant fleet]] in the ''[[Terminal (Halo 2: Anniversary)|Halo 2 Anniversary Terminals]]''.
File:HFB-MACs.jpg|Orbital MACs in ''[[Halo: Fleet Battles]]''.
File:Halo 5 - Guardian on Earth.jpg|An ODP in the vicinity of a newly awakened [[Guardian]] above Earth in ''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''.
File:H5G-Infinity&Guardian.jpg|Several ODPs in Earth orbit as the ''Infinity'' and her escorts approach the Guardian.  
</gallery>


==List of appearances==
==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: First Strike]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo 2]]''
*''[[Halo 2]]''
*''[[Halo: Reach]]''
*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo:  First Strike]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''
**''[[Pariah]]''
*''[[Halo: Uprising]]''
*''[[Halo: Uprising]]''
*''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp]]''
*''[[Halo Legends]]''
*''[[Halo Legends]]''
**''[[Origins]]''
**''[[Origins]]''
 
*''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''
==Gallery==
**''[[Pariah]]''
<gallery>
*''[[Halo: Reach]]''
File:BootCamp - Reach.png|Reach's ODP along with the [[Epsilon Eridani Defense Fleet]].
*''[[Halo: Fall of Reach]]
File:Nassau.png|[[Nassau Station]] firing its MAC.
**''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp|Boot Camp]]''
File:UNSC Home Fleet.JPG|[[Cairo Station]]'s battle cluster above Earth, one of dozens of triads in the orbital defense grid.
**''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Invasion|Invasion]]''
File:CairoStationCallouts.jpg|The typical layout of an Orbital Defense Platform.
*''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''
</gallery>
**''[[Terminal (Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary)|Terminals]]''
 
*''[[Halo 4]]'' {{Mo}}
==Notes==
*''[[Halo: Escalation]]''
<References group="note"/>
*''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]''
*''[[Halo: Fleet Battles]]''
*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach - The Animated Series]]''
*''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''
*''[[Halo Mythos]]''
*''[[Halo: Lone Wolf]]''
*''[[Halo: Point of Light]]''
*''[[Halo: The Television Series Season Two]]''
**''[[Reach (TV Series)|Reach]]'' {{Mo}}


==Sources==
==Sources==
<references/>
{{Ref/Sources}}


{{UNSC Ships}}
{{Human Ships}}
[[Category:Orbital Defense Platforms]]
[[Category:Orbital defense platforms| ]]
[[Category:Space stations]]
[[Category:Space stations]]

Latest revision as of 12:14, February 22, 2024

Moncton-class orbital weapon platforms in deployment over a colony world.

"That MAC gun can put a round clean through a Covenant capital ship."
— Avery Johnson, describing the gun of a Moncton-class orbital weapons platform.[1]

An orbital defense platform (ODP)[2], or orbital weapon platform (OWP), is a kind of armed satellite employed by the United Nations Space Command for defensive purposes. They can range massively in size and scope, and are frequently deployed in a geosynchronous orbit around a given world to act as a defensive line against a potential invading enemy force.[3][4] Within the UNSC, orbital weapons platforms are assigned the hull classification symbol OWP.[5]

Overview[edit]

Orbital weapons platforms serve to guard their charges via a number of means. The term is a loose descriptor that can encompass a range of satellite types, ranging from small and/or unmanned satellites that consist simply of a missile pod linked to a targeting array and communications relay, up to the massive manned space stations that form the most predominant and iconic imagery of the concept. The largest of these are built around a core capital-scale Magnetic Accelerator Cannon (MAC), colloquially referred to as a "big stick", and serve as some of the largest and most powerful examples of MAC weaponry available to humanity.[3][4][6]

Alongside their primary defensive weaponry, ODPs may also equip a number of secondary armaments to aid in their own defence. These include point-defense guns, such as in case of the M606 Goalkeepers included on the Moncton-class. Larger OWPs usually also equip hangar support facilities for dropships and strikecraft, with the precise examples carried varying across the fleet. OWPs are deployed in battle clusters of (in the case of the Moncton) three stations, each designed to mutually support and reinforce one another. As such, each carries a slightly different loadout, allowing the three to each specialise in a particular collateral function and cover one another's bases.[5]

Deployment[edit]

Within the UNSC, orbital weapons satellites are typically manned, maintained and operated by the UNSC Air Force[7], presumably administered by the Orbital Defense Command.[8] However, they may be employed for collateral and administrative functions by the UNSC Navy. For example, the platform Cairo Station served as the command centre for Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood during the Battle for Earth in late 2552, alongside hosting a naval ceremony to promote the survivors of the Battle of Installation 04.[1]

Power generation[edit]

OWPs may generate their electrical power through a number of means. Some designs maintain their own internal fusion reactors for fully-independent operation, and can make use of liquid metal capacitor cells to store charge for the primary weapon. In emergency circumstances, it is possible to dock a friendly UNSC warship to the station, to make use of its reactor to aid the station in power cycling.[5] The most powerful rapid-fire designs - consisting of the Erőd-class deployed over Reach - are so power-hungry as to make even onboard fusion reactors unsustainable. Instead, these few stations are manually tethered to ground-based generator facilities. While providing vastly higher amounts of power for the weapon systems of the platform, these separate generators also serve as a key defensive weakness for the station, and are susceptible to forces on the ground in the event of an invasion.[9]

Classifications of orbital defense platform[edit]

Several kinds of OWP are employed by the UNSC, the most prominent of which consisting of large space stations built around a central core MAC in a similar fashion to most other UNSC starships.

Erőd-class[edit]

Main article: Erőd-class orbital weapon platform

The Erőd-class OWPs were, during their tenure, among the most powerful stations ever constructed. They consisted of a single rapid fire Super MAC that was considered a threat to even Covenant starships, though relied upon separate ground-based generators for their power. This Achilles heel ultimately proved their downfall during the space battles in orbit over Reach during the planet's fall. Prior to this, Erőds formed a core component of Reach's twenty-strong OWP lineup.[9]

  • Quezon Station, one of the Erőd-class ODPs over Reach, alongside its battle cluster.[9]

    Quezon Station, one of the Erőd-class ODPs over Reach, alongside its battle cluster.[9]

Moncton-class[edit]

Main article: Moncton-class orbital weapon platform

The Moncton-class OWPs serve as the primary defensive battlements surrounding Earth, with at least one example also constructed over Reach.[10] They were in service by at least 2517[10], with the onset of the Human-Covenant War in 2525 spurring on a massive construction project for the constellations of Moncton satellites over Earth. By 2552, this program was still incomplete, by which time the planet held around three hundred stations in its defence.[11][1]

Other OWP classes[edit]

A number of hitherto-unnamed OWPs have been observed over various colony worlds.

  • An unnamed ODP over Reach, firing its main gun. Unlike regular ODPs in which the cannon is aligned vertically with the station's axis, the gun here is laterally-mounted.[12]

    An unnamed ODP over Reach, firing its main gun. Unlike regular ODPs in which the cannon is aligned vertically with the station's axis, the gun here is laterally-mounted.[12]

  • An unnamed ODP uncovered by 343 Guilty Spark within the data banks of UNSC Pillar of Autumn.[13]

    An unnamed ODP uncovered by 343 Guilty Spark within the data banks of UNSC Pillar of Autumn.[13]


Deployment[edit]

Reach[edit]

An ODP above Reach firing its main cannon.

By August 2552, Reach was protected by 20 orbital defense platforms, with at least one being an Erőd-class orbital weapon platform.[3] Another was a Moncton-class orbital weapon platform which was in place by May 2517.[14] A number of Reach's ODPs were online by 2527.[15] During the Fall of Reach, the orbital defense platforms inflicted massive losses on the Covenant armada in the opening stages of the battle, as well as providing fire support for ground forces on Reach. Large numbers of UNSC forces were deployed to protect the orbital platforms' planetside power generators, but they ultimately fell against determined enemy assaults. The disabling of the defense platforms was a major factor on the battle's outcome.[16]

Earth[edit]

The outbreak of the Human-Covenant War prompted a massive expansion of Earth's defenses. Even as late as the Battle of Reach preparations had not yet been completed; a series of new platforms above Earth were set to come online on September 14.[17] By October 2552, some 300 ODPs were operational.[18] Many of Earth's ODPs were named after points of interest that they roughly kept station over.

A portion of the 300 platforms first saw action at the early stages of the Battle for Earth. Athens Station and Malta Station were each destroyed by antimatter charges installed by Covenant boarding parties, while Cairo Station only narrowly avoided the same fate as the other platforms thanks to Master Chief's removal of the bomb on board.[1] The ODPs were used throughout the drawn-out Battle for Earth after more Covenant fleets began to arrive in the following days and weeks,[19] but the Covenant might have already destroyed numerous stations especially when the final Covenant loyalist naval forces and the Prophet of Truth himself arrived at Earth on the Forerunner Dreadnought on November 17.[20][21]

During the Didact's attack on Earth in mid-2557, ODPs defended Earth from the Didact alongside the ships of the UNSC Home Fleet. However, the Didact's ship Mantle's Approach was too heavily shielded for even the ODPs Super MACs and as a result, the Master Chief had to destroy the ship from the inside with a HAVOK nuclear warhead.[22]

New Carthage[edit]

The MJOLNIR GEN2 Infiltrator was tested on New Carthage's orbital defense platforms.

Camber[edit]

Several orbital defense platforms were stationed around Camber; these were eventually destroyed when the Covenant assaulted the moon during the Human-Covenant War.

Meridian[edit]

Several orbital defense platforms held station above the Outer Colony of Meridian, owing to the world's critical importance as an industrial supplier of the UNSC; these stations were lost to the Covenant during the Battle of Meridian in 2551.

Trivia[edit]

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  • All known orbital defense platforms over Earth are named after cities on Earth. It is also apparent that the stations' names are also based roughly on the region they orbit above: Cairo, Athens, and Malta, for example, are located rather close to each other geographically. However, the stations' locations do not directly correspond to the planetside locations of the cities, as the other stations in Cairo's battle cluster can easily be seen with the naked eye, whereas their namesakes are hundreds of kilometers apart.

Gallery[edit]

List of appearances[edit]

Sources[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Halo 2, campaign level Cairo Station
  2. ^ Halo Encyclopedia (2011 edition), page 294
  3. ^ a b c Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 34
  4. ^ a b Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Looking Glassed (Retrieved on Jan 16, 2021) [archive]
  5. ^ a b c Halo: Warfleet, page 30-31
  6. ^ Spartan Games, Halo Waypoint Update with Spartan - NEW SHIPS!: (defunct) "'Super MAC' is more a category than a specific weapon. Many defense platforms do not have 'super MACs' as used by Reach installations, for example."
  7. ^ Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual, page 136-138
  8. ^ Halo 4, campaign level Midnight
  9. ^ a b c Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 36
  10. ^ a b Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp, issue 1
  11. ^ Halo: First Strike, page 104
  12. ^ Halo Legends - Origins
  13. ^ Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Terminal 1
  14. ^ Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp
  15. ^ Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe, page 50
  16. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach
  17. ^ Halo: First Strike, page 104
  18. ^ Halo 2, campaign level The Armory
  19. ^ Halo Legendary Crate - Data Drop #2
  20. ^ Halo 3, campaign level Crow's Nest
  21. ^ Halo 2, campaign level The Great Journey
  22. ^ Halo 4, campaign level Midnight

v • d • e
 
Human ship classifications
Stealth craft
Heavy frigates Paris-class • Strident-class
Light frigates Anlace-class • Charon-class • Mulsanne-class • Stalwart-class
Heavy destroyers Able-class • Hillsborough-class
Light destroyers Diligence-class • Halberd-class • Unidentified
Heavy cruisers Autumn-class • Marathon-class • Valiant-class
Light cruisers Halcyon-class
Unclassified
By human faction: UEG (UNSC • CAA) • Insurrectionist
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