Flashbang grenade

The Flash-Bang Grenade or Stun grenade is a special type of grenade used by the UNSC. Unlike Fragmentation Grenades, these grenades are not necessarily lethal. They produce an extremely bright flash of light and a very loud noise when they go off, stunning targets, but doing very little physical damage to a them. They are good to flush out or stun enemies.

There are a variety of uses for these. They have been used in military exercises by the UNSC, at least since 2525. They are also occasionally used in combat as well, serving to confuse, disorient, or momentarily distract a potential threat for five to ten seconds. Although a flash-bang can seriously degrade the combat effectiveness of affected personnel for up to a minute, they are still vital in any hit-and-run operation.

In Halo 3 a similar piece of equipment, the Flare, is used and has the same look as the Power drainer and Radar jammer. It will blind all nearby players temporarily.

Ash in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx along with the rest of his team had close experience with flash-bangs. Apparently they are hexagonal tubes.

• In modern days, Flash-Bang Grenades are used in Special operations, by counter-terrorist forces, or specialists, to avoid casualties on both sides.

Triva

• Military forces use the Flashbang grenade in the 21st century.
• Some speculate that a flash-bang grenade was used by Marines during the Halo 2 demo.