M510 Mammoth

"Well. Someone's overcompensating."

— Cortana commenting on the size of the Mammoth.

The Mobile Anti-Aircraft Weapons Platform M510 Siegework/Ultra-Heavy, commonly known as the Mammoth ^[1]^[2] is a heavy wheeled vehicle used by the UNSC Defense Force in the wake of the Human-Covenant War. This weapon platform is currently the largest known terrestrial armored fighting vehicle employed by the UNSC, dwarfing even the similar "Elephant" HRV in size.

Specifications

Roughly 70 meters in length, the Mammoth is a six-wheeled siegeworks ultra-heavy vehicle, presumably to fulfilling the dual-roles of anti-aircraft/anti-warship weapons platform, and superseding the smaller M313 Elephant's role as a command and support/heavy recovery vehicle. As with the Elephant, the Mammoth also possess an internal storage bay for much smaller vehicles such as the Warthog and the Mongoose, which are normally stored via magnetic grapels running along the roof of the bay and can exit through the vehicle's front or back ramp. The Mammoth sports a Mark 2457/35cm HRG "Mini-MAC" turret on the topside, two large openings towards the back, as well as two smaller ones near the vehicle's cockpit.^[3]^[4] Two M79 MLRS emplacements are mounted on both the port and starboard side for close-in defense. It is generally painted in a camel brown scheme, but other schemes can be assigned, depending on the enviroment. The Mammoth was designed for elimination of hostile vessels, weapons, and fortifications in terrestrial and suborbital positions.^[4]

Operational history

Many of these vehicles were used by the Template:UNSCship's Marine contingent on Requiem in the summer of 2557.^[5] During the vessel's turbulent approach into the shield world, at least two of these vehicles crushed surrounding areas of their hangar bay.^[6] The Mammoth proved to be an effective weapon against both Covenant and Forerunner armor forces. Its heavy plating proved almost impervious to Banshee and Wraith shelling, while its MAC and point defense weapons laid waste to ground and air units with equal efficiency. However, the Mammoth's heavy guns were of little use against direct boarding action by enemy infantry. During the battle in the shield world, a Mammoth was used to assault the control center of the Forerunner particle cannons to shut them down so the Infinty could take out Requiem's gravity well. With the Master Chief guiding the MAC cannon with a handheld target designator, the Mammoth destroyed two of the four cannons and helped clear the way, but was badly damaged by a Lich and, while still able to move on its own, had to stay behind as the Master Chief finished the mission alone due to impassible terrain around the command center.

Trivia

As is typical of UNSC vehicles, the Mammoth is named after an Earth animal; its name is also indicative of its larger size relative to the similar M313 Elephant, as mammoths are often regarded as being essentially larger versions of modern elephants.
Early in development, the Mammoth (then named the Tortoise) was conceived as a more literal base on wheels. This version is capable of deploying into siege mode with bracing pistons, a retractable sniper nest, and a deployable landing pad which could accommodate VTOL craft.