M121 Jackrabbit

M121 Jackrabbit
Technical specifications
Armament:	Mini-frag launcher
Usage
Role(s):	Scout vehicle
Affiliation:	UNSC; Surakan Militia Volunteers

"Hunting and gathering."

— A Jackrabbit pilot.^[1]

The M121 Jackrabbit, formally designated the M121 Light Strike Vehicle (M121 LSV), is a UNSC three-wheeled vehicle.^[3]^[4] It is used by the UNSC as a scouting vehicle.^[5] It features two front wheels, with one central rear wheel.

Design details

The Jackrabbit is a very fast scout vehicle designed for one pilot. While normally armed with a grenade launcher or machine gun, the Jackrabbit can also be equipped with an M68 Gauss cannon.^[2] When decelerating, the Jackrabbit's front splits into two separate wheels to form a tripod and retain stability. When bursts of speed are required, the two wheels pinion together automatically.^[4]

Variants

Veteran Jackrabbit - a Jackrabbit variant capable of detecting Cloaked enemies. As with other "Veteran" units, it is fully upgraded.
Wild Jackrabbit - a Jackrabbit variant that explodes on death.
Arctic Jackrabbit - Arctic variant of the Jackrabbit.^[6]

Veteran Jackrabbit.
Wild Jackrabbit.
Arctic Jackrabbit.

Operational history

On December 12, 2553, the Spartan-IIs Fred-104 and Kelly-087 drove a pair of Jackrabbits through the front window of Trattoria Georgi, a restaurant in New Tyne, Venezia, that catered to those involved in black market purchases and smuggling during Operation: RETRIBUTION.^[7]

Jackrabbits were used by the Surakan Militia Volunteers during the Battle of Carrow in July 2558. When plotting an attack on Hekabe in the Sharquoi hive, Mike-120 of Gray Team suggested that a Jackrabbit would be the best choice of vehicle to carry an improvised EMP cannon. The new governor of Suraka reluctantly agreed to part with a single Jackrabbit while the rest were used as part of the city's evacuation. Along with the makeshift attack force that was formed, the Jackrabbit was dropped from a Pelican dropship and was driven by Mike. By hanging on to the vehicle, Governor Ellis Gass, Jai-006, Adriana-111 and Rojka 'Kasaan were able to ride a distance into the hive before a Sharquoi attack directed by Hekabe stopped them. As everyone struggled to hold off the Sharquoi, the Jackrabbit was used to move the weapon closer until a Sharquoi fell on it from above and crushed the front end of the vehicle. The cannon survived and Jai at first physically carried the Jackrabbit before removing the cannon in favor of carrying that alone. The wrecked Jackrabbit was vaporized when Ellis detonated a HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon to destroy the Sharquoi and their hive.^[2]

Prior to the defense of Onyx in October 2558, Spartan-IIIs Tom-B292 and Lucy-B091 used Jackrabbits armed with machine guns to destroy a group of sentinels.^[8]

Cheap and easy to manufacture, the Jackrabbit's design blueprint was one of the first to be integrated by the UNSC Spirit of Fire after Isabel's rescue on March 28, 2559 for use against the Banished on Installation 00.^[4]^[1]

Gameplay

Halo Wars 2 Campaign

Info: Scout, Very fast moving, Can de-capture
Tier: 0
Cost: Population 2, Supplies 220, Power 15

Jackrabbit upgrade: Mini-frag launcher

Info: Unit Upgrade, Weaponizes Jackrabbit
Tier: 1
Cost: Supplies 0, Power 200

Jackrabbit upgrade: Support drone

Info: Unit Upgrade, Equips drone, Increased Line of Sight, Drone heals Jackrabbit, Detects cloaked units
Tier: 2
Cost: Supplies 0, Power 400

The Jackrabbit can be built at the Firebase. As a scout unit, they can gather resources. They perform okay against infantry and vehicles, but do poorly against aircraft and structures.

Halo Wars 2 Multiplayer

Info: Scout, Very fast moving, Can de-capture
Tier: 0
Cost: Population 2, Supplies 350, Power 15

Jackrabbit upgrade: Support drone

Info: Unit Upgrade, Equips drone, Increased Line of Sight, Drone heals Jackrabbit, Drone attacks units, Detects cloaked units
Tier: 1
Cost: Supplies 0, Power 450

The Jackrabbit can be built at the Firebase by all UNSC leaders. As a scout unit, they can gather resources. They perform moderately against infantry and vehicles, but do poorly against aircraft and structures. In Blitz, the Jackrabbit costs 20 energy, while the Wild Jackrabbit costs 60 energy, and the Veteran Jackrabbit costs 50 energy. Wild Jackrabbits explode upon being destroyed, destroying enemy units caught in the blast radius.

Trivia

Following the UNSC tradition of naming vehicles after animals the M121 is named after the Jackrabbit.
In the Halo Wars 2 Open Beta when upgraded with the Mini-frag launcher, James Cutter called the upgraded Jackrabbit a Gunrabbit.^[9]
Following a balance update with the release of Icons of War, in the multiplayer section of Halo Wars 2 the Jackrabbit spawns with its grenade launcher by default instead of requiring an upgrade.^[10]
It has similarities with the Nod Attack Bike from Command and Conquer: Tiberium Wars where it is also used by players as a recon unit and comes equipped with Missile Launchers.