The Heavy Recovery Vehicle or "Elephant" is a line of heavy Mobile Assault, Support, and Recovery (MASR) platforms developed and manufactured by JOTUN Heavy Industries.[1][2]
Summary
The Elephant is a large, multi-role land vehicle propelled by an array of treads positioned at the front-left, front-right, rear-left, and rear-right of the vehicle. The M312 achieves this by using four treads total[3] while the M313's treads are divided into pairs, operating via eight treads total.[4] The Elephant was originally built by JOTUN Heavy Industries for use in utility and farming industries during early colonial expansion periods. JOTUN was later contracted by the UNSC after several decades in the civilian market to develop and produce the Elephant as an armored repair and recovery vehicle.[1] These Heavy Recovery Vehicles have since become a versatile platform fulfilling a variety of military roles. Elephants are specialized as mobile recovery platforms but can also serve as troop deployment platforms, mobile command bases, and even urban garbage transports.
Types
- M312 Elephant - Variant featuring a "lock down" mode to serve as a mobile Forward Operating Base. The UNSC Spirit of Fire utilized M312s during the Battle of Trove, and were crewed by what are believed to the first modern humans to have encountered the flood.
- M313 Elephant - Variant capable of transporting smaller ground vehicles such as the M274 Mongoose and M12 Warthog. Two M313s, nicknamed "Behemoth" and "Leviathan", are present on the War Games map Sandtrap.
- Olifant - Variant of M313 Elephant used as a civilian waste management vehicle. The presence of Olifants played a pivotal role during the Battle of Mombasa, specifically in the immediate aftermath of the Slipspace Event, involving Sadie Endesha's escort and later Alpha-Nine's retrieval of a mission critical asset.
- M318 Elephant - Presumed to be the latest model of Heavy Recovery Vehicle.[1]
Related vehicles
In addition to Elephants the UNSC also employs at least two different kinds of six-wheeled, heavy land vehicles, both named after extinct relatives to the Elephant.
- M510 Mammoth - Mobile Anti-Aircraft Weapons Platform. This weapon platform is currently the largest known terrestrial armored fighting vehicle used by the United Nations Space Command.
- M650 Mastodon - Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) primarily utilized by the UNSC Army and colonial defense forces.
Gallery
M312 Heavy Recovery Vehicle.
M313 Heavy Recovery Vehicle.
Olifant.
List of appearances
Sources
- ^ a b c Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, page 55
- ^ Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 145
- ^ Halo Wars, Elephant in-game unit
- ^ Halo 3, Elephant in-game vehicle
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