Template:Weapon The Missile Pod is a United Nations Space Command infantry weapon. It is a missile-launching weapon, holding up to eight small highly explosive missiles. The Missile Pod is capable of tracking down targets.[1]
It's extreme size and weight probably means only a Spartan, Elite or a vehicle can operate it.
Operation
The Missile Pod can carry eight rounds, equal to the Rocket Launcher but without having to be reloaded. Once picked up the player will appear in a third-person view. Due to the weapon's weight, the user will run at a slower pace, similar to using the AIE-486H Heavy Machinegun[2] in this mode it is harder to aim.
It is the only weapon in Halo 3 that can track vehicles, taking the ability away from the M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket Launcher from Halo 2. But the ability of tracking vehicles comes at a cost; there is little splash damage to other people.
Once the missile is fired, it will travel about 5 meters before becoming self-propellant and begin pursuing the target. This, along with the pod's ability to maintain a lock even when there's an obstacle (such as a small hill in Valhalla) between the pod and the target, means the wielder can fire directly upward, giving the missile enough vertical clearance to fly over the hill and into the target.
It is also effective against foot-bound stationary targets (such as an enemy sniper); the missile's high speed means that even if the target hears the missile, he or she may not be able to react in time. This is most effective at short and medium range, mostly because it is harder to see an enemy at long ranges, much less determining if one is moving. However, using it to combat moving infantry targets is inadvisable.
The weapon is also used as a turret on the back of a Warthog, with likely infinite ammo but still limited to a reload after each 8 shots.
Trivia
- The Missile Pod is one of the current support weapons. Another is the AIE-486H Heavy Machinegun, but a Covenant version of the turret (Plasma Cannon) might also be in the final game. In the Et Tu, Brute? ViDoc, a Brute and the Arbiter are seen carrying one respectively, and maybe even the brute shot.
- This weapon may possibly be the M19-B SAM Missile Launcher that was used by Alpha Company and Beta Company.
- It is aesthetically similar to the the rocket pods carried on Hind helicopter gunships, and may be carried by Pelican Gunships in the same manner as the ANVIL-II ASM pods of Halo 2.
- Missle pod angle 2.jpg
- Missle pod angle.jpg
Sources
3.OXM UK