Skar'wa-pattern Mantis

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The Anti-Aircraft Battery is used almost exclusively as a giant ground-to-air battery.

"They're setting up an AA battery. That thing'll tear the Dawn apart..."

The Anti-Aircraft Battery^[1] is a Covenant ground-based stationary anti-aircraft emplacement. It fires bolts of plasma that are extremely damaging. A single round can destroy a GA-TL1 Longsword-class Interceptor, or even a UNSC Frigate.^[2]^[3]

Background

The bolts fired by the Anti-Aircraft Battery are in a teardrop shape, similar to normal plasma rounds and fly in a straight trajectory. The plasma bolts are extremely powerful, since even their wake is able to take down a Longsword. It is unclear about how powerful these weapons are; during the Battle of Installation 00, and it was reported that one AA gun could "tear the Dawn apart", implying that an AA battery would be powerful enough to destroy a UNSC Frigate.

An AA battery can be quickly assembled using modules transported by Phantoms. This makes them easy to deploy in the field. AA batteries are also often supplemented by deploying multiple Anti-Air Wraiths nearby.^[2]^[3]

Design details

Unidentified model (Halo 3)

This model is sleek and light in construction, with the gun itself resting on three long legs. The gun's battery must cool off and release its excess heat after every shot, exposing its weak point; the interior is vulnerable through a vent on the underside the gun. A certain amount of damage to the interior will destroy the AA battery, making it vulnerable to infantry and ground vehicle attacks. Troops are often stationed on and around AA guns to safeguard them from ground forces.^[2]^[3]

A T38 AAC on Reach.

Type-38 Anti-Aircraft Cannon

Main article: Type-38 Anti-Aircraft Cannon

This anti-aircraft gun, nicknamed the "Tyrant", is a heavier variant of the AA gun, possessing a larger, two-story base structure and a faster rate of fire: the Tyrant is able to fire three consecutive shots before overheating. The power core is located at the center of the gun's base. In addition, the gun's interior is often guarded by large amounts of infantry.^[4]

History

Several Anti-Aircraft Batteries were placed to the surface of Metisette to defend The Redoubt. These were destroyed during the Battle of Metisette by UNSC forces.

Several Type-38 anti-aircraft guns were deployed to the surface of Reach during the Fall of Reach. Some of these were destroyed by the UNSC forces.^[4]

The AA battery saw use during the Battle of Voi on November 17th, 2552, when one battery had been deployed in the town of Voi in order to keep the UNSC forces away from the Portal excavation. The UNSC planned a low-level strike, using Frigates and Longswords, to attack the Prophet of Truth's Forerunner Dreadnought which was resting on the Portal, which was thought to be the Ark by the UNSC at the time. Throughout the battle, the AA battery fired continuously, and managed to destroy at least one Longsword. Marines and SPARTAN-117 eventually breached the Covenant resistance in Voi and destroyed the AA gun, allowing Lord Hood's ships to assault the Forerunner Dreadnought.

AA guns were also used during the Battle of Installation 00, when the Covenant tried to construct them on the surface of the Ark to keep the UNSC ships above from reinforcing their troops on the ground. However, these batteries remained incomplete, as SPARTAN-117 with the assistance of several Orbital Drop Shock Troopers stopped their construction, allowing the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn to land nearby.^[2]^[3]