Weapons

Though initially fielded during the Insurrection, manufacturing concerns and logistical issues involved with its new 9.5mm ammunition meant the Battle Rifle was not widely adopted until the last decade of the Covenant War. When available, the weapon proved to be very popular in UNSC service, displacing the Assault Rifle in most applications. The current production model is the BR85HB Service Rifle, which incorporates design improvements of the earlier Covenant War-era BR55 and BR55HB, along...

Encountered in a number of subsidiary patterns in the service Promethean constructs controlled by the Didact and Created, the Z-750 Special Application Sniper Rifle (normally referred to as the “Binary Rifle”) is a brutal masterpiece of Forerunner weaponcraft. At the height of the Forerunners’ war against the virulent Flood, the Binary Rifle was wielded by flesh-and-blood Warrior-Servants and military constructs alike, employed to eliminate...

While variants of its core technologies existed earlier, the Z-110 Boltshot truly came into prominence around two centuries before the firing of the Halo Array. The Boltshot is a close-range particle dilator optimized for infantry combat against organic tissue, such as the FCS (Flood Super Cell) material which formed the basis of the Flood parasite. ...

The Type-25 Grenade Launcher is a Brute-crafted semi-automatic ballistic launcher capable of firing up to six fragmentation rounds at a target. Against unshielded infantry, the Brute Shot is extremely effective, and while it can’t generally destroy a vehicle upon impact, it can knock one over, making its now unprotected passengers vulnerable.

The Carbine is a compact medium to long-ranged infantry weapon employed by Covenant forces. This semi-automatic marksman weapon is fairly unique among Covenant weaponry as it fires ballistic projectiles laced with radioactive isotopes instead of directed energy blasts. Generally speaking, the ballistic impact alone is enough to eliminate an enemy, but the carbine’s projectiles are designed to poison the target if the impact is insufficient. Arguably the carbine’s greatest...

Successor to the famous M41 and M46 weapon systems (and inheriting their misleading "Chaingun" moniker), the M343A2 is an electrically driven, five-barreled Gatling-style machine gun which fires the UNSC-standard 12.7x99mm round. M343A2's are installed on a pneumatic full-rotation turret as the primary armament of M12B Warthogs, and are also available in a semi-portable tripod configuration for site defense. The M343A2 is compatible with all UNSC-standard heavy weapon mounts....

The Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR) has been widely used by Army scouts and squad marksman since it entered service in 2512. It has since been employed by the Marine Corps and Air Force combat rescue teams during the Insurrection and the Human-Covenant War. Though its popularity diminished with the adoption of the Battle Rifle, the weapon’s reliability, efficacy, and use of standard M118 ammunition ensured that it remained standard issue for Army sharpshooters and reconnaissance teams. The...

The Covenant energy sword is a martial weapon wielded by Sangheili warriors for close-quarters, hand-to-hand combat. Historically, use of the Energy Sword has been regarded as both an expression of a Sangheili warrior’s honor, as well as his combat skill. Centuries before joining the San’Shyuum to form the Covenant, weapons such as the curveblade and the twin-scythe, defined the Sangheili’s focus on physical combat. The energy sword is viewed as the...

When the Jiralhanae encountered the Covenant, the Fist of Rukt was simply a stone cudgel of great age and renown, following the tradition of war hammers long held by their people. After Tartarus acquired the Fist by slaying his uncle and Chieftain, Maccabeus, his patron Prophet directed the modification of the weapon to include multiple grav-impellors and an advanced drive system. The Fist of Rukt became the prototype – and archetype – of all gravity hammers. ...

The Focus Rifle is a long-range marksman weapon in the same lineage as the Beam Rifle and Particle Beam Rifle. While much of the Covenant’s arsenal originates from the knowledge gleaned from dormant Forerunner artifacts, Focus Rifles repurpose existing, active Forerunner machinery. In this case, the Covenant salvaged the beam emitters of Sentinel Aggressor drones. ...

Widely issued within the UNSC, the M9 High Explosive Dual Purpose (HEDP) grenade is effective against both heavy infantry and light armored vehicles. Fitted with a timed fuse that activates after striking a hard surface and modeled in a convenient throwing shape, skilled users can bounce the grenade into difficult-to-reach locations.

Fuel Rod Cannons are portable heavy weapon used by Covenant and Swords of Sanghelios forces in both anti-armor and anti-personnel roles. As with its larger cousins, the Fuel Rod Cannon fires projectiles that ignite shortly after firing and release a powerful blast of energy upon impact. The energetic compound at the heart of this weapon technology has been the subject of intense study by human corporations for nearly thirty years. Unfortunately, the Merchants of Qikost and other contemporary...

When the Jiralhanae encountered the Covenant, the Fist of Rukt was simply a stone cudgel of great age and renown, following the tradition of war hammers long held by their people. After Tartarus acquired the Fist by slaying his uncle and Chieftain, Maccabeus, his patron Prophet directed the modification of the weapon to include multiple grav-impellors and an advanced drive system. The Fist of Rukt became the prototype – and archetype – of all gravity hammers. ...

Often used to strategically purge sites rapidly undergoing transformation into Flood control, the Z-390 Incineration Cannon is a shoulder-mounted munitions launcher that fires multiple energy projectiles in undulating streams that decimate anything they strike. Created to topple the nightmarish spore mountains of the Flood, burn their wretched blight beasts from the surface of dead worlds, and annihilate nascent keyminds before they could spread their malignant influence, the Incineration...

During the height of the Covenant, a variety of specialized long-range weapons were occasionally issued to Kig-Yar and Sangheili marksman, though the aliens’ tactical doctrine did not make effective use of their capabilities. This changed during the Human-Covenant War, when human snipers showed how accurate, pinpoint firepower could throw entire armies into disarray. The Particle Beam Rifle patterns were quickly selected as the most tactically optimal and...

The UNSC has used reloadable light anti-tank weapons for centuries. Surface-to-surface rocket launchers in particular have been used in warfare for hundreds of years, but they saw recent popularity during the Covenant War, where heavier firepower became a prerequisite against a superior foe. Without a doubt, the two most popular examples within the UNSC have been Misriah Armory’s M41 SSR MAV/AW (SPNKR), and Chalybs Defense Solutions' M57 Pilum. ...

Capable of using a variety of specialized projectiles, many of which were suitable for use in the early, fragile, orbital habitats and space vessels, it was not until the early 25th century that the UNSC Marine Corps abandoned the Shotgun as the weapon that defined its image as the UEG’s spaceborne force-in-readiness. Though relegated to less-important (or simply less-visible, depending on who you ask) duties with boarding parties and police forces, the Shotgun has never gone out of style or...

Often considered a man-portable cannon rather than a traditional precision-fire weapon, the Sniper Rifle proven track record in neutralizing Insurrectionist and Covenant assets has proven that sometimes an unorthodox approach is the most effective. The key to the Sniper Rifle’s success is its massive 14.5mm round, which fires a high-velocity, armor-piercing, subcaliber dart that can damage even heavily armored vehicles. Against infantry, the round can buckle and collapse all but the heaviest...

Originally issued only to vehicle crews as an emergency weapon, the compact Submachine Gun (SMG) became widely used during the Insurrection. It was particularly favored by paramilitary police units and UNSC special operations units tasked with rooting out rebel units based in orbital habitats and cluttered urban environments. Although the UNSC is currently trialing a replacement, the M7 remains the current production model of the SMG. Cheap, efficient, compact, and extremely...