Heavy needle cannon

For the Enforcer's twin needle-type weapons, see pulse beam. The heavy needle cannon is a Covenant mounted weapon found on certain vehicles and turrets. It is essentially a much larger and more powerful version of the handheld Needler. The heavy needle cannon's primary use is to assault ground troops, but it is also quite effective in taking out enemy aircraft as well. The weapon's three foot long crystalline explosive projectiles, like the smaller version's, home on to enemy targets, embed themselves into that target, then detonate, causing devastating damage to the aircraft.

During the Fall of Reach on August 30, 2552, Covenant forces based in the Longhorn Valley fired on Fred-104's and Kelly-087's stolen Banshees with a heavy needler after the Spartans destroyed the Covenant cruiser over the valley. One of the shards damaged Fred's Banshee, forcing him to land.

Halo Wars
The heavy needler is featured in Halo Wars, and is the main weapon of the Vampire, a Covenant air vehicle. The Heavy Plasma Turret can be upgraded to feature this weapon as well if one chooses to upgrade the turret with an anti-air weapon.

Trivia

 * The Gorgon, a deleted Covenant vehicle set to appear in Halo Wars, had a Heavy Needler for a body.
 * It is possible that the heavy needle cannon was developed by the Covenant from the Enforcer's main weapon.

List of appearances

 * ''Halo: First Strike
 * Halo Wars