M274 Mongoose

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"Speed is the only protection this vehicle provides; it is unarmored, noisy, and prone to roll-over. It demands a level of skill from its operator that is impossible to expect...during combat conditions."

— Anonymous E2-BAG/1/7 serviceman

The M274 Mongoose Ultra-Light All-Terrain Vehicle (abbreviated M274 ULATV), commonly known as the Mongoose , is a United Nations Space Command ground reconnaissance vehicle.

Introduction

The M274 Mongoose ULATV is one of the fastest ground vehicles in the arsenal of the UNSC Marine Corps, making it a highly effective vehicle for reconnaissance, rapid transportation, and swift tactical versatility. It is the smaller cousin to the ubiquitous M12 Warthog LRV, and is a small ATV with a driver in the front seat and an optional passenger riding shotgun on a deployable rear section.

The Mongoose's high speed and light mass and armor makes it unwieldy and difficult to control at high speeds and over unstable terrain, making the ULATV vulnerable to destabilization, crashes, and flips. The driver and passenger are also completely exposed, and the Mongoose's design affords neither one of them any vehicular armor, making Mongoose operators extremely vulnerable to fire. Furthermore, the Mongoose does not incorporate any offensive or defensive capabilities, making the Mongoose's sole defensive capability an armed passenger. However, whatever defenses the Mongoose lacks it recompensates in sheer speed. Thus, standard UNSC Marine Corps operating protocol in engagements against Covenant forces place a M41 Rocket Launcher-armed Marine in the passenger position to fire rockets against slow-moving hostile vehicles while the driver uses the Mongoose's superior speed to evade enemy return fire. In a last resort, the Mongoose can run over nearby enemies, although the extremely light mass of the Mongoose makes running over shielded enemies an inefficient proposition.

The Mongoose can be transported by the Pelican Dropship or the Behemoth-class Troop Transport.

Furthermore, the Mongoose is believed to be analogous to the Covenant Type-32 "Ghost" Rapid Assault Vehicle, though the Ghost has a built-in weaponry system and is less agile and maneuverable.

Operation

A wireframe profile of the M274 Mongoose ULATV.

The Mongoose's light weight renders it capable of being launched from a Man Cannon.

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The Mongoose in Halo 3's multiplayer.

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The Mongoose's high speed makes it very useful for CTF games

The lack of weaponry mounted on the Mongoose makes the presence of an armed passenger often essential in combat zones. Engagements with enemy infantry or vehicles are often inadvisable in the absence of a passenger armed with heavy weaponry; the Mongoose's superior speed and maneuverability makes it best fit to slip through enemy lines. The Mongoose's speed makes it almost impossible to hijack at its full speed of 60 MPH, which is a vital advantage while trying to "splatter" enemies. However, conversely, the Mongoose's excessive maneuverability often makes it difficult to splatter enemies, and all but a head-on full-velocity impact on a shielded enemy will not splatter the enemy.

The Mongoose's lack of personnel-protective armor, however, makes the driver and especially the passenger vulnerable to ranged fire, especially from medium-long range weapons such as the BR55HB SR Battle Rifle. Although the Mongoose's maneuverability makes it difficult to destroy with heavy weapons such as the M41 Rocket Launcher, the Mongoose is acutely vulnerable to the Spartan Laser; even the Mongoose's high speeds still make it extremely easy to track with the Spartan Laser. Furthermore, in close-range engagements against a Mongoose, it is easy to stick or melee the operators.

Despite the Mongoose's acute vulnerabilities, its light mass and small profile give it interesting applications: it is possible to launch the Mongoose safely off of a Man Cannon, and the Mongoose can allow a driver "lowride" in one; to drive by balancing on the back two wheels.

Multiplayer

Due to the high-speed nature of the Mongoose, it is a very good vehicle for objective-based games, such as Capture the Flag or Assault. It is entirely possible in Assault for the attacking team for one player to drive a Mongoose while another player rides as the passenger with the bomb-in-hand. It is also possible to use the Mongoose for rapid tactical transportation as well, relocating players to critical areas, reaching weapon spawns before opposing players, or preventing enemies from scoring the flag.

However, as aforementioned, the Mongoose is extremely vulnerable. Explosives such as grenades or even the Brute Shot can flip over this low-mass vehicle, and the Mongoose is an obvious target for snipers and riflers, and even at close range players can easily disable the Mongoose with a charged Plasma Pistol shot or just use suppressive fire to kill the vulnerable operators.

Appearances

Halo 3 Campaign

The M274 Mongoose ULATV is a frontline vehicle of the UNSC Marine Corps, and thus it is commonly featured in Halo 3's campaign.

• The Storm: Four Mongooses with Rocket Launcher-armed Marines were part of a UNSC counteroffensive against the Covenant occupation of Voi in the Battle of Voi in the Second Battle of Earth. SPARTAN-117 led the initial Mongoose assault on a Covenant-held lake bed which featured two Type-52 Anti Aircraft Artillery Wraith tanks that were obstructing the UNSC aerial offensive. After the initial Covenant garrison was eliminated, Kilo 23 arrived with another pair of Mongooses as reinforcements. Not only were Mongooses essential in the destruction of the Covenant AA Wraiths, but after a Covenant Scarab walker attacked Voi, the Mongooses led an offensive to weaken the walker's joints with rockets, while using their superior manueverability to evade enemy fire.

• The Ark: One of the six Pelican Dropships deployed by the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn onto Installation 00 was carrying a Mongoose. It crashed under heavy fire, but later its crashed hulk and the Pelican's surviving crew were recovered by an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper offensive led by SPARTAN-117. It was manned by Marine(s), and Mongoose played a role in the UNSC vehicular offensive.

• The Covenant: The UNSC Marine Corps/Covenant Separatists assault on the Citadel's island on Installation 00 involved multiple Mongooses to rapidly transverse large amounts of enemy-held terrain. In the strike on the first Barrier Tower, Kilo 23 deployed both a Mongoose and a Warthog to assist SPARTAN-117 and his allied ODSTs and Marines in the assault on the first tower. After the tower was secured, a second Mongoose was deployed by unknown means to aid SPARTAN-117 in his trip from the tower back to the Hornet LZ on the island's beachhead. Later, after the third Barrier Tower had been secured, the UNSC Marine Corps organized a large vehicular force to press forward towards the Citadel, and thus prevent the Prophet of Truth from activating the Halos. The attack force included a Mongoose with a Rocket Launcher-armed passenger Marine.

• Halo: Apparently, the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn deployed another Mongoose ULATV in Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson's trek from the landed frigate to the rebuilt Installation 04's Control Room. It can be found after SPARTAN-117 reaches the initial Warthog by taking the left snowy path, and instead of venturing right towards the rest of the level, taking the first immediate left turn. A Mongoose is secluded by the cliffs on the left hand side, and can be used to transverse the rest of the level.

Halo 3 Multiplayer

The Mongoose appears naturally on several Halo 3 multiplayer maps, but can be artificially added to any multiplayer map by Forge.

• High Ground: One Mongoose spawns at the beachhead, and is often useful for charging the base in objective gametypes, or for securing the valuable weaponry between the base and the beach. Two Mongooses spawn at the back of the base, and can be useful in Capture the Flag defense for stopping the opposing team from scoring the flag back at the beach.

• Isolation: One Mongoose spawns above each base, for a total of two Mongooses. However, in the cramped confines of Isolation, Mongooses are often vulnerable to close-quarters combat and also the Rocket Launcher and Sniper Rifle.

• Last Resort: Two Mongooses spawn at the beachhead, and two others spawn at the base. They are useful for seizing the Active Camo tower and also the sniper rifle, which spawns at Camp Froman. Mongooses are useful in CTF and Assault matches to quickly carry the objective, although all Mongooses are acutely vulnerable to the Spartan Laser, especially when it is atop the wind wheel.

• Sandtrap: Two Mongooses spawn at each base; one on the sand dunes, and the other within the front compartment of each Behemoth-class "Elephant" Troop Transport.

• Valhalla: Two Mongooses spawn at each base, and are especially useful for charging the weapons in the middle of the map; namely the Spartan Laser and the Machinegun Turret. A fifth Mongoose spawns next to the UNSC communications post at the Machinegun Turret.

If the player manages to splatter an enemy player with the Mongoose in a ranked free-for-all Xbox Live playlist in Halo 3, the player will earn the Mongoose Mowdown achievement and 5 gamerpoints.

Behind the Scenes

Involvement in Halo 2

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An early Halo 2 prototype of the vehicle.

The Mongoose modded into Coagulation in Halo 2.

The Mongoose was originally intended to be put into Halo 2, but was eventually cancelled. The Mongoose prototype did not fulfill Bungie's expectations for Halo 2, and although Bungie attempted to add dual coaxial machine-guns to it or an armed passenger, it remained unbalanced and didn't fit into the gameplay. Other Warthog-related vehicles proposed in Halo 2 were also not featured in the final game.

Modding

Modders have been able to insert the Mongoose into Halo 2 and also certain Halo: Custom Edition maps. In Halo: Custom Edition, often many modders, instead of making the driver weaponless, made the driver drive with one hand and fire a weapon with the other, and stand up and throw grenades as well.

Trivia

• Like other UNSC vehicles, the Mongoose closely resembles the animal of its namesake. "Ears" jut out on each side of the front and "eyes" are in the windshield. Its agility, speed, and small size are also characteristic of the real-life Mongoose mammal.

• The mongoose has a yellow instruction sticker on the deployable passengers seat stating maximum weight for the driver and passenger. It is interesting to note that the driver can weigh about 500 kilograms, within weight for an actual Spartan-II soldier. The passenger can also weigh about this much, so carrying around another Spartan-II passenger is canonically possible.

• Fans often refer multiple mongoose as a mongeese or mongi.

• If you notice, all Human flight vehicles are named after flying animals/insects, such as Pelican, Hornet, Albatross, etc. Human ground vehicles are named from land animals, e.g. Warthog, Mongoose, Scorpion, etc. Mostly all Covenant vehicles are named after spiritual beings, e.g. Ghost, Banshee, Phantom, Spirit, Shade, Shadow, etc.

Related Articles

• Ghost - The Covenant Separatist equivalent of the Mongoose.

• Brute Chopper - The Covenant Loyalist equivalent of the Mongoose.