Archer missile

Archer Missiles are fired from UNSC capital ships. They can fire at very high rates and are armed with varying payload yields. They are found on almost all ships and the round shape of the Archer missile pod is very distinct. They have tracking systems, which are very effective to coordinate attacks with MAC rounds. They can be used effectively against Covenant single-ships ie. drop-ships and Seraphs. However, CIWS's are still necessary due to the inherent inaccuracy of large missiles at extremely close ranges. Each Archer pod carries a complement of 30 missiles.

Unfortunately, Covenant point defense technology can eliminate up to half of the missiles before they reach a target. There are only two known instances in which the Covenant disabled Archer missiles: the first occurred during the Battle of Sigma Octanus, when a Covenant spy ship that was orbiting Sigma Octanus disabled the Archer Missiles essentially forcing Captain Jacob Keyes to ram the spy ship; the second occurred during the Battle of Onyx, when the UNSC fired their first salvo and the Covenant used pinpoint lasers to disable them. Even those missiles that do manage to impact the shields or hull of a Covenant ship generally fail to do any significant damage. It takes hundreds of missiles, and usually an existing hull breach created by a MAC round to make these missiles truly effective.

Vessels such as the UNSC Frigate UNSC Commonwealth employ racks of 180 Archer missiles, while the Destroyer Iroquois and the UNSC Cruiser Pillar of Autumn use over-sized Archer missile pods which can launch up to a thousand missiles.

Trivia

• The covers of Archer missile pods have the radioactive symbol stamped on them, indicating that the missiles may carry nuclear warheads. Alternatively, the symbol could refer to the propulsion system the missiles use or some component within the launcher.
• An Archer missile can disable all but the most heavily armored UNSC ships.
• When the UNSC In Amber Clad arrived at Delta Halo from Slipspace, a bridge officer under the command of Commander Miranda Keyes says, "Archer pods are cold. I'll need to re-key the system."
• Archer missiles are usually ineffective against Covenant shields, needing a MAC to punch through first.