Shiva-class nuclear missile
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
The Shiva-class nuclear missile is a UNSC weapon.
Background
It is a ship-mounted thermonuclear missile, outfitted with a varying payload, a missile thermonuclear warhead assumable, to be anywhere from a twenty to eighty Megaton yield depending on its type (most of the missiles utilize UNSC standard 30-megaton HAVOK thermonuclear warhead).
Used by UNSC Capital ships and Cruisers, it can also be fitted on C709 Longsword interceptors for a low-profile insertion. They can also be fitted with guidance computers for increased accuracy. Upon detonation, the Shiva-class Nuclear Warhead releases a massive EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse), effectively disabling electronics aboard nearby ships.
It should be noted that Covenant Capital ship shields have enough power to absorb a full thermonuclear blast from far away, but not directly. If the warhead detonates inside the shield, the effects of the blast is multiplied tremendously, possibly due to the ship's shields containing the blast.
Trivia
- Shiva is the name of the Hindu god of both disaster and peace.
- In Halo: The Fall Of Reach, A Shiva nuclear warhead is used against a Covenant ship during the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV. However, the Covenant's shields are totally resistant to biological weaponry, so kinetic weapons such as a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon can penetrate the shielding and cripple or destroy the Covenant ship.
