Type-26 Banshee

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The Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft, more commonly known as the Banshee, is the Covenant's standard ground assault aircraft.

Overview

Banshee blueprint.

The Banshee is a fast, personal aerial assault craft used by the Covenant. It is equipped with two wings which terminate in a propulsion jet and an anti-gravity pod leaving behind a signature vaporous exhaust trail while flying. The Banshee is capable of reaching a speed of over 100 km/h^[1], with a low flight ceiling estimated to be around 100-300 meters,^[2].and is extremely maneuverable. It is also able to perform highly aerobatic maneuvers, such as lateral rolls and vertical flips. While fast and agile, this aircraft is further enhanced by two weapon pods slung underneath the fuselage: Each pod contains a light Plasma Cannon that fires in the 100-250 KW Range and a Fuel Rod Cannon. ^[3] Due to it's low flight ceiling, the Banshee is vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire and well aimed infantry. Though small arms fire may disrupt or disable the pilot, only heavy weapons, such as the Rocket Launcher and the Missile Pod are capable of inflicting enough damage to destroy the vehicle. The Banshee is never seen being piloted by one of the "inferior" Covenant races, such as Jackals and Grunts: It is solely operated by either Brutes or Elites in combat situations.

The Banshee is commonly known for wreaking havoc on Human forces in ground campaigns: UNSC forces are always forced to deal with Banshees or abandon certain areas when Covenant air support comes into play. Banshees will often employ hit and run tactics until an area has been cleared of enemy forces, while weaker targets or high priority targets will be chased after until destroyed. Banshees are ever rarely seen flying alone, even the lightest patrol will consist of two Banshees, while a common patrol may consist of five or more. The Banshee's Plasma Cannons although deemed "light" is at best an understatement, one bolt would instantly kill a light armored flesh based target, even heavily armor targets like a SPARTAN-II would only be able to withstand a few bolts before being killed. A direct hit from the Banshee's secondary Fuel Rod Gun would instantly blow any flesh based target into bits of charred flesh. In the context of the Halo games, all of the plasma weapon's strength and lethality, are compensated for both the sake of ESRB rating, and gameplay.

Advantages

The Banshee is a versatile aircraft in Campaign and Multiplayer, and, in the control of an experienced player, can be extraordinarily difficult to take out. It's twin, rapid fire Plasma Cannons are exceptionally efficient at taking out individual infantry, and a single Fuel Rod from it's similarly named cannon can make easy work of an entire group of opponents. The boosting capability of the vehicle allows for quick entry and exit from combat situations, as well as splattering. Boosting also allows a pilot to (for a time) outpace a homing missile from the Missile Pod, escape the deadly beam of a Spartan Laser, or slip away from opposing vehicles and small arms. Utilizing barrel rolls and flips, the Banshee is able to avoid many slow moving projectiles at short or long range, while also facilitating quick turns around obstacles or close threats.

Disadvantages

The Banshee is lightly armored and thus, is vulnerable to explosives and anti-vehicle weaponry. Weapons like the Missile Pod or Spartan Laser, will easily take down the craft. Other weapons such as the Rocket Launcher can instantly destroy a Banshee at close range but are harder to successfully hit the target at longer ranges. Other alternatives include the Warthog's M41 LAAG although if the Warthog is stationary it is easy for the banshee pilot to take out the vehicle with a Fuel Rod shot. Scorpion Tanks are also quite effective against Banshees as it is hard for the pilot to maneuver away from the shot from one of the two. At close range a Banshee can be destroyed with Plasma or Spike Grenades. It can also be hijacked at low speeds. This can be effective if there is a Gravity Lift, giving you the elevation needed to hijack a careful Banshee pilot.

Changes

Changes from Halo: Combat Evolved to Halo 2

In Halo: CE the Banshee is capable of hovering in mid-air. This feature was removed in Halo 2.
In the Halo: CE Campaign, the Banshee had a health bar similar to the player's. After its health was depleted, the Banshee would explode, killing the driver. This feature is removed in Halo 2.
In Halo 2, the ability to boost the Banshee's engines was added, but at the cost of maneuverability and weapon power.
In Halo 2, the ability to hijack, or "skyjack," an occupied enemy Banshee has been added.
The Fuel Rod Cannon has been removed from Halo 2 Multiplayer for balancing purposes.

Changes from Halo 2 and Halo 3

The Banshee in Halo 3 is largely unchanged from Halo 2; The most notable difference is the time in which a stunt can be preformed and an increase in boosting speed.
The Fuel Rod Cannon has been added for use in Multiplayer.
The Banshee can no longer face any lower than 45 degrees, to prevent it from overpowering ground players and for more airplane-like strafing runs.
In Halo 3 the Banshee's wings cannot be fully shot off, as the fiction states that without the anti-grav pods the Banshee has nothing to keep it in the air.
Along with the Wraith the Banshee has received a substantial visual upgrade. Its canopy now has a green iridescent sheen, which appears almost insectoid, which makes it look like a true alien alloy and adds to the verisimilitude of Halo 3

Halo Wars

Banshees are seen in Halo Wars and appear to be capable of boosting and performing barrel rolls and stunts. However, they appear to be missing most of the green sheen that they have in Halo 3, it can only be seen on the very center of the 'hood', probably because the game is set prior to Halo C.E.. Banshees are effective against ground troops, and the only effective way of taking them out seems to be through the use of a UNSC Wolverine vehicle, although LAAG Warthogs should also be able to do the job. In the announcement trailer, they seem to have strobe lights, and sound different. They are capable of hovering in current builds of the game, as opposed to all other models of the Banshee, in which the vehicle is continually moving. It could be hypothesized that the model found in Halo Wars was a older version with the ability to hover in mid-air; however, a more likely explanation is that it was set to hover to make its selection and commanding easier for the player. When upgraded with Boost they become the fastest unit in-game. Banshees attack infantry units using their twin Plasma cannon and use the Fuel Rod Cannon against buildings and vehicles. Much like the Vampire it is also capable of being hijacked by Spartans. As shown in the Five Long Years Cinematic, the Banshee in Halo Wars has a more powerful primary cannon then the Banshees in Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3. As the Marines are fleeing, one of them is blasted in the back by a Banshee and on impact, has a slight explosion whereas in the previous three games, they are like Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle bolts.

Trivia

In Celtic Mythology, a Banshee is a woman spirit, from Irish folklore, who wails for the death of a particular person, before they die. The Banshees have to steal souls from people to live. The high pitched sound made by the Banshee in Halo is a reference to this, especially while performing tight maneuvers making it easy to hear them before you see them.
A Heretic version of the Banshee appears in Halo 2 its only notable difference however is its golden trim, colors of the Sangheili home world, Sanghelios.
Banshees are seen in the three part series Halo: Landfall. They seem to fly much faster than in Halo 3, often performing strafing runs, and its weapons seem to do more damage. The plasma projectiles seem to also travel much faster, however this may be because "our" experience with the Banshee is through the Master Chief, who has reflexes several times faster than a normal human.
A lightly recurring theme throughout the series is players almost dying in vehicle crashes, mainly in the Banshee. In The Maw, when the Master Chief enters the Pillar of Autumn the Banshee he is riding crashes into the side of the ship, much to Cortana's annoyance. Midway through Halo 2's The Oracle, the Arbiter crashes his Banshee into a platform, only to climb up unscathed, just as the Chief did. Players can also achieve this maneuver. It is easily done on maps with accessible trees, such as Valhalla or Avalanche. The player could simply boost into a tree and the Banshee will explode on impact while the player falls to the ground without losing any of his/her shield.
Supposedly, Banshees use anti-gravity pods on the ends of their wings to fly. However, in Halo 2, a Banshee can lose both of these pods and still fly normally. It is unknown if Bungie intended for the Banshees to have an emergency propulsion system, or if this was simply overlooked in the making of the game.
In the novel Halo: First Strike, a Banshee is capable of carrying Master Chief and a second SPARTAN-II Linda-058. In addition, Zuka 'Zamamee and Yayap rode in a Banshee together in Halo: The Flood, whilst escaping the battle for Alpha Base. In all the games, a Banshee can only carry one person.
In Halo: Combat Evolved, the pilot's legs can be seen as they fly away but it is impossible to Snipe them out of the Banshee even though the reticule turns red.
On page 129 of The Art of Halo, Banshees are seen firing Fuel Rod Cannons on the Halo 2 map Waterworks, in the Halo 2 Beta.
In the Halo 3 campaign, the Banshee's Fuel Rod Cannon can home in on enemy targets. This is seen on The Covenant during the aerial dogfight section.
On the cover of the Halo: Combat Evolved, the two banshee's appear to be un-piloted as the top canopy enclosing the driver is up. Also, the two Banshees that shot down Foehammer also had open canopies. These were probably either an early render or a glitch in the rendering, the PC version of Halo: CE, did not have open canopies and had Elites in them.
In Halo 3 if you manage to board a Banshee on the level The Covenant, it will automatically explode when you exit the craft, much like the AA Wraith. Only Banshees that have been disabled by shooting the Brute pilot out of the cockpit behave like normal banshees, i.e. when dismounting the Banshee does not automatically explode. Disabling the banshee is naturally easier on lower difficulties, due to the lower health of the individual pilot.
The Banshee has several recemblences to the Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" used by the germans in WWII. Both are Ground Assault Vehicles and inferior in combat against fighter craft. They also share the wailing sound when diving.

Gallery

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A Banshee on Sandtrap.
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An exploding Banshee on Valhalla.
Two Banshees on the level Assault on the Control Room.
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Underside of a Banshee, seen dodging an incoming missile.
A Banshee performing a barrel roll.
Banshee concept art from the game Halo Wars.
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A Banshee in full flight.
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A close-up of a Banshee's control system, in Halo: CE map Blood Gulch.
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A close-up of the Halo Wars' Banshee.

Sources

^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 4
^ The Art of Halo, Page 128
^ Halo: The Flood, page 51

Type-26 Banshee

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