Canon

M12 Chaingun Warthog

From Halopedia, the Halo wiki

M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle
M12 w/ M41
Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta press kit image featuring a render of an M12 Chaingun Warthog.
M12B w/ M46
Halo 4 press kit image featuring a M12 Chaingun Warthog.
M12B w/ M343A2
H5G-M12B.png
Production information

Manufacturer:

AMG Transport Dynamics

Product line:

Warthog

Model:

M12 Force Application Vehicle

  • M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle
Technical specifications

Length:

6 metres (20 ft)[1]

Width:

3 metres (9.8 ft)

Height:

2.5 meters (8.2 ft) (M12B)[2]

Mass:

Approx. 3.5 tonnes (7,700 lb)

Maximum speed:

125 Km/h (78mph)

Engine(s):

12.0 L liquid-cooled hydrogen-injected ICE

Hull:

Ballistic polycarbonate, titanium, carbon nanotube

Armament:

M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun (1) or
M46 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun (1) or
M49 Vulcan (1)

Crew:

  • 1 driver
  • 1 passenger
  • 1 gunner
Usage

In service:

Insurrection
Human-Covenant War
Post-Covenant War conflicts

Role(s):

  • Reconnaissance
  • Anti-personnel
  • Anti-aircraft[3]

Affiliation:

United Nations Space Command
Insurrectionists
Liang-Dortmund Corporation

 

"Somebody order a Warthog?"
— Carol Rawley drops off an M12 Chaingun Warthog during the Battle of Installation 04.[4]

The M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle (LRV), colloquially referred to as the Chaingun Warthog[5] or simply Warthog, is one of many weaponized configurations of the UNSC's ubiquitous Warthog platform. Models fielded during the Insurrection and the Human-Covenant War featured a turret-mounted M41 Vulcan or M46 Vulcan,[6] while some more modern post-war variants are armed with an M343A2 chaingun.[7]

Design details[edit]

Main articles: M12 Warthog, M12B Warthog

Removing the turret of a Warthog to create dedicated scout or other weaponized variants of Warthog is a simple process, and has allowed the UNSC to employ many combat configurations of the vehicle with different weapons for different roles.[8] Warthogs equipped with Light Anti-Aircraft chainguns are designated as Warthog Light Reconnaissance Vehicles. The Light Reconnaissance Vehicle is the most common variant of the Warthog seen on the battlefield[2], designed to eliminate lightly armored personnel and low-flying aircraft.

Chaingun Warthogs have been employed on both the M12 Warthog and M12B Warthog chassis types, all unified with the presence of a 12.7x99mm chaingun of some variety. M12 Warthogs and their derivatives such as the M864 Arctic[9] and Fireball[10] Warthogs typically employed the M41 Vulcan, a triple-barreled, electric-powered, linkless belt-fed machine gun capable of firing 500 penetrating rounds per minute.[11] The standard ammunition loadout for the chaingun is armor-piercing but a number of specialist rounds exist, such as proximity-fused-high-explosive or less-than-lethal-stunball rounds.[12]

M12B variants of LRV, introduced in 2552, serve the same basic function as their forebears, though have upgraded armament to suit their upgraded chassis. M12B Chaingun Warthogs typically employ the M46 Vulcan chaingun, though some introduced by late 2558 employ the M343A2 chaingun. The M12B has seen considerable evolution in the LRV design, with ONI-branded Chaingun Warthogs replacing their typical ammunition with High Explosive Dual Purpose ammunition.[13] UNSC forces working with the Swords of Sanghelios have additionally produced a unique variant of the Chaingun Warthog, designed to incorporate Energy shielding and Kemuksuru ammunition into the vehicle's design.[14]

Variants[edit]

Theoretically, any Warthog chassis is capable of being fitted with a chaingun mount. The following list summarizes all thus-far observed variants seen in an LRV configuration.